It had already been four days since anyone had heard from Joe Jouret’s 81-year-old brother. His departure down a mountain pass in California was followed by a series of winter storms in the area, and a search and rescue operation began. After almost a week, an H80 search helicopter spotted what looked like a “rock”…

“We knew that men had died down there in the shimmering heat of that white floor…and yet we saw it covered with a mantle of such strange beauty that we felt it was the noblest thing we had ever imagined. Only a poet could express the emotion of beauty, stronger than fear and death, that…

by Lynn O’Rourke Hayes FamilyTravel.com Introduce your family to the spectacular night sky. Here are five places to experience a star-filled landscape: Under African Skies Check into Little Kulala, a solar-powered, desert eco-retreat within southern Africa’s expansive Kulala Wilderness Reserve. Hop aboard a Land Rover to scope out springbok, ostrich and oryx, or float above…

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, Calif.—A Navy jet fighter crashed in Death Valley National Park and the pilot ejected and was treated for minor injuries, authorities said Tuesday. The F/A-18F Super Hornet went down at about 3 p.m. Monday. It was assigned to nearby Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 9, based at Naval Air Weapons…

DEATH VALLEY, Calif.—A San Francisco man died while hiking in Death Valley National Park, authorities said Saturday. Lawrence Stanback, 60, died Wednesday while hiking near Red Cathedral along the Golden Canyon Trail, according to a joint statement from the park and the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office. That day temperatures reached 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 Celsius)….

An Arizona congressional aide has been found dead days after he and his girlfriend went missing while on a camping trip in Death Valley, officials have confirmed. Alexander Lofgren, 32, an aide to Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), was pronounced dead and his girlfriend Emily Henkel, 27, was airlifted to a hospital on Thursday for…