Why can't this be me?

BIKING AND HIKING IN DEATH VALLEY

A NICE PLACE TO VISIT Death Valley’s
landscape is stunning, but unforgiving.
Don’t try to get comfortable.
MICHAEL HANSON/ GETTY IMAGES 

One day (or hour) in Death Valley is enough for most people. But six? You must have something to prove. Or you just really like sweating. A lot. Black Sheep Adventures will shuttle masochistic explorers from Las Vegas to their hotel in Furnace Creek and on to some of the most dramatic spots in one of the most otherworldly landscapes on earth, a place where temperatures once topped 90 degrees 205 days in a row. It starts off easy with a 1-mile hike through sand dunes, but come day four, your body will despise you. That’s too bad—there’s an 8- to 14-mile hike up mountain peaks ranging from 9,064 to 11,049 feet ahead of you. Day five brings a 38- to 68-mile bike ride from Dante’s View to Badwater, during which you’ll likely be hot enough to drink your own copious sweat (and/ or tears). Take the last day’s relatively gentle hike through Golden Canyon to reflect on the personal issues that caused you to subject yourself to this sort of grueling punishm... er, vacation. Oct. 24-29