News

While I fully agree with you, for a second there I wondered what could have been proper clothing and footwear for this type of trip. I normally wear Chaco sandals in the Summer and they seem to be sturdier and more appropriate footwear for this walk and then I thought they could melt too, so... Hiking boots? Those would possibly not melt, so maybe they would have been appropriate, but I'm not sure...

A strange game, the only winning move is not to play... You don't go to Death Valley in the boiling hot summer (I myself have been in June of many years ago and it was a chillier day)

Death Valley: We mean it.

Legit, I did not know this until I read this article, either.

Tourists

For those of you who only know temperatures based on internal temperature of cooked meats:

123F-danger zone of most meats, some bacteria will continue to grow at these temperatures

170F- all meats including ground poultry are safe to eat at this temperature, but most people would call steak way overdone at this temperature

200F- start of 6 pack number 2 for cooking brisket, depending on what texture you're going for you might be able to pull it or drink another beer

109F- you trying to kill someone with that burger?

Also -40F = -40C

Have you ever even met a Belgian?!?

There's a good reason their car numberplates are red, it's so you can avoid the daft cunts 😂

"sand? so it's just like the beach!"

No, the Belgian man was not German.

Humans seem to have a special mental gap when it comes to mountains. It's warm and sunny so they go up in flip-flops and tiny short shorts, but on the actual mountain it's freezing cold and often raining and they require rescuing because at some point they either fall over due to trying to wander around in what are essentially plastic slippers, or they're too cold and they can't carry on.

We know that the temperature drops as you go up and yet somehow that seems to fail to register for people.

In the 80s, and I was 7, we went to Italy and my parents and I went up Mount Etna and I was wearing flip-flops, making it pretty much impossible to walk up a bunch of lava rocks without them slipping off and cutting my feet. My parents only thought I was complaining about the walk until my mother looked down and saw my feet bleeding.

I haven't been a big fan of them since.

Belgian, so I'm surprised they were sensible enough to wear any kind of footwear

More like ouchie feet valley.

And hopefully wise enough to not wear flippin flip flops

And not go in the summer time.

I live a half hour from Death Valley, and it's not named ironically, it's a death zone. It's not really habitable for humans, you should never go alone, have full body covering clothes, heavy duty foot wear, lots of food and drink, and know how to get out from where you are at all times. It's not safe, many people still die there every year. It's just sad to me. I'm always sad to hear about anyone that dies or gets injured, we're a little isolated out here and tourists are some of the best people we regularly deal with, I love tourists. They just aren't always aware of the risks out there.

Correct

120f = 48c

200f = 93c

The burns probably happened in seconds.

I assume you have to pay a fee to enter Death Valley National Park, and like every National Park I assume the rangers at the entrance and signage all throughout warn you of potential dangers. You can easily get yourself in trouble at Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, or Big Bend National Parks, for example, if you don't take the risks seriously and make poor decisions.