Dante’s View Trail

During my stop at Dante’s View on my way out of Death Valley National Park, I noticed people off to the side walking along a trail. Because I’m always looking for a new trail to hike and add a pin to my map, I decided to take a walk, despite the fact that I was wearing sandals and didn’t have any water on me. What I thought was a short walk to a better vantage point then turned into downhill trail on terrain that steadily became more and more unstable. While I should have turned around, each new section of the trail seemed like it was just a short additional distance, so I kept going, until I reached the end and was then faced with going back, uphill, at a high elevation with no cover and no water… in sandals. There were moments when I grew concerned and had to just sit down, breathe a bit and collect myself. Sure, it was worth it, but I felt foolish all the same.