Eggstreme Measures: Infamous Death Valley Cracks Down on Nifty Trick of Frying Eggs on the Pavement

One hundred years ago today the hottest temperature on earth was recorded when the mercury hit 134 degrees at Furnace Creek in Death Valley, Calif.—July 10, 1913.

Death Valley National Park's centennial celebration (if you can stand the heat) on July 10, 2013 will feature talks on why the area gets so hot, how the park last year reclaimed its title of hottest spot on earth from El Azizia, Libya, and other issues of interest to “extreme weather enthusiasts,” NBC News reported, including the traditional guided hike with rangers to Furnace Creek to read today's temperature (which is supposed to hit 121 degrees).

(Credit: YouTube) 

But one sideshow, of sorts, has been marring Death Valley's happy glow.

Sidewalk egg frying.

(Credit: YouTube)

More from NBC News:

In fact, the proliferation of broken shells, discarded cartons and accumulated goo has reached such a point that the park recently took to its Facebook page to implore people to stop — or at least use a pan or tin foil and dispose of the results when they’re done.

"The Death Valley National Park maintenance crew has been busy cleaning up eggs cracked directly on the sidewalk, including egg cartons and shells strewn across the parking lot," reads the post from July 2nd. "This is your national park, please put trash in the garbage or recycle bins provided and don’t crack eggs on the sidewalks, or the Salt Playa at Badwater."

“It’s just one more thing to do with a short staff and hot temperatures,” said park spokesperson Cheryl Chipman. “It’s really not appreciated.”

Prior to the the recent rash of sidewalk egg-frying a park employee posted a video of her own experiment on YouTube when temperatures soared in late June. The clip has racked up over 81,000 views.

The anonymous employee used a pan, but some visitors are cracking their eggs directly on the blacktop or rocks and not cleaning up their shells and cartons after the fun is done.

“The video set off a surge of (egg-frying), especially since we were nearing our record temperature,” said Chipman. “I don’t think we’ve seen the garbage strewn about that we did this time, which was a little disappointing.”

NBC News reported that Roxanne Melchiori of Narragansett, R.I., was visiting the Zabriskie Point overlook when she noticed a foul stench.

“We looked down and saw this disgusting thing,” she told NBC News. “It was an egg lying there in the asphalt. It wasn’t frying; it was just this dribbly mess.”

Other park visitors hopped on Facebook to let their voices be heard.

"Some people need to have their heads fried, or maybe they allready (sic) have, anyway people, use your heads," wrote LaMoine Hill.

Greg Carstens opined: "And Smokey The Bear says 'Only you can stop from being an idiot and cook eggs in a frying pan.'"

(Credit: YouTube)

On that note, here's an example of a stove-less chef sizzling a lucky yolk sunny-side up (and apparently the key to success is to cover the egg):

Here's an attempt by a Brit that didn't go as well, via the BBC:

(H/T: Fark)

--

[related]