Death Valley - February 16 - 22, 2011

What better way to escape the misery of Chuck's allergies during February! It is tough to find pollen here in the lowest part of Death Valley. Bad Water Basin is 282 feet below sea level.

Devil's Golf Course is a par 2,695. Putting can be difficult.

Artist's Drive (below) gives you a sense of the rainbow of colors all jumbled in the shifting of the valley floor over the ages.

Where Golden Canyon gets its name.

You can tell by the pictures that we had a variety of weather. Beautiful blue skies one day, wind and rain the next, and wind --- lots of wind. The temperatures during the day sometimes crept up into the 70's and were in the 30' s at night. After the unusual rain we had one night, the wind howled all the next day. We hunkered down in the rv, played dominoes, read books and ventured out for a tricky walk across the campground (read parking lot) to the Visitor's Center and a Museum at Furnace Creek. The wind was so strong that it blew the door off the women's bathroom. We met an interesting clerk (retired engineer) at the museum and he gave us and entertaining lesson in history and geology. We then then did something we hardly ever do on these trips -- we split a tasty sandwich at the local restaurant.

At the north end of Desert Valley is the surprising Scotty's Castle, which looks like a mini-Hearst Castle. Apparently, it was not uncommon for wealthy Easterners to build luxurious mansions across the Southwest. This has such a strange history that it is very unique. In reality, it was not Scotty's, he didn't build it, and he didn't live in it. It is a product of a flim flam man who lured a wealthy Chicago executive into investing in a fictitious gold mine.

When the wealthy executive found out he was being conned (in a staged bandit attack to scare him off but went badly wrong), he reacted in an unanticipated way. Instead of having Scotty thrown in jail, he and his wife fell in love with the area, and began to build their getaway from the hustle and bustle of Chicago. Scotty became their good friend and was established as the local character in the castle, although he actually lived way down the road. The story of the "odd couple" relationship is worth the price of admission

Apart from Scotty's and the oasis at Furnace Creek, signs of civilization are actually rare in this neck of the woods. There are certainly great expanses in the valley.

Ubehebe crater is the product of a volcanic explosion of steam. It was so windy that we raced to the crater's edge for a "drive-by" tourist experience.

The striking beauty of Mosaic Canyon, just outside Stovepipe Wells, could not captured in pictures on this bleak day. Try these shots we found in a Google Search. This seemingly cobblestone road was traversing the side of a very narrow part of the canyon. The colors were spectacular.

The walls of the canyon were actually polished smooth by the rushing waters. It almost looked like polished marble in some places. Mosaic Canyon was one of Alexa's all time favorite places.

And then there was the trip home --- in February. We cut across the south end of the Sequoia National Park to camp at Lake Isabella (very nippy). It was our intention to drop right down into Bakersfield and finish our trek home in good weather. However, a landslide across highway 178 closed the road. When I asked the CHP officer what was a good alternative route, he sent us over route 155 -- which sent us straight up into heavily forested mountains on this very narrow and very winding road.

We saw the "chains required" sign ahead but decided that we had too much to risk going back. Fortunately, the roads remained clear and we crested Greenhorn Summit at 6100 snow covered feet without incident. I think we renamed it Greenhorn and White Knuckles Summit to capture the spirit of our experience.