1ºAlex Mason Also, "He had not been reported missing but officials noted that Kelleher was cited for off-road driving on May 30 and had mentioned he was low on gas when a park ranger contacted him.". They also found a crumpled up note "inside" his car that said, "out of gas". They aren't clear where it was found, but I am assuming it was on the window, so people wouldn't tow his car? So, they knew he was low on gas, saw his car there for days (possibly with that note visible), and still that raised no red flags? I don't blame the ranger, but maybe it's something to consider in the future for the rangers.
2ºHow is this possible? It says his car was left at the Zabriske Point parking lot. I'm telling you I have been visiting Death Valley for over 20 years and I have NEVER seen that parking lot empty - no matter what time of the day or night - there are ALWAYS people there! I can't imagine that anyone would not have offered to drive him to the Furnace Creek gas station - which is (at most) only 2 miles down the main road from Zabriske Point - so that he could get a can of gas! He must have been having some type of mental episode to have wandered into the brush, when that parking lot is just feet from the main road. Very sad.
3ºLaura Herring You know that Death Valley NP straddles the border of CA and NV,? But yes it is mostly in CA. The Earth's crust is stretched, thin and brittle, with fault blocks that have dropped down relative to others so that some valleys are well below sea level, like Bad Water Basin. Temperatures can get as high as 130°F in high summer. I am a geologist who has been there to study the rocks. I have been to Zabriskie Point where that man's car was parked. And I have hiked across Titantothere Canyon. I have seen petroglyphs and springs, and explored old mines and ghost towns.
My point was that most people in the northeast have no clue what a desert environment is like. You seem to think otherwise.
4ºI live next to Death Valley and gas is almost $7.00 per gallon on the west side in California and in furnace creek almost $10.00. You can;t depend on GPS or you'll get lost. It's almost 8 p.m. and it's still 100 degrees here and it's 103 in DV. There's no way I'd go near death Valley during the summer. You can have a full tank and still break down. My friends went on an adventure ride 2 years ago and they got instant migraines, ac didn't work and their tires started melting. The road should be closed off during the summer. It's not called Death Valley for nothing.
5ºWe live in Oklahoma. On vacation there I talked my husband into cutting across rather than go north and then go over. Our car heated up and we had to turn the ac off. We did have drinking water and food. It took us miles over mountains on a dry dirt road. Finally we saw a truck and we both stopped and he said” your almost there” as he laughed because he knew what we had went through. As we went over the last dry mountain we saw green grass and a stream and it amazed me that after that it seemed we were in paradise. It was dumb of us but we hadn’t been there and wasn’t from there and just didn’t realize how dangerous.
6ºI was driving from Napa to Vegas for a July wedding and I camped in the Eastern Sierra. My plan was to leave Lone Pine at 2am and drive to Death Valley so I could see it at Sunrise! OMG! There wasn't a living creature besides the little rats that run across the road trying to kill themselves....to escape the heat! I tried to sleep in my Jeep for a bit hoping to see it, but I had to leave because my dog couldn't handle it! I was so naive! They say it's beautiful in February, but I've never had the desire to go back!
7ºPatricia Welch It IS insensitive because you don't know the whole situation. My husband and I had a whole tank of gas and gallons of water, but were on a road that suddenly turned into gravel and rocks half way up a mountain. The only reason we're alive is because my husband is a pilot and remembered every turn we made and we got down the mountain passing mountain goats along the way with boulders scraping our undercarriage. We then backtracked and got the death valley park. We talked to the ranger their who told us the road is fine certain times of the year but closed during rainy season. There were no signs. No warnings. He said they pull dead people out of there every spring. We were very prepared, but that did not matter. If there would have been a cloudburst we would have been washed down the mountain to our deaths - with gas, water, and, but bad luck. We prayed the whole time. Not a word was spoken between us. And we survived by the grace of God. No one can judge another unless they are in their shoes. Amen.
8ºBarbara J Christine
Biden has nothing to do with it and if you were smart enough to truly understand what you think you know you would know presidents do not control the price of crude oil. And no I will not let you argue with me I grew up around the oil and gas industry so I know exactly what I'm talking about. The ones that blamed the current president are the ones that show the world how little they know about the world. There are many things that contribute to the price of crude oil and gasoline nobody with a brain would say the president is one of them because the president is not. Try to pretend you care to understand how different Industries work instead of showing your lack of intellect. Funny how you are so brave and proud show your ignorance when it's so easy to find proof that what you just said is very incorrect. Laugh at me all you want I already know how ignorant you are laughing at me it's just going to prove it even more.
I have no idea why Americans are so proud of absolute ignorance. Why they like to pretend all these conspiracies. In the world I grew up in people that play pretend as much as you do absolute ignorance in the world and their ability to comprehend it