Death Valley National Park's barren, desert landscape sprawls over 3.3 million acres. The valley with its surrounding mountains and basins are where the Earth's geological bones are laid bare for all to see. It is a place of extremes; air temperatures reach in excess of 120 degrees F, and ground temperatures have been recorded as high at 190 degrees F. The scant rain fall of less than two inches per year make for an arid world. In this world of stark...