Ann's Travelogues - DEATH VALLEY AND BEYOND 2016-17

OCTOBER 2016 - March 2017

TRAVEL TO DEATH VALLEY, 49er ENCAMPMENT, and exploring the Southwest

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TRAVELOGUE # 13 - Back to DEATH VALLEY

Saturday February 18 - Friday February 24, 2017 -

Published April 18, 2017

From Ridgecrest, CA we traveled north thru the Panamint Valley. It was a road I had never taken before - very nice! Then we drove on into Death Valley. Quite different from November - cooler temperatures (60-70 instead of mid 90's) and storm clouds with wind and rain -- and now there was standing water, and mud over the roadways, and very soft shoulders. It was Saturday of the 3 day President's Day weekend, so we were lucky there were campsites available at Stovepipe Wells. I decided to spend two nights at Stovepipe Wells, and just drive up to Mesquite Springs Campground to see Sue Morgan's brother, who is camp host there. Oops! There had been so much rain in the past week that the road north was closed! I had also wanted to drive up to the parking lot and walk thru Titus Canyon, but that was closed too. We took a variety of walks and then just hung out. On Monday we drove to Furnace Creek and headed up to the Texas Springs Campground. It's a small campground that doesn't allow generators - beautiful views of the valley and usually pretty full. Went up early and picked a campsite. Then we drove south to Badwater Basin, the lowest spot in Death Valley. Because it was the holiday weekend, it was packed with people, cars, tour buses, etc. It was much less busy in November! Came back to Furnace Creek, had a swim in the pool then did laundry. They had a dog park right next to the laundry which was perfect! Got back to the campground around dinner time. It has been cloudy all day, but then the sky cleared and the stars were amazing!

Tuesday, I planned to head east to Beatty, then north through Nevada, but when I got to Beatty and finally had cell service, I checked the weather report. Oh no! The forecast was for very cold temps and high winds! The route I was planning had a number of high passes - and temps in the 20's with snow forecast. I do have chains for the RV, but my goal is to NEVER have to use them. So I turned around and headed back through Death Valley all the way to Lone Pine, on the western side. By the time we got there the winds were picking up and more rain predicted. The RV park was very nice and had a big dog run area right next to where we were parked. The next morning you could see the white peaks of the Sierras very near! As we headed south, we came to Red Rock Canyon, a beautiful place we had stayed at in 2011. Since it was still early in the day, we had lunch and hiked a bit, then kept on driving. Ended up just south of Bakersfield.

We headed north through Fresno and on north on 41 to Millerton Lake Rec Area. Really nice place. Very few people around. The reservoir was full pretty much to the brim! The drought in CA is over, but now comes flooding! Rivers were running really high and most reservoirs were full to overflowing! We heard coyotes at night. Walked all around the peninsula the campground was on. At some point I realized that we were only about 50 miles from Yosemite, so that has to be our next destination!

Above: Ballarat is a ghost town - the road did not look passable for my RV. Below: Panamint Valley Rd.

Above (2) and below: recent rains had formed mud "pancakes" - the surface was damp when you walked on it. I had never seen this as mud - only as dry-baked clay!

Below: standing water in many low places

Road heading across the Panamint Valley - so much water visible!

Crossed over a pass - at eye level with the snow pack

Now we're heading into Death Valley

Sun setting - from the Stovepipe Wells campground

Darn - Road Closed.

It was cloudy and stormy most of the time

Here we were walking the back country roads from the campground

Stovepipe Wells - I'm always the little RV in between the big rigs!

Badwater Basin- I thought there would be more water near the boardwalk. There was definitely more water out in the middle.

Driving north from Badwater

Views of Texas Springs Campground. I love this place!

Above and below: Striking peak: Corkscrew Peak - on the road to Beatty

Above: Momma Burro. Below: Kids following. Notice how the two of them look almost like twins, and how their markings are very similar to mom, especially the one in front with bars on back legs, even though they are darker.

Three pics - Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

Leaving Death Valley - the road acted as a dike - on one side there was water with wind-blown waves, on the other much less water.

RV park in Lone Pine - in the shadow of the snow covered Sierras. The peak below on the far left is Mt. Whitney, tallest peak in the contiguous United States. Just 2 miles from Lone Pine.