Tweet
Well, for the third year in a row, I have somehow convinced people to go spend the holiday weekend in the Death Valley National Park area. So far, they are still claiming me as a friend. 
We had Dr.Dirty (Scott, Amy, Cloe), MyWifesJeep (Mike D., Shirly, Niko), FishPOET and WestwardHo (Doug and Tracy), Dirtman13 (Chuck, Aleshia, Cody), Rat Patrol (Kurt), and Roger (Roger) who joined us late Thursday Night.
The theme this year was to explore the northern part of the park. Wedesday Night, we all met at the Wildrose Campground to have a place to leave the tow vehicles. The night was a chilly 19 degrees and we woke to gusting wind. We were highly motivated to get packed up and moving in the morning.
I bought and repaired a trailer for the trip since I had both Sharon and her mother Louise with us. I had that trailer loaded as fast as I could, but I still had to take breaks to get out of the wind:
For Thanksgiving Day, I woke up with a head cold, so I was very happy when we got to the valley floor and the weather was much warmer. We needed to get to the northern part of the Park, so we headed up Hwy 190 and then over to Lone Pine, Ca. Along the way, we were treated to views of Father Crowley Point,:
And Snow in the Eastern Sierras:
We took US 395 up to Big Pine, gassed up for the long haul one more time before heading out Death Valley Road for 48 miles to the Eureka Dunes. We had to climb a pass that reached over 7200 feet in elevation. We found snow on the ground and ice in shadowed patches on the road:
The view back towards the Owens Valley was nice:
After a long trek down the pass, we were excited to finally have the Eureka Dunes in sight:
I had fun climbing the dunes and taking photos. I had wanted to climb to the top of the highest dunes, but at 700 feet above the valley floor, I didn't think that I could get there and back before sunset (or a cardiac arrest!). Regardless, I got deep into the dunes:
Doug and Kurt also made the trek up some of the steep dunes. I'm looking forward to seeing some of their pics:
For Thanksgiving Dinner, we had a spread that would be envied by anyone! We started with two deep fried turkeys prepared in camp, and then added hoards of fantastic dishes made by everyone that went:
It was one of the best Thanksgiving meals that I have ever had!
As the sun set, we started prepping for the cold night. Louise was getting the hang of how to stay warm in the desert:
And it was a good thing too. Although the morning was clear, windless, and beautiful, the low was 8 Degrees!:
After packing up, we trekked around the dunes toward Steel Pass. The road passed around the northern and eastern sides of the dunes and the early morning sun gave us some nice vistas:
As we left view of the dunes, we immediately entered into Dedeckera Canyon. This section is a series of four small falls that must be climbed:
For light, high clearance vehicles with large tires, the obstacles were no serious challenge. But for Chris and Ginger, some folks that we met in camp with a Ford Van Sportsmobile, the falls started out as pretty challenging due to the size and weight of the vehicle. But once Chris flipped on the electronic lockers, the big beast just rolled right through. I have some video of this that I will share later.
Above Dedeckera, the climb up Steel Pass has some great geological features:
But the one that I was searching for was the Mysterious Marble Bath. We had to briefly stop our search to replace a brake caliper bolt that Chuck shook out on the rough washboards. We said goodbye to Chris and Ginger at this point, since they were headed to the southern end of the park.
Once we got the repair completed, we were back on the trail to find the Marble Bath.
To be continued.....
We had Dr.Dirty (Scott, Amy, Cloe), MyWifesJeep (Mike D., Shirly, Niko), FishPOET and WestwardHo (Doug and Tracy), Dirtman13 (Chuck, Aleshia, Cody), Rat Patrol (Kurt), and Roger (Roger) who joined us late Thursday Night.
The theme this year was to explore the northern part of the park. Wedesday Night, we all met at the Wildrose Campground to have a place to leave the tow vehicles. The night was a chilly 19 degrees and we woke to gusting wind. We were highly motivated to get packed up and moving in the morning.
I bought and repaired a trailer for the trip since I had both Sharon and her mother Louise with us. I had that trailer loaded as fast as I could, but I still had to take breaks to get out of the wind:
For Thanksgiving Day, I woke up with a head cold, so I was very happy when we got to the valley floor and the weather was much warmer. We needed to get to the northern part of the Park, so we headed up Hwy 190 and then over to Lone Pine, Ca. Along the way, we were treated to views of Father Crowley Point,:
And Snow in the Eastern Sierras:
We took US 395 up to Big Pine, gassed up for the long haul one more time before heading out Death Valley Road for 48 miles to the Eureka Dunes. We had to climb a pass that reached over 7200 feet in elevation. We found snow on the ground and ice in shadowed patches on the road:
The view back towards the Owens Valley was nice:
After a long trek down the pass, we were excited to finally have the Eureka Dunes in sight:
I had fun climbing the dunes and taking photos. I had wanted to climb to the top of the highest dunes, but at 700 feet above the valley floor, I didn't think that I could get there and back before sunset (or a cardiac arrest!). Regardless, I got deep into the dunes:
Doug and Kurt also made the trek up some of the steep dunes. I'm looking forward to seeing some of their pics:
For Thanksgiving Dinner, we had a spread that would be envied by anyone! We started with two deep fried turkeys prepared in camp, and then added hoards of fantastic dishes made by everyone that went:
It was one of the best Thanksgiving meals that I have ever had!
As the sun set, we started prepping for the cold night. Louise was getting the hang of how to stay warm in the desert:
And it was a good thing too. Although the morning was clear, windless, and beautiful, the low was 8 Degrees!:
After packing up, we trekked around the dunes toward Steel Pass. The road passed around the northern and eastern sides of the dunes and the early morning sun gave us some nice vistas:
As we left view of the dunes, we immediately entered into Dedeckera Canyon. This section is a series of four small falls that must be climbed:
For light, high clearance vehicles with large tires, the obstacles were no serious challenge. But for Chris and Ginger, some folks that we met in camp with a Ford Van Sportsmobile, the falls started out as pretty challenging due to the size and weight of the vehicle. But once Chris flipped on the electronic lockers, the big beast just rolled right through. I have some video of this that I will share later.
Above Dedeckera, the climb up Steel Pass has some great geological features:
But the one that I was searching for was the Mysterious Marble Bath. We had to briefly stop our search to replace a brake caliper bolt that Chuck shook out on the rough washboards. We said goodbye to Chris and Ginger at this point, since they were headed to the southern end of the park.
Once we got the repair completed, we were back on the trail to find the Marble Bath.
To be continued.....
Comment