Death Valley Report | May 4 - 10, 2014 | Lots of Rock Pictures

Captain Obvious

New member
PRETRIP
The days leading up to the departure date were filled with fight parties (like fight club but with gloves and fighting is voluntary. Brad Pitt wasn't there either), watching the AFM motorcycle races at Sonoma and generally living the good life. This inability to stop partying meant leaving a full day and a half later than planned. It also created an uneasy feeling due to the hasty packing. The clock is running and vacation days come few and far between. All I knew was I had a cooler full of food and a map of Death Valley. Time to hit the road.

DAY ONE
San Francisco to Emigrant Campground
The snarl of traffic leaving the city was like a swarm of aggravated bees. Bees that constantly change lanes and text behind the wheel. This only left me feeling smug as I would soon escape all this for a place free of red octagonal signs and gridlock.

With the shockingly low snowfall this past winter, Tioga Pass opened earlier than usual and offered what must be one of the most picturesque shortcuts through the sierras. The Ansel Adams like views with their massive grey slabs of granite and verdant meadows left me feeling guilty for simply passing through. Pulling over at one of the last remaining patches of snow a Russian couple in shorts and sandals requested that I 'Make picture of snow fight' using their camera.

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Yosemite

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Mono Lake

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Truck selfie

Down the other side, past eerie Mono lake and many miles on 395 brought me to Lone Pine and the 190 cut off into Death Valley. Arriving anywhere at night is disconcerting as it's not possible to get a lay of the land and adapt to surroundings. Arriving in the desert at night is downright spooky with only inky outlines of far away peaks and no references to be gained from the blowing sands. Seeing a cluster of vehicles I pulled over and setup for the night. A standing meal of hot dogs and beer put a cap on the 12 hour drive.

That first night was like sleeping inside a wind tunnel, or maybe a sandblaster. Also realized after 20 minutes that my air mattress had a hole in it. Not the best start and the thought of sleeping on the bare ground for a week was daunting.
 

Captain Obvious

New member
DAY TWO
Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Badwater, Natural Bridge, Artists Drive, Zabriskie Point, Rhyolite, Leadfield
Woke up early to rain and more wind. Death Valley is of course known for how dry it is but water has played a major role in the formation of it's varied landscape. I packed up and sat in the truck observing this happening before pushing on down the road.

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Hmmm

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Devil's Golfcourse

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Devil's Golfcourse

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Artist's Palette

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Badwater

Spring in Death Valley brings many more people than I would have expected. The main roads and attractions such as the Mesquite Flat sand dunes and Badwater were downright crowded. At least hearing the French tourist exclaim “Mon Dieu!” was amusing.

After the short hiking up to see the Natural Bridge, I return to the truck to get lunch. Being able to grill up some burgers and have a cold drink really brightens up the day.
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Natural Bridge

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Zabriskie Point is stunning and worth the stop.

Rhyolite is an odd place with evidence of boom times past. It's easy to picture the raging parties they must have had. I mean what else was there to do, besides mining all day of course.

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Airbnb said otherwise

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Gotta have four wheel drive up here

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The way to Titus Canyon

The final stop this day was Leadfield. An abandoned mining town. A sign described it as a place built on false claims. It had a post office for one year before it was shut down and the town died.

More rain and no sleeping pad that night.
 
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Captain Obvious

New member
DAY THREE
Titus Canyon, Ubehebe Crater, The Racetrack, Lippincott Road, Warm Springs
The further West into Titus Canyon you get the better. It's quite a drive but worth it and the final few miles through the canyon are really cool. I heard an approaching vehicle even though this is meant to be one-way westward. From the sounds of it I thought I might get run over by a tank, but it turned out to be a grader, making the rest of the trip smooth as asphalt.

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Titus Canyon

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Ubehebe Crater is pretty amazing especially considering it's only a couple thousand years old.

I then followed Racetrack Valley Road South. Washboard city! It's always a toss up between pinning it at 40 mph and hoping there are no popholes or going 5 mph and taking ages to get there. I ended up doing a bit of both.

The Racetrack is one of those places I read about in National Geographic as a kid. Expectations were high with hopes of getting some good photos of the sailing rocks. It really is a stunning location with a combination of seclusion, scale and flatness. A lot of the rocks have been taking leaving only the tracks and there were footprints in the mud from people walking on the lake bed while it was wet. Oh well, that's the way things are now days.

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The Racetrack

Lippincott Road is the Southbound road past The Racetrack. A sign warns of the recommendation for four wheel drive and high clearance. Take heed, there are sections that were indeed sketchy in a stock Tacoma. This was what the trip was about though and the huge elevation drop and striking views into the valley made for some of the best driving of the trip.

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Lippincott Road

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Lippincott Road

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Back down to the valley

What followed was more washboard and sand. An unmarked intersection turned out to be the way to Warm Springs. Let me tell you Warm Springs is bizarre. It's literally a desert oasis. I made it just in time for the sunset, of which happens fast. They say there's a golden hour around sunset that makes for the best photos, well with the mountains reaching 8,000 feet above the valley floor it makes for more like golden minutes. More BBQ, a few beers and I passed out in my chair. Getting used to sleeping without a ground pad by this point.

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April showers

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Saline Valley

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Burro buddy
 
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Captain Obvious

New member
DAY FOUR
Rest Day
Took the day off from driving to lounge around, read a book and just enjoy the springs. I didn't find the nudity to be a big deal, everyone keeps to themselves. I had a killer spot away from the other campers and under a tree. There are a lot of wild Burros walking around and they were not shy in the least. I recommend keeping food put away. They also make a lot of noise in the morning, like a burro rooster.

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Love

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Not a bad ending
 
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Captain Obvious

New member
DAY FIVE
Saline Valley Road to San Francisco
Miles and miles of washboard. There are some cool looking camping spots on the way out which are part of the Inyo national forest. Someday maybe I'll come back. Finally hitting pavement was a welcome change. The rest of the drive home was a slog and again, what a shame to just blow through Yosemite.

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Leaving Saline Valley

WRAPUP
All in all a fun trip and chance to take in the beautiful and sometimes bizarre sights of Death Valley. Lessons from the trip are to bring a foam mattress or have some redundancy within the sleep system. Also learned that a fridge freezer is one of the best pieces of kit out there and worth every one of those thousands of pennies. Spring is a good time to go as the temperatures are lower but chances of rain and tourists are higher.
 
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EMrider

Explorer
Great pics and report, thanks.

DV and Saline Valley are my favorite places to get off the grid for a few days.

R
 

bikerjosh

Explorer
Great pictures! I've been to DV numerous times to run the trails on a motorcycle. Led my first 4wd trip into those parts last November then again (different trails) in March. Lot's to see out there.
Thanks for sharing.
 

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