Record heat in Death Valley brings out the crowds

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Randy Thomas of Vacaville, Calif., tries to fry an egg on the salt flats in Death Valley’s Badwater Basin. He drove there to experience the heat. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

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Sarah Mason, left, and Lance Lindsey, both from Los Angeles, and Joey Teixeira of Honolulu have their picture taken with of a thermometer -- showing 132 degrees -- at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center in Death Valley. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

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Randy Thomas, left, of Vacaville, Calif., helps Andreas Kinnen from Germany hold up a thermometer in Death Valley’s Badwater Basin. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

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Conchi Almanza takes a photo of Mar Rodriguez in front of a digital thermometer at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center in Death Valley. The two tourists from Spain were likely to experience history Sunday with record temperatures forecast. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

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Rafael Artsrunyan, 2, splashes in the William Mulholland Memorial Fountain in Los Feliz. (Bret Hartman / For The Times)

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During the heat wave, children swim at the LA84 Foundation/John C. Argue Swim Stadium pool in Los Angeles’ Exposition Park neighborhood. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Children cool off in the swimming pool in the Exposition Park neighborhood. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Leslie, Ernesto and Sharai Najera -- 7, 6 and 7, respectively -- shade themselves as they walk along Broadway in Los Angeles’ Chinatown. (Susannah Kay / Los Angeles Times)

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David Murillio, 8, left, and Joshua Rodriguez, 9, cool off in a two-story inflatable pool in Boyle Heights. The boys were on their way to Pecan Recreation Center when they saw that their neighbors had rented the pool and jumped in. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

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Pedestrians with cold drinks stroll past a window display of bathing suits at the Looksy Couture Boutique in Palm Springs. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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A decorative sun in the window of the Cocky Cactus gift shop hints at the heat on the streets of Palm Springs. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Palm Springs resident Mike Cruz cools off with a Coke in the air-conditioned Raspados Colima ice cream shop along Highway 111 in Cathedral City, where temperatures hovered around 110 degrees Friday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Leonardo Zenaidi, 5, plays in the fountain at Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles as temperatures continue to climb Friday. (Sydney Stewart / Los Angeles Times)

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Gabby Iglesias plays with her 4-month-old daughter McKayla at Grand Park¿s Arthur J. Will Memorial Fountain. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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A marine layer still hovers over Zuma Beach in Malibu on Thursday afternoon. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Mercedes Lopez, 2, relaxes in the shady part of the wading area in Grand Park. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Next to Echo Park Lake, Mishelle Parry reads in the shade as an ice cream vendor walks by. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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A woman walks dogs past a fireworks stand in Santa Ana. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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A man walks along the sand in Long Beach on Thursday morning as sun breaks through the marine layer. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Rosie Melendez, 9, strikes a pose as she jumps into a small pool in Boyle Heights. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

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Greg Nunez helps Raiders Youth Cheer, a civic youth group, set up a fireworks stand in Ventura County. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

By Matt Hamilton and Louis Sahagun

July 1, 2013 11:10 AM PT

The record heat in Death Valley turned the hot spot into a draw for the meteorologically curious — and brave.

According to the National Weather Service, Sunday’s highest temperature was 129 degrees, making it the hottest June temperature ever recorded in the U.S. The soaring temperature also beat out the park’s hottest temperature from last summer by one degree, according to park officials.

“It’s early for us to have these temperatures in June,” said park spokeswoman Cheryl Chipman. “We hope getting to 129 this early in the season is not foreboding.”

PHOTOS: Heat wave in the Southland

The National Weather Service’s mercury thermometer had indicated 128 degrees at 4 p.m. Sunday, matching the record for the hottest June day anywhere in the U.S.

More than 200 yards away, the National Park Service’s thermometer showed 129.9 degrees.

On Sunday, ravens huddled in the shadows of desert scrub, panting with their beaks open wide. The desert pupfish in Salt Creek swam for cover in the deeper, cooler pools near the stream’s headwaters. A sign posted at the entrance to the Furnace Creek Golf Course said, “Closed at 12:30 p.m. due to extreme heat.”

“Our main concern is safety,” said Carole Wendler, interpretive park ranger. “We’re advising visitors that this is not the weekend to go hiking.”

But Jon Rice, 42, of Longmont, Colo., decided to run a mile in a heat-absorbing black Darth Vader costume replete with a large plastic black helmet. He was hoping to record the “hottest verified run” for Guinness World Records. Rice ran on the center white line of Highway 190 in the heart of Death Valley so his shoes wouldn’t melt on the asphalt.

He described the experience as “abject pain. The first hundred yards are fine. The second hundred yards are all about, ‘Gosh, what the heck was I thinking?” Finishing, he said, took “grim determination.”

The uncertainty over the precise temperature measurement left a small crowd of visitors to the park’s headquarters sweating in anticipation — and frustration.

Park officials said the mercury thermometer offers the only official temperature reading. The delay in certifying the peak temperature came about because the 8 a.m. daily reading shows the highest temperature for the last 24 hours.

The highest temperature ever recorded on the planet was in Death Valley on July 10, 1913 — 134 degrees.

Death Valley will commemorate the 100th anniversary of that mark with a celebration next week.

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Twitter: @mattthamiltonn

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