Friday we left the Grand Canyon and headed to Death Valley. On our way, we stopped at Hoover Dam which is the state line between Arizona and Nevada. Oh my gosh it was hot! The radio was saying they were experiencing record heat and would probably hit triple digits by the end of the weekend. They wouldn't let us park and leave the dog, so Phill had to just drop me off and turn around and come back for me. I didn't see that much, but I got the basic idea. Damn...that's a big dam. Pressing on...
We got to Death Valley kind of late in the evening. We kind of went around Las Vegas and then through this tiny town called Death Valley Junction. It was a complete ghost town – I mean, completely abandoned. It was almost eerie. Since we got to Death Valley so late and it was so hot, we did a really rushed drive through the park. It was kind of unfortunate, but we haven't felt rushed through any other park yet. So, we're calling Death Valley the one that got away. But we did make it out to the first point which had an incredible view of the valley. The plaque up there said that the entire land is tilting. As the mountain tilt upward, the basin tilts toward (further below sea level). The only thing that keeps it from sinking too much is that the “stuff” eroding and blowing out of the mountains fills it up as fast as its sinking. The basin is 282 feet below sea level – the lowest elevation in North America. We raced from our viewpoint in the mountains down to the Badwater Basin itself. It reminded me of Yellowstone a little bit in terms of how harsh and strange the land is. And there's actually a kind of sulfur-ish smell there also, just like at Yellowstone. The sun had already set, and the temperature was still ridiculous. And there was absolutely no breeze whatsoever. It honestly felt like a consistent heat like you would feel with an oven door open.
The valley used to be an old minor's destination. Apparently there are still thousands of old mines in the park. We noticed remnants of things that looked like they could have been miner's equipment at one time. Apparently many were extremely successful at finding ore at one point.
When we read through the literature that you get at the front gate of the park, we learned that pretty much the only things that live n the park are kangaroo rats, scorpions, black widow spiders and rattlesnakes. Great.... I decided that it might be a good night NOT to camp. Unfortunately, we had a real challenging time finding accommodations. There's a reason this place is called Death Valley. We had to drive out of the park and just get out and ask every single hotel along the way. Finally, we found a place in Independence, CA. I feel like I've been a pretty good sport this entire trip in terms of “roughing it,” but I was clearly at my maximum for the night. I was tired, hot, nervous about critters, etc. So then the only motel left in townwas the Courthouse Motel which looked like the hotels you see in the horror movies – dark, U-shaped parking lots where you pull right up to your room and you're not sure the lock functions real well on the door or the window. I was being really judgmental about the place, but I felt really out of my comfort zone. However, when we woke up the next morning with a good night's sleep, a hot shower, continental breakfast and free internet, I was actually quite pleased with our choice. They're just little tiny fishing towns with old fashioned hotels. In the day time, it appears a lot less creepy!
Anyway, then we pressed on toward Yosemite. On the way out of town, we saw a sign that said the pass we needed to get to Yosemite was closed. Ugh! Instead of taking a straightforward route there, we had to go all the way north of the park, around the top and in toward the east. It wasn't quite how we had planned, but it worked out. And we tried to stop and see Devil's Postpile on the way, which was also closed. Goodness, things just aren't quite going right it seems.
We drove on the pass to where the closed sign was just for a nice side drive. There was a ton of snow up there and what a pretty drive! Bailey had a blast playing in the snow. Talk about extremes. We started in cold rain, then hot desert, beautiful lake front and now snow. What's next!?!
We'll hopefully get to Yosemite tonight around 4 or so.
No comments:
Post a Comment