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TRAVEL TO DEATH VALLEY, 49er ENCAMPMENT, ...

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TRAVELOGUE # 2 - Arriving and Exploring Death Valley (DV part 1 of 3)

Friday November 4, 2016 -Monday November 7, 2016

Published Dec. 3, 2016

Myrna and I left Bishop CA on the morning of Friday Nov. 4. It was about 50 miles to Lone Pine, where after gassing up, we headed into Death Valley. We knew that a number of the Escapees Solos were already there, and the 49ers Pre-Encampment activities were not scheduled to begin until Sunday. The drive into DV took all day - several hours of actual driving and a few stops for taking photos, and a side trip down a dirt road to a place called Darwin Falls. The thing about DV is that the scenery is always panoramic - often 180 to 360 degrees, so photos don't really do it justice. They bring back memories to me but you HAVE to be there to appreciate the grandeur and scale of it all. In the desert, there is so little growth that all you see are the mountains and raw rock formations. These are probably just as spectacular in the Northwest, but you can't see the rocks for the trees!

By the time we arrived, it was almost dark, so we found our group and parked our RVs. This was boon-docking, camping without power or water hookups. A challenge especially for my small rig which doesn't have a generator or solar panels. The Sunset campground, across from Furnace Creek, is huge with spaces for hundreds of RVs. It has restrooms and drinking water, but is basically just open desert gravel. The Furnace Creek Ranch across the street has a store, a few restaurants, and a pool! There's also a golf course.

We spent the next few days getting oriented, hanging out with the Solos group, and exploring around Furnace Creek. There was live music in the campground every night, and at the Fiddlers Stage across the road. I met some of the fiddlers, and they invited me to sing a song with them at the talent show later that week! More on that later!

Monday, there wasn't much scheduled so Myrna and I headed off in her jeep, with Sunna in the back, to go exploring. You'll see where we went below - didn't get back to the campground until well after dark. It was an amazing day!

 

We started out at over 2000' elevation - heading downhill into DV, following Myrna

We're here! Entering the park - still a long way to go into the main valley.

We were driving down a long winding steep road - and the scenery was starting to be beautiful!

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Above: entrance to road to Darwin Falls; Below: trail head - we drove my RV on the dirt road...

Didn't have time to hike to the falls (and Myrna doesn't hike) - Maybe next time

The road was so narrow, she had to unhook the jeep in order to turn the RV around. Sunna and I just hung out.

Heading across the Panamint Valley - have to cross another range of mountains

Above: last view of the scenery into DV - after this it was getting dark and we were pressing on to just get there.

Saturday morning we were treated to breakfast by another group of Escapees camping nearby

This is the Sunset campground - it was a LOT more full by the end of the week; Below: Mutt and Jeff (Ann and Myrna)

Evening music. Barb Brooks (below, 3rd from left)

Monday: Above, heading north on the Beatty Rd.; Below: wild burros are still common in DV

Selfie in the jeep

Beatty - a small town outside DV - we went there for gas before going thru Titus Canyon.

Beatty (above - interesting structure looked like it has been under construction for a long time; below - that's all there is!)

We stopped to check out the museum, but it was closed. Sunna took over pilot spot.

Same burro, better photo angle!

Side trip into Rhyolite - once a mining town

First stop - a museum with these outdoor sculptures. This was "Last Supper"

Above: house made out of bottles

Town of Rhyolite - just ruins now

This building was the last one to close - a hotel and casino

Here we go - 24 miles of dirt road - pretty rugged

See where the road goes?

This is the entrance to the canyon - Look at how the rock layers are bent and molded. Amazing! Below: a bi-color rock.

These rock layers are each 6' thick. I read that the layers you see here are actually turned upside down from when they were formed!

A welcome pit stop at the end of the canyon. It took us 3 1/2 hours to get here from the entrance to the road! THANKS to Myrna for her great company and her patience and willingness to stop for my frequent photo ops!

Because we were already at the northern end of the valley, we made one more stop - Ubehebe Crater. You can see that the sun is going down quickly.

More Death Valley photos to come...