Death Valley Days 11/13 (17)

4,000 miles!

Up early to get a jump on any storm that may have deposited 2 feel of snow on us, but that didn’t happen. Got to drive through much desert and experience the long hot roads. Temperature only got up to the low 80’s until later in the day when we got to 90. Top was down most of the drive, which was lovely as usual.

I was thrilled to hear that just this morning, the road to Badwater Basin opened up after some flooding. I hadn’t counted on that opening any time soon, so this was great. As I headed down the road I passed a few other sights. The first was the Golden Canyon. I came back to this later and decided a 3 mile hike wasn’t in the cards. The Artists Drive (scenic loop) was flooded yet, but the devil’s golf course was open. I had read about this on Atlas Obscura but didn’t think it was near where I was going to be. It’s really a rock field of unusual shaped rocks – many of which are actually salt. Finally, got down to Badwater Basin. It’s the lowest place on earth – they had a map showing the other non-lowest low points. The record high temperature is 134° in 1913 at Furnace Creek, where I’m staying. The unofficial record is at the basin at 135° in 2021 – but there’s no official weather station there so it’s not official.

Walked out onto salt and looked around at the vast nothingness, then headed back. The rest of the experiences I had leading up to this were similar, so the thrill of being there was the depth and hope for hot weather.

Death Valley wasn’t on my original trip plan, like a lot of things. But I very glad I came. Experiencing the mountains again but in a desert setting was a great new perspective. Being able to immerse myself a bit in the desert has given me another environ to miss and want to come back to. Mountains, Ocean, Redwoods, and now Desert.

After language school I spent a summer in San Angelo Texas – the Oasis of west Texas. It was hot during the day, of course. But when the sun started to go down it turned into a magical world. We were living in a hotel on base for three months, and it was right next to an old flightline. We would sit at the picnic tables in faux gazebos and drink. I think we all knew we were leaving and going off to the different parts of the Marine world and this was really the end to our Monterey school experience. But the best part was wandering off to the flightline, surrounded on three sides by desert scrub. You could lay down out there and look at the stars, but no matter where you were it seemed there was always a light breeze, blowing hot like the afternoon. It was nice to feel that tonight.

I just went to dinner. Ribs, mediocre. This place makes me think of White Lotus, Dirty Dancing, Hotel California, and a cruise all rolled into one. It’s nice, and I could see spending a few days here to recharge. Sleep through the day and enjoy the nights. I think I can understand how some people like Palm Springs.

My hotel is actually a resort. Because it’s the only non camping lodging in Death Valley. It’s lovely. Early to bed because I want to get a jump on any storm that may bring flooding. Holding my breath on that one.

Jets

Last night I heard the roaring in the distance (and not so distant) but didn’t see any jets. The military does training over much of these lands, and have since the 1930’s. The images below were from a vista point next to this canyon. It’s hard to get the scale, but it looked like a regular canyon, nothing huge. I don’t know if I could throw something to the bottom, but I could totally get there with a paper airplane.

It’s called Star Wars Canyon because of the technical skills it takes to fly your jet down there. In the canyon. Like in Top Gun. The fact that they have little silhouettes so you can identify the aircraft was very generous of them. I waited a bit but nothing came roaring through. That must be incredible and deafening.

Deets

License Plates: IL, LA, NJ, NY – also AZ which I already have, but this one had Japanese plates on the front!
States: CA
Departed: 7:01 am PDT, 50 degrees
Original ETA 10:15 am PDT
Arrival: 1:30 pm PDT
Warmest/Coldest: Death Valley 90°, Wallace ID 22°
Weather: Sunny, hot!
Food: Lunch – Sandwiches, Dinner TBD
Music: 70’s Road Trip Playlist, Complete Silence, Lady GaGa – Mayhem, Girl Talk – Feed the Animals, DJ Rap – Learning Curve

Observations

Driving
- Passing through lots of “gas food lodging” (movie) towns
- Bored a sheriff into passing me by not breaking any laws
- Seeing a snowplow coming from the opposite direction was unnerving
- Google fi is not winning any coverage awards today
- I love “tummy drops” when you go over a quick rise, but don’t like it when they’re directly before a sharp curve
The image of the lonely road in the desert. Long, desolate stretches with nobody else around. You really need to paint in two minivans, a sedan and an RV. There is no lonely on these roads
I super love that so much of our land is National Park land.
I saw cacti
Long, straight desert roads make me wish I could lash the wheel and take a nap.
I am singing songs by America and the Eagles
Salt Flats look like snow. Taste like salt. I tried it.
walking in salt is like walking in snowy slush