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My two most memorable National Parks experiences. Both F* scary!
The first one is this — losing our kid in the wilderness.
The second one happened in Death Valley.
It was a short trip to this otherworldly national park in California. I loved it. In fact, it’s my favorite national park! Otherworldly, like I said. Alien landscapes. Raw. Desolate. In between life and death. Closer to death (it’s a desert!), yet colorful.
So before heading back to the Bay area we hiked Death Valley’s sand dunes. I forget now how long the hike was — maybe six-seven miles. As we headed back to our car a massive sand storm covered us. Our twins were just a few years old then so my wife and I carried them, half running, protecting their faces from the sand.
As we drove back we visited some ghost town the name of which I forget. Then we stopped at a gas station. “Where are you heading?” the shop manager asked. I told him we were going back to San Jose. He said something about the rain and the snow that ignored. Snow? Death Valley?
