The drive into the valley for any normal sized rig wouldn't be an issue but when you are hauling a 5th wheeler weighing 13000 lb (5.8 ton) the mathematics change a bit. Even with the truck in low gear I had to use the brakes more than I would have liked which resulted in both the truck and trailer brakes heating up to a point where they were smoking. We stopped 3/4 of the way down to let them cool. As worried as we were there was no turning back - we gritted our teeth and slowly coasted down the remainder of the highway - very relieved when we arrived at our campground in the small town of Stovepipe Wells. Mid afternoon temperature was 102 degrees with 3% humidity - just felt like when you open the oven door and you get a big rush of heat, only this was constant. Yes, both air conditioners immediately switched on! The only place that had a wifi service in the area was up at the Saloon located across the road - what better excuse did we need to go and have a beer with the locals!
Looking into Death Valley
All set up, again
Just to prove the GPS can measure minus altitude!
The next day we headed to Furnace Creek and a place called Badwater. On the way we stopped at a site where Borax was mined. Once mined the borax was carted by mule trains hundreds of miles across the Death Valley floor to the nearest railhead. The mule train consisted of 2 huge wagons of refined borax and 1 of water. The mine closed in 1888 as the cost of extracting and transporting the borax became to inhibitive.
People actually lived here back in 1883
The Furnace Creek Visitor Centre
We arrived at Badwater - an amazingly hot and harsh environment. In a place that you would not expect anything to be able to survive there is a fish that lives in the salty waters. We ( and many more tourists ) took a walk out into the salt flats. The salt pan on the floor of Death Valley covers more than 200 square miles - 40 miles long and 5 miles wide.
Look high onto the mountain and see the sign "sea level"
Rose looking for her lip gloss!
I have never been this deep before!
We headed back towards Stovepipe Wells totally amazed at the beauty of this harsh place.
Salt pushing up as it dries at the "Devils Golf course"
The road to the Natural Arch climbs above the valley
Artist drive is so called because of the palette of colours that come from the surrounding mountains
Dinner, watching the sunset over Death Valley. 8 pm and the temperature is sitting above 35c
We went to bed that night with the intention of getting to the sand dunes just out side of town for some sunrise photos. Early mornings, especially before sunrise have certainly not been a common occurrence over the last 6 months so it's with some scepticism that when Rose says let's get up early I just smile. But true to her word she is awake, no makeup (1 hour saved) a quick brush of the hair (30 min saved) and we arrive at the dunes before the sunrise, I am impressed! We arrive to find only two other cars there so off we head into the sand dunes. We both have our own cameras, mine a Cannon 650 D, and Rose uses our little Panasonic Lumix. Since beginning this trip we have had an unofficial 'best picture' competition - nothing like a bit of friendly competitiveness . This was no romantic hand holding stroll across the dunes, the competition was on, everyone for themselves as we scoured the dunes for the best shots!
Photographic proof that we were up before sunrise.
I'm off for the best shot, ha!
Rose where did you go?
We returned home for breakfast and planned to travel the 35 miles up to a place called "Scotty's Castle" - yes a castle in Death Valley! The history behind the building of the castle began in the early 1900s when con man Walter Scott (known as Scotty) sought investment from Albert Johnson, a millionaire from Chicago in a fictitious gold mine in Death Valley. Albert Johnson , an astute business man travelled to Death Valley to view the supposed gold mine and discovered very quickly that he was being conned. Nevertheless a friendship formed between Scotty, Albert Johnson and his wife Bessie. Albert Johnson fell in love with the beauty of Death Valley and found that his health improved considerably when ever he visited so decided to build the castle as his holiday retreat. Scotty, convinced everyone that he had built the castle with money from his rich secret mines in the area - hence the reason it is known as Scotty's Castle. Luck was not with us however, the road leading to the castle was closed- apparently there had been a fire in the car park overnight and there were no tours being conducted. So we decided to head out of the Valley to the quaint little town of Beatty. We needed to refuel the truck and given that a gallon of diesel in Death Valley cost $5.10 compared to $3.85 in Beatty it was well worth the 35 mile drive. Along the way we stopped at a mining ghost town called Rhyolite. Out came the cameras again!
The Grocers Store
The Railway Station
The house made of bottles
We ended the day with another visit to the Badwater Saloon where we we entertained by the barman and met a fellow who holidays in Death Valley every year, this being his 40th visit! After a few complimentary cocktails we headed back to camp to prepare for our departure the next day.
The road that leads out of the valley climbs from the valley floor, up a narrow winding range to a height of over 5,000 feet, another drop and then another 5,000 foot climb. Given the issues we had on the way into the valley we were a little apprehensive especially when we saw the road sign warnings to be aware of vehicle overheating and advice to turn air conditioners off. We set off at 8 am to beat the heat of the day but even at this time it was already 30c. As we prepared to head out a push bike rider stopped us and asked if we could give him and his mate a lift out of the valley - the road is far too steep for push bikes - they certainly didn't do their research very well! We did think about it for a second or two until we saw the amount of luggage they both had and decided we didn't want to overload the truck any further (and we weren't too keen to put their bikes in the van). They had been trying to get a lift out of the Valley for 3 days!
As we climbed the mountains I put the truck in tow/haul mode and sat on 2000 rpm at about 25 mph. The Dodge did not disappoint we slowly made our way to the top of the range - no overheating this time. It was a great experience and it allowed us to learn more about our trucks capabilities. We arrived at the top and stopped at a turnout to settle our nerves. As we looked over the lookout I spotted a jet fighter screaming towards us, it banked in the small canyon right in front of us at eye level, we got a photo as it flew away.
Looking back from whence we came
We could nearly touch the jet
The hard part of the days journey done we sat back, hit the cruise control and headed south.
Posted by RnR on their IPad
Location:Death Valley California
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