Death Valley '49ers group—the Jayhawkers—wanted to stay with the original plan of traveling west. The group eventually split and went their separate ways but they both were to have two things in common. They were both saved from dying of thirst by a snow storm and they both ended up meeting again at Ash Meadows in the Amargosa Desert of the Amargosa Valley located east of Death Valley. From here they continued on, following the Amargosa River bed to present-day Death Valley Junction, California, and then along the same route followed by current California State Route 190 past the Funeral Mountains. On Christmas
Death Valley Moving masses of super-heated air blow through the valley creating extremely high temperatures. The hottest air temperature ever recorded in Death Valley was on July 10, 1913, at Furnace Creek, which is the highest atmospheric temperature ever recorded on earth. During the heat wave that peaked with that record, five consecutive days reached or above. Some meteorologists dispute the accuracy of the 1913 temperature measurement. The highest surface temperature ever recorded in Death Valley was on July 15, 1972, at Furnace Creek, which is the highest ground surface temperature ever recorded on earth, as well as the only recorded surface