Death Valley NP
It’s been 2 busy weeks. Only two days after coming back from NYC, we hit the road direction Death Valley National Park. A place that can only be described with superlatives. This is the lowest, driest and hottest national park in the US.
Because of the extreme heat – and the fact that the A/C in my car is down, January seemed like a good time to go visit this very special place on earth. Here is a log of our 3-day trip down there. Enjoy.
01/17
Wasn’t sure if it’d work out or not, but I got my PTO approved for next Monday. This is it, we are going to death valley this weekend !
Wasn’t much motivated at first. We had just come back from NYC and I would have loved some much needed rest after those fairly engaging days. Hitting the road for some 8-hour drive down the state wasn’t the first thing that came into my mind. Anyways, I had some pretty great excuses for not going. You know those bullshit excuses we make -when we actually know what’s good for us. Fuck it. It is7:40 pm and we are leaving Emeryville.
Somewhere on the highway 5, we stop to pump up the tires cause the tire pressure light was on – and still is. It was about damn time. It’s been on since the very first day I got that car – last July. All 4 tires are at 32 psi, let’s go.
Later, we stop on the side of a road, somewhere near Bakersfield to get some much needed sleep. Thinking we could have driven 8hours straight in the middle of the night, after a day of work was foolish of me.
01/18
We get up and the morning light allow us to contemplate some of the Great Valley Landscape. Due to its climate and fertile soils, it is THE spot to farm in California – The Valley produces around 25% of the food nationwide Can’t-Miss Central Valley Farms. Fields as far as the eye can see, and even further beyond the horizon. Amongst others, a consequence of intensive farming in those regions is the water availability. To help “solve” the issue causing shortages for fighting the fires in LA, the new administration recently took action Trump orders more California water deliveries from Central Valley.
After stopping for a nice coffee, we drive past the Mojave wind farm – aka Alta Wind Energy Center (AWEC). One of the largest onshore wind energy project in the world Alta Wind Energy Center (AWEC), California – Power Technology. Here is what’s fascinating about the US: When they do something, they rarely half-ass.
The best as much as the worse. It feels like they don’t know the word “moderation”. Either they do it -like really do it, or they don’t. Lots of extremes
A few hours later, the landscape has changed, everything is different, driest, bigger. This is it, we are at Death Valley.
We reach Badwater at around 3:30pm. The lowest point on the continent. It Takes a few minutes for the brain to understand that the white stuff laying on the ground isn’t cold, wet and slippery. At 5 the sun is setting down and it’s like a color filter gets down to cover the entire valley.
It’s nearly pitch dark and we arrive at Stovepipe wells Campground. It is just after 7pm and the clear sky is already sprinkled with stars. Around, families, friend groups or lonely travelers who like us, have driven hours and hours to get lost in the middle of this desert.
What is that smell ? Curry ? Burned Chicken ? Roast beef ? We get it all. Americans are usually no jock when it’s about camping (again, they don’t half ass it !). They have trailers (with AC of course), the best grills you ever saw, tents that can cover an entire army and much more.
Anyways, we do some rice salad with tuna, corn, beans and a nice dressing. Eating something hot really does feel great. I used to barely cook and only eat sardines out of a can but, I’m slowly improving.
Before going for a quick wash up, I go see those 2 french dudes on the spot right in front of us. In front of their spot: 2 Bikes. That’s intriguing. Who would or can come right in the middle of the desert riding a bike ?No one I believe. After a few minutes, I understand that they have flown here from LA. It’s about 1h30min flight. Sounds way better than 8hours in the car right … That is one of the things I love about meeting people in this country ; Anything is possible, the sky is the limit.
I never though landing a plane in the middle of the desert was something anyone or rather “normal people” could do. It reminds me that (most often than not), what everyone is doing isn’t always the only, best and most efficient way to do things.
01/19
It’s is not even 5:30am and the sun is already up. We sleep in. Only at around 7, we pack, go for a wee, make some tea and off we go. We set cap to Furnace Creek visitor center. A nice ranger give us a few great spot to check out for the rest of the day and tomorrow. We wanted to start off with Golden Canyon but fuck it,. Too many cars parked, let’s take the next exit. So here we are, a few km further down the road at Desolation Canyon.
We take some food, some water and start what was supposed to be a 1h hike to the top. The landscape is literally mind fucking. Are we on mars? Star wars?
It is not just the shaping of the landscape, it’s the colors and the distances too. Everything is so big that things looks small until you get closer.
We make our way up top and have a great lunch. The view is stunning and life couldn’t be better.
The turning point of our day will only be at around 1pm, when we decide to be adventurous and go “off trail” to get back to the car. Fucking idiots. We get lost and the clock is ticking. It’s funny now looking back but definitely wasn’t back then. Especially when you realise that you are not that far from making a movie like 127hours. Nearly 4 hours later we eventually make is back to the car.
We then go to The Devil’s Golf Course, The broken bridge and check out the The artist drive on the way back.
The night is already settling in and it is too dark to even wink about going swing Zabriskie point or Mt. Perry. Instead, we head up north, to Mesquite Spring Campground. Higher in altitude, therefore a bit colder but dryer. There is a polar wind and we are tired. We still manage to cook some decent pastas. Stargazing was on the list but after a quick cleanup we go straight to bed -still I saw a shooting star !
I can see the stars from the car window. The sky has never been so clear. It’s like we are on a planet a spot with twice as much stars as Earth. What a day to be alive. Love this place.
01/20
This morning, we don’t have time to lose time. We leave early. After packing our things and a quick breakfast, we get on the road to Ubehehe crater. It is 7am, the sun is shinning and we start walking around the crater. Like anything else in this damn valley, it is gigantic, rocky and looks like from another planet.
After this gorgeous trail, we headed for Fall Canyon. To get to the headtrail, you gotta go through a 5k dirty unpaved road.
For this trail, we are talking 700m elevation over about 5k Fall Canyon – Death Valley National Park (U.S. National Park Service). The trail ground kinda sucks to be honest. Even though the slope is gentle all the way to the top, we walk in the bed of a river -because yes, this is how canyons are made. Therefore, the ground is made of small alluvium slowing you down.
Before, leaving we stop by the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. We are fairly exhausted and it’s time to go – gotta show up to work in the morning… On the way back, we can smell and see the smoke coming all the way from the fires in LA. Later that night we stop at In-n-out for a great burger -you cannot beat that.
6:40 am Tuesday morning, the alarm goes off. Back to reality.
Everything in this valley is out of scale. We did about 2,000miles (3218km) over 4 day. It is easy to lose track of time and forget that cities even exist. We had a great time.
Cheers,
