It was raining pretty good today at Badwater Basin in #DeathValley National Park.
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We ate at the Crowbar tonight.
Before we found the stranded Brazilians and before it was dark, the North end of the West side road was gorgeous. There is a ton of water in the salt flat. And the clouds were putting on a show. The Paramount Range to the west of death valley was getting snow as well.
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Before we found the stranded Brazilians and before it was dark, the North end of the West side road was gorgeous. There is a ton of water in the salt flat. And the clouds were putting on a show. The Paramount Range to the west of death valley was getting snow as well.
Here's the Keanie Wonder Mine Mill. For all the times I've been to Death Valley, I never visited before. Wish we had time to hike up to the mill site.
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Here's the Keanie Wonder Mine Mill. For all the times I've been to Death Valley, I never visited before. Wish we had time to hike up to the mill site.
On top of a pass between the valley to the east of Death Valley and Death Valley itself. This is close to the old townsite of Greenwater and south of Dante's View.
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On top of a pass between the valley to the east of Death Valley and Death Valley itself. This is close to the old townsite of Greenwater and south of Dante's View.
I had no idea that CALTRANS has Rivian SUVs in their fleet now. One just pulled in and is charging at Shoshone right now.
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I had no idea that CALTRANS has Rivian SUVs in their fleet now. One just pulled in and is charging at Shoshone right now.
So I guess we just adopted a Devil's Hole pupfish. His name is Glug Glug.
He even came with a certificate of adoption
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So I guess we just adopted a Devil's Hole pupfish. His name is Glug Glug.
He even came with a certificate of adoption
Checking out some pupfish today at the excellent Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge. It's absolutely insane how people destroyed a 5000+ acre wetland in the middle of the desert because of money.
At Devil's Hole the whole place is fenced and monitored with cameras. A small caged passage goes to a viewing platform where you can use binoculars to spot pupfish
Are the pupfish imprisoned or are we imprisoned?
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Checking out some pupfish today at the excellent Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge. It's absolutely insane how people destroyed a 5000+ acre wetland in the middle of the desert because of money.
At Devil's Hole the whole place is fenced and monitored with cameras. A small caged passage goes to a viewing platform where you can use binoculars to spot pupfish
Are the pupfish imprisoned or are we imprisoned?
At Rhyolite ghost town
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At Rhyolite ghost town
At the Goldwell Open Air Museum and nearby cemetery
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At the Goldwell Open Air Museum and nearby cemetery
Burros and Beatty
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Burros and Beatty
Hmm it looks like we're going to get some weather today. The plan is to go to Chloride City and Chloride Cliffs this morning, and then Ubehebe Crater and Devil's Racetrack around lunch. I suspect we won't be able to do Lippincott Road or Hunter Mountain Road because of snow so we'll have to go all the way back and around to get to tonight's destination of Lone Pine.
There's an indication that we might get a thunderstorm and at least some snow flurries before a bit of rain.
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Hmm it looks like we're going to get some weather today. The plan is to go to Chloride City and Chloride Cliffs this morning, and then Ubehebe Crater and Devil's Racetrack around lunch. I suspect we won't be able to do Lippincott Road or Hunter Mountain Road because of snow so we'll have to go all the way back and around to get to tonight's destination of Lone Pine.
There's an indication that we might get a thunderstorm and at least some snow flurries before a bit of rain.
We made it to Lone Pine!
Photos later.
Absolutely mind blowing scenery today. Found two abandoned vehicles on the way. Aside from the F35 jets doing low passes, I suspect we were the only people in the bottom half of the Saline Valley. Possibly in the entire valley.
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We made it to Lone Pine!
Photos later.
Absolutely mind blowing scenery today. Found two abandoned vehicles on the way. Aside from the F35 jets doing low passes, I suspect we were the only people in the bottom half of the Saline Valley. Possibly in the entire valley.
In the morning we left Beatty and went to Chloride Cliffs for a spectacular view into Death Valley. It snowed on us and the clouds were descending onto us so we headed down to Stovepipe Wells (the OG place... Not the new one).
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In the morning we left Beatty and went to Chloride Cliffs for a spectacular view into Death Valley. It snowed on us and the clouds were descending onto us so we headed down to Stovepipe Wells (the OG place... Not the new one).
Then we went up to Ubehebe Crater where it was very cold and windy.
Then we drove out to Devil's Racetrack and saw the moving rocks that make the place so famous. Oh and teakettle junction.
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Then we went up to Ubehebe Crater where it was very cold and windy.
Then we drove out to Devil's Racetrack and saw the moving rocks that make the place so famous. Oh and teakettle junction.
Then we went over Lippincott Pass into the Saline Valley where we found a thrashed BMW abandoned in the middle of the road (yes it's been called in).
Two F35s buzzed us while we worked to get around the BMW.
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Then we went over Lippincott Pass into the Saline Valley where we found a thrashed BMW abandoned in the middle of the road (yes it's been called in).
Two F35s buzzed us while we worked to get around the BMW.
Then we went over South Pass that was covered in about a foot of snow which was a bit sketchy. But we made it. We saw an abandoned 4runner on the side of the road but no people were around.
Then we descended into Lee Flats which is full of epically huge Joshua trees.
And then finally we made our way back to the pavement and got up to Lone Pine.
Wow what a day!
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Then we went over South Pass that was covered in about a foot of snow which was a bit sketchy. But we made it. We saw an abandoned 4runner on the side of the road but no people were around.
Then we descended into Lee Flats which is full of epically huge Joshua trees.
And then finally we made our way back to the pavement and got up to Lone Pine.
Wow what a day!
Today we went to Manzanar and the Eastern California Museum in Independence plus a few other stops along the 395 corridor.
Manzanar is incredible.
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Today we went to Manzanar and the Eastern California Museum in Independence plus a few other stops along the 395 corridor.
Manzanar is incredible.
We stopped in at the Eastern California Museum in Independence to see the Slim Princess steam engine. I got to climb up in the cab and had a great time with it.
The indoor part of the museum has one of the most astounding native American basket collections I've ever seen in one place.
There also is a set of dentures made out of coyote teeth that evidently is a very popular attraction.
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We stopped in at the Eastern California Museum in Independence to see the Slim Princess steam engine. I got to climb up in the cab and had a great time with it.
The indoor part of the museum has one of the most astounding native American basket collections I've ever seen in one place.
There also is a set of dentures made out of coyote teeth that evidently is a very popular attraction.
We drove through the Alabama Hills (named for a Confederate ship oddly enough) which is a very popular movie and TV filming location, and is ground zero for all of the van life and overland influencers on centrally corporately owned and operated social media platforms. It's stunningly beautiful and it was cool to see where some Star Trek episodes were filmed. But the hype around the place in those influencer crowds is hella overblown.
Oh and we found the fault escarpment from the 1872 earthquake which was fascinating.
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We drove through the Alabama Hills (named for a Confederate ship oddly enough) which is a very popular movie and TV filming location, and is ground zero for all of the van life and overland influencers on centrally corporately owned and operated social media platforms. It's stunningly beautiful and it was cool to see where some Star Trek episodes were filmed. But the hype around the place in those influencer crowds is hella overblown.
Oh and we found the fault escarpment from the 1872 earthquake which was fascinating.
On our way south on 395 we stopped at the Cottonwood Creek Charcoal Kilns. The protective roof has been ripped off in a wind storm so these old mud brick kilns are not long for the world.
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On our way south on 395 we stopped at the Cottonwood Creek Charcoal Kilns. The protective roof has been ripped off in a wind storm so these old mud brick kilns are not long for the world.
@douglasvb what a grand adventure! Me and a few friends do a big bike ride in the alabama hills and along owens river every year. A magic place.
