February 7-15, 2020
Leaving Las Vegas we headed north towards Death Valley National Park. This would be our 3rd visit to this vast place, the other times were just day trips. On Dave’s bucket list was hiking on Bad Water Basin, our February time frame assured us this opportunity, and we get to do this with our friends Curt and Glenda. I am so thankful we planned this time with them, they are going to be hanging up the keys and settle into a home in the Phoenix area.
Months ago Curt and I made reservations at Furnace Creek Campground in DVNP, full hookups, great Dish satellite signal but very weak Verizon signal. This would be the start of connectivity issues for the rest of the month.
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| Site 52 |
After enjoying an auto tour of the little town of Darwin we decided to take the advice of a local and headed out on a dirt road towards Darwin Falls. The local claimed he took his VW bus on it before, only one area to be careful, the stair steps. We questioned our decision on a few occasions, thankful we met no oncoming vehicles, a memory-making ride. The road started out fine and wide, narrowed down as the miles went by, in places you could see the road going for miles, slowly descending. Then we came upon the stair steps, no way to back up, down and through being the only option. Us 3 passengers got out and assessed the situation, Curt then spotted Dave over the big truck swallowing hole.
Safely through we soon arrived at Darwin Falls.
As we headed home we stopped at the Salt Flat Interpritive Trail. A nice little walk to end the day.
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| Death Valley Pupfish |
Our next outing took us to Wild Rose Canyon, again in the western part of the park, where we visited the Charcoal Kilns. These masonry beehive kilns are believed to be the best known surviving examples of this type of kiln. Charcoal was made in the kilns from the local woods and then transported to local mines to be used in the smelting process.
To go anywhere in Death Valley usually involves driving a great distance, so we tried to pack as much in each time. Our next adventure took us first as far north as we’d go in the park, unfortunately, Scotty’s Castle is still closed so I see one more visit to this park, just want to have an off-road vehicle for some of the back roads. Off to Ubehebe Crater where we headed onto Racetrack Road which takes you to the Racetrack where the rocks are supposed to move mysteriously. Within a mile of driving the Racetrack Rd, we were being bounced around by continuous washboards. A few miles of this and we made an executive decision not to batter the truck around. We headed back to check out Ubehebe Crater, unfortunately, the high winds cut short our hike around the crater rim.
So now what to do, we decided it would be a good time to check out the ghost town of Rhyolite, the nearby town of Beatty had good fuel prices so we could fill up the truck. Rhyolite was a gold mining town that began in 1905, by 1908 there were 3500+ folks living there, by 1920 close to zero people still lived there.
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| Always a geocache to find |
On our way back home we stopped at the Keane Wonder Mill and Mine, where we were able to get out and walk about a bit.
A slow day, meaning laundry day, had us checking out things close to our campground:
Harmony Borax Works Interpretive Trail-Mustard Canyon
Natural Bridge
Artist Drive-Artist Palette
The next day we decided to take advantage of having 2 vehicles and left our truck at the Golden Canyon Trailhead and took Curt and Glenda’s car up to Zabriskie Point parking lot. What a great scenic colorful hike we had.
The next day Glenda and I decided to go for a horseback ride, while it was a lot of fun it was quite dusty, glad we kept it at just an hour ride.
Our last day in Death Valley we headed south and east to Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. Saw Devils Hole, the only place the Devils Hole pupfish exist.
While there we got a short walk in and saw some more pupfish. Not a bad last day!!
We did enjoy the Snow Moon, a few fires while in Death Valley, and some evenings of cards, what a great time we had.
Very nice synopsis of the Death Valley days. Yes it was only the beginning of internet issues but the start of more adventures.
ReplyDeleteWe've had a good time, now onto the last leg of the adventures.
DeleteI love Death Valley. Seems like you got in lots of sightseeing. I wonder if Scotty's Castle will ever reopen.
ReplyDeleteThey said in the brochure next year, we shall see. We did get lots of sight seeing in, next we need a jeep to get to some out of the way places.
Deletenice!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a great time! We did not know that Curt and Glenda were settling down. We have yet to meet them, they seem like a fun couple.
ReplyDeleteIt has been fun once again traveling with them. Great fun couple, but are ready to be off the road.
DeleteDeath Valley is very, very high on our list. There is just so much there and it's all so otherworldly. Your pictures are making me want to head that way ASAP. It certainly sounds like a place you could spend several weeks exploring. Glad you guys had a good time!
ReplyDeleteGreat place, there are a few things we didn't get to but we checked walking Bad Water Basin off our list. Lots of boondocking camp sites, only a few FHU sites, but we planned early. Internet signal was so slow, I didn't open the laptop for days.
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