Elaine and I went on a desert car camping trip to kick off 2021. We planned to visit some of my favorite spots in Eastern California - Panamint Dunes in Death Valley and the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine.

Day 1 was a long drive from San Jose to Death Valley. As the sun set, we pulled off the road near Panamint Dunes to cook dinner and sleep in the car. After it got dark, we were woken up by a guy waving a phone flashlight. He was lost in the desert and looking for his car. He looked pretty desperate so we drove him to his vehicle and helped him reunite with his friends who were also lost. The crazy part about being in Death Valley is that you have miles of visibility in each direction but you will still get lost easily because of how immense, flat, and featureless the desert can be. Kenophobes should not come here!

Day 2 we started off with a hike in Panamint Dunes, one of my absolute favorite places in California. Hiking in Death Valley is simple even though there are no trails. You can see your destination from the start, but it will still be 4 miles away. We kept our feet pointed at the dunes, and walked up the gentle sandy slope until the dunes got larger and larger. 2 hours later we were on top of them.On the way back down, the challenge was to locate our car in the desert. We could finally understand the struggle that the guys we picked up yesterday faced. Eventually a tiny glint of sunlight reflecting off my car's windshield led us back. We drove along a dirt path littered with rusty abandoned cars, and back to the main road. Before it got dark we had time for another quick hike to Darwin Falls, a rare water source in Death Valley.The next and final day we drove to the town of Lone Pine. We stopped for a quick hike in Alabama Hills, featuring crazy stone formations and views of high peaks rising out of the desert.After we got something to eat at the Mcdonalds in Lone Pine, we began the 7 hour drive home.