(THE GUARDIAN) – Around every desolate curve of road in Death Valley national park, official signs warn of peril.
“Heat kills!” cautioned one flyer at popular Zabriskie Point, as tourists streamed by on Thursday afternoon to marvel at a dramatic vista beyond. A photo of a red tombstone completed the dire message: “Don’t become a Death Valley victim.”
Death Valley is hardly a stranger to elemental extremes and has long attracted those drawn to the edge. The park bills itself as the “hottest, driest and lowest” – the hottest place on Earth, the driest place in the United States and the lowest point in North America. Visitors make the trek there from around the world to experience its surreal, lunar-looking landscapes and dramatic temperature swings. A famously difficult ultramarathon, the Badwater 135, sees runners race across the cracked salt flat of the park each July.
