We have done this before, but it was a while ago and there is a lot to see and do in Death Valley. We arrived late afternoon on Wednesday the 11th. We had to stop in Barstow for fuel, propane and an Outlet Mall. My clothes have gotten frayed, stained and tattered over the years. Carol had her usual lousy shopping luck, getting only pair of jeans that almost fit. I had better luck replacing some beloved but holey jeans a couple of frayed shirts and worn out shorts. We still look disreputable, but clean and not worn out disreputable, for a day or two.
Shortly after setting up in Sunset Campground across from the store and really just a level place in the desert with room for 1,000 campers we were stranding around looking over the premises when Dean and Jane (Cross and Ecclestone respectively) stopped by to chat. First we made plans to get together for happy hour the next day, then we agreed to meet in the morning and go off on a hike together. They suggested a hike up a wash to Willow Creek and not having our own plans we agreed, a hike is a hike. We went off in two cars and had a great hike to a desert water falls. After resting for a bit we gathered at G-2 for Happy Hour which lasted a bit longer than that. We agreed in the end to go off in their Jeep for a rough road excursion in the morning. We left at 10:15 and returned at a bout 6 PM. We had ventured up Hanaupah Canyon, 15 miles or so of really rough road, and then hiked back in more than a mile up a canyon into the mountains looking for the remains of a cabin and two mines. We didn’t find those but did find two wonderful friends.
Death Valley is raw desert. One needs to take the time to look closely and the ground and the blooms. There is so much color that it seems to shade towards brown or gray, but that merely is the blend of all the hues of the rainbow in the soils and flowers. Looking closely we saw many different flowers in bloom and the soft greens of copper and reds of iron and yellows of sulfur, not to mention the white of the alkali salt flats. We are once again camping at the lowest point in North America. The campground is at 190 feet below sea level. We have been lower at the Dead Sea but we were not camping there, just swimming. Hmm, Death Valley – Dead Sea, there must be something about being below sea level that leads to this kind of naming.
Saturday morning we went to the Visitor Center at 10 and got on line for the first time since getting here. After picking up email and letting the family know we had not vanished from the face of the earth, we returned to Gee 2 to find Jane and Dean just passing and we agreed to meet after lunch for a drive up to Ubehebe Crater, about 40 miles to the north of the campground. We had been there eight years ago, but I wanted to go back. When we finally arrived, 2,000 feet higher than the campground it was windy and it felt cold. It looked even colder because people were gathered on the rim in winter coats, scarfs and gloves. Carol and Dean decided that it was too cold and windy for them so Jane and I set off for the upper rim of Ubehebe Crater and then for the rim of Little Hebe. The distance was not great but the slope of the trail was vertiginous. I think we climbed another 600 feet in less than a mile and the car was seldom out of sight. It was not really cold – maybe in the high 50’s and climbing kept me warm even in shorts and t-shirt.
We regrouped at their Damon coach for happy hour at about 5 PM. we were joined later by Sgt Major of the Army Ret Richard Voice. If I choose to believe half of his story, he is a man to be reckoned with. Not least, he claims to be a Congressional Medal of Honor holder. I will check that out on line before publishing. Checked out: he is a great story teller and a teller of lies.
The next day Jane and Dean were tired so we set out to hike Golden Canyon to Zabriske Point and return. The altitude gain is something like 1,800 feet in a couple of miles from the parking lot at Golden Canyon to the height of the Point. In Golden Canyon we met Margaret and Kirwin Johnson (I may have that name spelled wrong) on the trail. They had just climbed down from Zabriske and were headed up. As we hiked our paces matched and our interest in the outdoors as well. At some point we invited them t o join us at Gee 2 for Happy Hour along with Jane and Dean. It is getting to be a party. The trail to the top was well marked and hiking with people who had just come down gave us confidence in the route. For the return we chose to follow the Gower Gulch Loop which is essentially unmarked. Just follow the Gulch. Once in it there is very little choice about route. The decent was a bit more gradual as the Loop added about a half mile to the return and did not have to approach Manly Beacon as we had on the way up. Along both routes we saw evidence of mining activity from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. How those men worked in that environment and thought they could profit is beyond imagining. You have to hike in the region to understand just how obsessed they must have been.
As the gray water tank filled and the freshwater tank emptied it became apparent that we needed to move the coach and the food supply was getting limited and the nearest real shopping is 90 miles away. We said goodbye to our new friends whose email addresses are on this list now and moved. On to Boulder City, NV.
A quick broken parts story with a happy, if expensive, ending. The way we tow the car requires an extension hitch which lowers the tow bar six inches relative to the coach hitch. A year and a half ago I tried to remove the tow bar assembly and found one of the locks frozen and the stinger of the tow bar frozen into the extension. I decided I didn’t need to remove the tow bar after all 🙂 And so we have traveled for close to 30,000 miles with no problem. At some point, I think in Las Cruces, a passing RVer mentioned that the extension appeared to be bent. I decided he was wrong and continued on through the desert, into LA and only then did I become aware that it was indeed bent. I tried to remove the frozen lock to no avail. I tried to pull out the tow bar to no avail. What to do? It happens there are two Camping World stores in the Las Vegas area. The store in Henderson had in stock the very hitch part I needed but no mechanic time. The replacement is much heftier than the original and should last more than the 60,000 miles we have put on the first. Las Vegas RV, the other store, had a mechanic available immediately and they began work within minutes after our arrival. First they cut the hitch lock – a 5/8 inch steel pin – to move the whole assembly from the coach. Then they had to cut the 2” opening with the stinger for the tow bar away and then use a maul to separate the parts. The only real casualty in this was the Tow Defender, a screen to keep stones from hitting the car, which has caused endless problems since I installed it. Both of its pivot pins were broken as the mechanic tried to free the tow bar. Rather than try to fix it again, I had them discard it. I have the highest praise and thanks to Ray, the service manager, and the mechanics who resolved this for us in under an hour and had us on the road in time to reach Canyon Trails RV in Boulder City the same day.