The plan was to leave Saturday morning, take a leisurely 5 hour ride up to Death Valley, camp, ride the park in the morning and come back on Sunday. Weather? It's Death Valley in November. I'm expecting temps between 40 and 80 and no precip whatsoever. A quick look at the forecast showed I was right. I got home later than expected on Saturday mooring, packed my stuff and was on the road in no time.
The route took me up 215 to 395. I've ridden 395 before and I like it. It's a fast road with lots to look at. When I got to the turn off for 178, I was confronted with a sign indicating the road was closed 52 miles ahead. I decided to continue North and let the GPS re-route me. About 5 miles up 395, I grabbed the next road headed to Death Valley - Searles Station Rd.. About 5 miles down the road, I waved to two guys standing by a quad on the edge of the road. One of them looked like he was signaling vs. waving, so I swung a u-turn and came back around. It works out that they had 2 quads, one of which was stuck about 1/4 mile from where they were standing. They needed to tighten the chain and didn't have tools. My adjustable wrench and screwdriver would work just fine. In trade, Carl and Doug offered some nice cold offer from their cooler. Doug took the tools and rode off. I waited with Carl, sipping a nice cold bottle of water in the desert. Carl told me that the road I was on would hook me right back up to where the detour was. I pulled out my road atlas and found out that 45 miles up 395, 190 began and that would take me right into Death Valley. Doug came back about 10 minutes later, quad fixed. I put my tools away and started off on my new route.
At this point, I was going to get to the entrance of Death Valley about 5. That's plenty of time to pitch a tent before dark, in theory. In actuality, the entrance to the park is about 50 miles from the nearest camp ground. In addition, Death Valley is in a bowl. The sun drops behind the mountains about 4:30. It wasn't looking good for a daylight pitch.
When I pulled in, the sun was still up; but, just barely. I needed to pitch my bivvy tent partially in the daylight; but, mostly in the dark. Whoever said that they can setup camp in 10 minutes is smoking something. I'm not slow by any stretch; but, it was probably 30 minutes before I was ready to slide in if I wanted to. For my guy wires, I was using para-cord with figure 9's. These are really quick and easy to tension. I highly recommend these. The campground was Stovepipe Wells and I understand the next campground, Furnace Creek was sold out. I got the last tent site and unfortunately, was on the site right next to a bunch of fans. I got lucky! Lately, it seems to be the case that no matter where I go, there's some kind of convention. Saturday night was no different. Who knew there were so many "Death Vally 49'ers?" There are lots. They had already stolen my table. I didn't care, I couldn't use it anyway. I wasn't bringing food to the campground. The table theives were nice enough to hold a flashlight for me while I pitched - even though I had two of my own.
After getting set up, the plan was to get some food and head back to the tent. There was no rush since there was no electricity or Internet at the camp site. When I got back to the tent, it was dark, and the temperature was going down like an out of control bobsled. The good news is that inside my tent was about 10 degrees warmer than the outside air. I stayed up for awhile playing free cell and listening to my drunk neighbors share completely embellished stories of various things they've done. Star watching from the tent was awesome. I pulled the tent fly back and had a great view. It's so dark and clear in Death Valley, there is nothing to obstruct the incredible star show. After awhile, I gave up trying to stay up, shut the tent and went to sleep.
I tend to use my sleeping bag as a comforter vs. a sleeping bag unless it gets pretty cool. And so it was, until about 4am when the temp had dropped into the 30's. I zipped myself in and was nice and comfortable the rest of the night. I was awake before the sun came up, so I decided to brave the cold, break camp, get some pictures and breakfast and start the day.
Right after the campgrounds were the sand dunes…
Stop number one on the Death Valley tour was Zabriskie Point. 500 photos or a video…I shot some video. But first, on the way, two stills that are both very interesting…
Next up, Dante's View - 23 miles away. We're going from sea level to 5475'. The climb is fast. One section is a 15% grade with switch backs. It's pretty exciting and you don't want to get caught in two high a gear, you won't make it. Here's some video of Dante's view
and one still with helmet head…
Stop number three was Artists Drive. This is an 8 mile loop that has traffic in 1 direction. It's mostly canyons and I decided I wanted more riding than sightseeing and decided to document the loop with GoPro.
After Artists Drive, I went to Badwater Basin. This would have to be my last stop so I could get back in time to do laundry and have clothes to wear at work. This would definitely be the lowest point I've ever been to on earth.
The sea level sign is 287' above. Shown in the foreground is my handlebar.
great photos and video. thanks for sharing. Searles station Rd......now that is cool!
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