Death Valley View

I went to Death Valley over the Labor Day weekend and was dismayed at your writer’s perspective (“Some Like It Hot,” Weekend Escape, Sept. 24). True, the air conditioner was out. True, it was hot. True, it’s tiring hiking in Salt River at 120 in the shade. But it’s the desert . It gets hot in the desert. You shouldn’t go to Death Valley to fight Mother Nature, you should go to explore her beauty.

The sky is always clear, free from smog and pollution. The skyline backdrops for the mountain ridges seem to be taken from an artist’s easel. It’s one of the purest, most beautiful sights in the world.

Nature has used the Death Valley heat to keep civilization away and its magnificence unscathed. Enduring the temperature is a small price to pay for the opportunity to be a part of this gorgeous landscape. And through it all your correspondent hikes a little, whines and comes back complaining. Interestingly, the motel staff said storms knock out the power a couple of times a year. Maybe it’s not bad luck. Maybe Nature was trying to tell your staff to grab their cameras, leave their air-conditioned rooms and come out and see her.

RICK SABBAGH

Los Angeles