Death Valley National Park

Thursday, 7 February 

As we mentioned in the last blog post, there is little to no cell service in Death Valley NP.  And no cell service at Panamint Springs.  The campground had WiFi, which was okay as campground WiFi goes.  Slower than desired, and they block web sites that are deemed to be high bandwidth.  So last night, our dear friend Jean tried to call.  After trying both our cell phones, she read the blog, and then called using FaceTime.  It was great to talk with her and make plans for this summer to see her and her boys, Jacob and Jaden.

The actual low temperature we experienced last night was about 35 degrees, warmer than the 29 degrees we were expecting.  After breakfast, we continued into the park.  From the campsite, we continued down to about 1,500 feet elevation, then climbed up for 10 miles or more.  Steep enough to have warning signs about turning off your air conditioning.  And what goes up (to the pass elevation of 4,900 feet), has to come down, only this time of sea level.  The grade was 8% or more for much of the descent.

Once reaching sea level, we passed by Stovepipe Wells and stopped at Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes.  The park information indicated there was a two-mile hike.  When we arrived, the sign at the trailhead said there was no established trail, and that we were free to wander in any direction we wanted, noting that the highest dune was about a mile away.  As we had done sand dunes in Michigan last summer, we opted to not hike 2 miles in soft sand.  Instead, we walked to the top of a couple of nearby dunes to take pictures.

We then went to see Death Valley Buttes and Hell’s Gate, the entrance to Death Valley from Beatty, NV.  Not much to see.

After returning to the bottom of the valley, we did the Salt Creek interpretative Trail, a half-mile walk on a boardwalk over a salt marsh.  The creek was running, and we kept looking for the elusive pupfish in the creek as we did the walk.

We continued to Furnace Creek, with the first stop being the Furnace Creek Campground, one of three National Park Campgrounds at Furnace Creek.  A check last night showed a couple of sites still available on a walk-up basis, and by arriving at 11am, we hoped we could get one.  Score!  We got a non-hookup site for two nights at $11/night using our Senior Pass.  Not getting a site was not a major problem as there were plenty of sites in the other two campgrounds.  The Furnace Creek Campground is the nicest of the three, with normal sites, well spaced, and nice restroom facilities (but no showers).  Plan B was the Sunset Campground about two blocks away, which was more of a gravel parking lot.

After making sure Sprinty could nestle in the site, 

we walked to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center to learn more about the park, and watch the movie.  We then walked over to The Ranch to check out the golf course. The web site claims that Golf Digest rated it as one of the 50 most difficult golf courses.  Although we don’t usually have an interest in difficult golf courses, the idea of getting to play golf 200 feet below sea level in Death Valley was appealing, so we made a tee time for tomorrow.

We continued exploring.  First stop was at Devils Golf Course.  

It was about a mile down a rough gravel road, something Sprinty is getting lots of practice at.  When we got to the parking area, Darrell promptly pulled out his golf clubs, put on his golf shoes and hat, and carried his clubs over to the “course” - to the amazement of others in the parking lot.  

Of course, being the Devils Golf Course you can’t expect a cart - you have to carry your golf bag.  

Darrell tried out his trusty 5-wood and even attempted to putt.  Just getting a stance on the rough surface was a challenge.  The putting surface was by far, hands down, the worst putting surface he had even putted on.

We continued south to Badwater Basin.  When we arrived, the parking lot was completely full and the prospects for parking Sprinty looked dim.  As we neared the parking lot, we saw Pleasure Way RV (like Sprinty) make a couple of loops and then giving up.  Darrell was persistent and on the second pass, a car pulled out and Darrell was able to execute a smooth back in to the open spot.

Badwater Basin is at 282 feet below sea level, making it the lowest point in North America, and one of the lowest points in the world.

We then walked the Badwater Salt Flat Trail out towards the middle of the valley.

It was quite a way out as you can see from the photo of the parking lot in the distance.

When we got back to Sprinty, we noticed the Sea Level sign on the side of the hill across the road, which dramatized how far below sea level we were at that point.

Next stop was Natural Bridge Canyon.  Just getting to the trailhead was an experience.  When we turned off the highway, the 1.5 mile road immediately turned to gravel.  And started up.  Initially, it was a 2 to 3% grade.  As we went up, it got steeper and steeper, with the steepest part being about 5-6%.  And with that steepness came potholes and ruts from people spinning their tires.  Sprinty was crawling up at 4 to 5 mph, in first gear and was rocking and swaying, creaking and groaning.  But ever the trooper, he made it to the parking lot which was at about 450 foot elevation, about 800 feet above the valley floor.

The canyon was formed by water carving the rock away, mostly during flash floods, and about 0.3 miles up the canyon was a natural bridge created when the water eroded a hole in the rock.

We continued on a bit further to see the dry waterfall and the end of the trail.  The canyon continued on up the mountain, but the easy trail turned to serious rock scrambling.

As we did earlier in the day, what goes up, must come down.  Sprinty eased himself slowly down the steep gravel road.  At about 5mph for most of the descent.  We continued back towards Furnace Creek, making the turn for Artists Drive, a 5-mile, one-way road cut in the side of the mountain.  The sign was quite clear that vehicles over 25 feet are not allowed on the road.  Sprinty is officially 24’-1” according to the Roadtrek brochure.  And not counting the bike rack on the back.  Parts of the road followed washes, which made for some tint turns, hence the length limitation.  Sprinty handled the road, curves and all, like a champ.  The hues in the rocks were quite pretty, but hard to capture on the iPhone.

We then returned to Furnace Creek, stopping at The Ranch to purchase a day pass to the swimming pool.  The pool is a warm water pool, fed by natural springs.  Seemed to be about 90 degrees.  The real reason to purchase the pool pass was to use the showers as there were no showers in the campground.

Then back to the campground for the evening.

Friday, 8 February 

After a low temperature of 34 degrees, we woke up to a nice sunny morning. 

A leisurely start as we made a tee time for 10am so it could warm up a bit.  About 9am, we headed for the golf course about a quarter mile away as the crow flies.  We warmed up on the practice area - fairly short range, limiting you to a 6-iron at most.

The Furnace Creek Ranch Golf Course claims it is the lowest golf course on earth at 214 feet below sea level.  A nearby sign said something about shooting your lowest round ever.  Not lowest score, but in elevation.

The course was pretty, and the grass was not too bad for a desert course.  

Kris opened with a par to Darrell’s bogey.  We went back and forth, with Darrell finding the hazard on the 8th hole par 3 as Kris put her tee shot on the green.  Darrell’s ball found the hazard on the 9th hole as well.  Kris was one up at the turn.  Darrell tried to give Kris a good run on the back nine, but just could not catch her to finish back 2 strokes on the day.

We elected to walk the course, and being one of the few golfers out this morning, we finished in under three hours.  However, having walked over 5 miles made doing additional hikes in the park less attractive.  We did do the Harmony Borax interpretative trail, a 0.4 mile loop at the site of the Borax processing plant from the 1880s.  Here is a picture of the wagons that could haul 38,000 lbs of ore using a 20-mule team.  The large wheels are 7’ in diameter.

We then retired to the campground to do some chores taking advantage of a warm, sunny day that we haven’t had for over a week.

On a trip to the recycling bin, Darrell met Rick and Lindy from Massachusetts who were traveling in a Roadtrek Agile, a smaller Sprinter based Roadtrek like Sprinty.  Smaller as in four feet shorter.  They swapped stories about Roadtreks, travel in general, and things to do in Death Valley National Park.  They had done the Golden Canyon trail earlier in the day and shared how much they enjoyed it.  We skipped doing that hike yesterday and today as we already had enough miles in for the day.

Saturday, 9 February 

When we got up this morning, we discussed doing the Golden Canyon hike before we left.  We decided to do it, and left the campground a little after 8:30.  We made it our first stop as we knew the parking lot at the trailhead was fairly small.  As we drove up about 8:50, there we still a couple of spots available, including a long one for Sprinty.  We noticed a group gathering at the end of the parking lot, and quickly learned that there was a Ranger-led hike of Golden Canton at 9am.  Led by Ranger Marissa, a seasonal park employee originally from Detroit, MI.  What a fortunate opportunity.  She shared a lot of information about the canyon, the history of Death Valley, and the shift from a mining focus to tourism.  

In 1929, a road was built in Golden Canyon for for tourists to drive in the canyon by automobile.  The road was destroyed in 1976 with 4 day storm dropping a lot of rain.  Parts of the asphalt road can still be seen.

Golden Canyon was used for one of the scenes in the original Star Wars movie. 

Ranger Marissa also pointed out a lot of geology, including an aid to understand how the area developed in the last 3 million years.  The tectonic forces are stretching the mountains apart, and the valley floor is dropping faster than sediment can fill it in.

She also pointed out fossilized ripples in the rock.  The guided part was only about a mile, but she told everyone she would be going on to the Red Cathedral, and we were welcome to continue on with her, which we did.  

We then left and headed out the east road towards Nevada.  We stopped off a Zabriskie Point to look down on the badlands area we had just hiked in Golden Canyon.  There was a trail to or from Zabriskie Point to Golden Canyon, but it was more than we wanted to do today.

Photos of signs at Zabriskie and pano

Ranger Marissa told us her favorite place in Death Valley park was the 20 Mule Team Drive, a one-way loop similar to artists Drive.  Only it was unpaved.  Words can not capture the thrill of driving the loop in Sprinty.  And it was much easier going than the gravel road to Natural Bridge we did on Thursday.

From there, we drove to Dantes View at elevation 5,475 feet where you can look down on the valley and Badwater basin at 243 feet below sea level.  The road had a restriction of no vehicles longer than 25 feet, no RVs, no trailers.  

The drive climbed over 3,500 feet with the last 1/4 mile at a posted 15% grade.  We figured it was just a longer version of the hill we drive every time we go in and out of Soleil.  Only this quarter mile also had several sharp turns.

Panoramic photo from Dantes View:

We then headed out of the park on Highway 190 headed for Pahrump, NV via Death Valley Junction where Kris paid up for her golf excellence yesterday, grocery shopping at Walmart and hair cut for Kris.  Our destination is another Escapee Co-Op park in Pahrump.  $20/night for full hookups for Escapees members.

If you would like a glimpse of some of what we did, From She to Me (Debbie & John) visited a few weeks ago and just posted a great video of their trip on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/7fwUI5vC6LQ