Death Valley Wander 2011

[aeon]

The hubby and I had a trade show in Vegas Labor Day Weekend, and it seemed like a good time/excuse to sneak off to Death Valley again for a while

Day 1:

We camped west of Amargosa/Death Valley Junction after leaving Vegas. It was a quiet campsite, and close to our rendezvous point with our friend coming up from Escondido:


Had breakfast at the Amargosa Cafe, and lounged in the shade. It was a fun place for a meet up!

A few photos from the area:












Brandan arrived safely, so we were off to Beatty, NV to meet up with my FIL, Jim.

One more member of the gang was along for the ride too


He decided to start the adventure off in style...toes up alongside the highway when I forgot him on the bumper Luckily I noticed he was missing right away and it was only an extra few miles to retrieve him LOL


After getting the whole crew together and fuel topped off, we headed for Rhyolite, and the Goldwell Open Air Museum.

Lower part of Rhyolite:


and a few pics of some of the sculptures at the museum.

The Last Supper:









Ghost Rider:



Icara:






Tribute to Shorty:



Sit Here!:



It was getting a little late, so we figured we better get into the park and find a place to sleep for the night

We entered through Hells Gate again:











The temp rose to 110F as we got onto the valley floor. I was happy, the rest of the crew...not so much

After finding out the Furnace Creek Visitor's Center, and Furnace Creek CG are currently under going a huge renovation until 2012, we ended up at Texas Springs for the night.


At camp we were treated to the "red drank", blended with fresh ice and frozen strawberries!



Day 2 coming up next...

[aeon]

In the morning we drove to Stove Pipe Wells, and then headed for the Charcoal Kilns via Emigrant Canyon Road:



A little further down the road, the Jeep started running hot...and decided to eat up a fuel pump in the process. So we spent most of the afternoon at Charcoal Kilns replacing the fuel pump











Finally got the Jeep running again, and headed for Mahogany Flats:



You can almost see Badwater on the valley floor in this pic:



There were awesome clouds and color at sunset!












Never say the words "nah, you won't need the rainfly", it's a sure bet for rain...and that night it did! LOL (sorry Brandan)


Day 3 inbound soon...

[aeon]

On day three we were originally heading for Ballarat, Goler Canyon/Mengel Pass, and Butte Valley.


A couple shots on Wildrose Canyon Road:






Arriving in the Rattlesnake Gulch area:






The guys cruising down the road as I take photos, and look for Rattlesnakes. I have yet to see a snake here









Ah, the awesome Ballarat:






And the Outpost:



Old Power Wagon:






The Jeep's dust trail on Panamint Valley Road:



Getting close to Goler Canyon:



And the Jeep started acting up again........................

Decided to park it in the shade of the canyon for a cool off, had a late lunch, and enjoyed the scenery!


This coyote was miffed we were in his road, and he had to go up and around us:









It became evident that it wouldn't be wise to continue on the current path with the Jeep. We decided to wait until dark and a little cooler temps to limp the beast out to Ridgecrest, CA to do a parts run and repairs there in the morning.








Stopped to air up before getting back on pavement, and got mobbed by praying mantises (mantii?):



Got into Ridgecrest,CA quite late, and hit up the first vacant hotel.


Day 4 up next!

[Blain]

Great pictures!! Good to see another Zombie Plow out there!!

[aeon]

Thanks for the nice comments Blain! I want to change it to "Reaver Plow" though

[aeon]

I wouldn't really recommend staying at the Rose Garden Inn & Suites...that's all I'm gonna say



Tracked down some needed parts, and back under the hood for Jim:


Rather than risk an un-recoverable breakdown in the middle of Death Valley, Jim made the tough decision to split up and limp his ailing Jeep back to Montana. We said our goodbyes, and loaded three people and all the extra gear into our truck.


"On the road again" heading back into the park:






We were greeted with a nice sunset at Stove Pipe Wells:



Campsite at Mesquite Springs:




Day 5 inbound soon...

[aeon]

In the developed campgrounds...Brandan had an affinity for the picnic tables



Got buzzed by a Stealth Bomber, and something else chasing it. Of course, I didn't have the right lens on the camera!



It was time for Scotty's Castle:












Sup?



Scotty's doorbell, an "interesting" contraption



A quick stop at Ubehebe Crater to air down:



OMG! Teakettle Junction without the tea kettles. I should have brought one to start the cycle anew



LIZAARD!



The Grandstand and Racetrack Playa:



Moving rock on the playa:



Neo-bedouins:



It was late by the time we were done hiking around on the playa, so we pitched camp at Homestake...and fell asleep quickly.


Day 6 coming up...

[aeon]

Morning at Homestake:



The next several photos are all on Lippincott Pass Road:









A view of the south end of Saline Valley:









Got down off Lippincott, and continued north up the valley.


Old tram tower:



We stopped for a bit at the salt works. It was 107F, and there were HUGE black flies buzzing around!








We heard that there was some flash flooding in August. It made for an interesting road with lots of cuts and sandy washouts:



A beautiful Saline Valley evening:



Brandan grabbing a sunset pic



Day 7 up next...

[aeon]

Started the day off with some pre-dawn shots out on the Saline Valley Dunes:






Truck thirsty...



Bat Rock Road! Back in bat country :woot:



Lower Warm Springs:






Wouldn't you know it, I was no longer looking for snakes! I came so close to stepping on this guy, and I was only wearing my flip flops...what a nice little sidewinder for sparing me



I'm never ready for the F-16 fly overs...always seem to have the wide angle on, dangit!



Went and visited with the wild burros:






We chatted with Lizard Lee a bit, and then hit the trail to Steel Pass.





We missed seeing it last time, that wasn't going to happen again!



On the top of Steel Pass it started raining again, thankfully the trail didn't get too wet!






Start of the canyon section:









Over Steel Pass, and a view of the Eureka Dunes at dusk:



Once we got closer to Eureka, we came across a Nissan Titan buried to the rear axle in the sand. We hung around a bit to see if the owner was nearby, as we could have winched them out easily. They must have walked out though, since we couldn't find anyone.




Day 8 incoming...

[Derek24]

Wow, great pics. Mind me asking what camera you are using? Keep it coming!