I thought I’d play Death Valley tourist this trip. After a leisurely morning start including a couple of cups of coffee I headed off to Scotty’s Castle. But first a stop for fuel… at over $5.50/gal. Ouch.
Scotty’s Castle
Before getting to the castle I saw the turn off to the Mesquite Campground and took a two mile detout to check it out. Not quite as nice as Furnace Creek, but at 2000 feet elevation or thereabouts likely much cooler.
When I got to Scotty’s Castle I found Jill with her guest, Jan. Jill informed me that the group was going to gather in Furnace Creek at 1 PM for lunch. Sounded good. With that time in mind I wandered around the castle, taking exterior photos before heading off for my next stop.
Ubehebe Crater and the road to the Eureka dunes
Hole in ground
Road to Eureka Dunes
Oh look, a big hole in the ground. I stopped at Ubehebe crater for no real reason. Unlike most previous stops the wind was not blowing this go around.
It was too soon to head the 50 miles back to Furnace Creek when I left the crater so I took a detour down the road to the Eureka dunes for a few miles. If the entire road is as good as those few miles it’d not be difficult on the GS. Someday I should find out.
I turned around after taking a picture and headed back to Furnace Creek where I saw Ginny and Rich. Claudia and Gary soon arrived. In SMBC style we entered the restaurant at 1 PM, even though only 5 of the eventual 11 people were present. The rest arrived before we were served.
Leaving the restaurant after lunch was like walking into an oven. Time to gain some altitude.
Zabriskie Point
I rode south on 190, first stopping at Zabriskie point to take some pictures. I think it’s been quite a while since I stopped there.
Dante’s View
I got back on the bike and continued south on 190 to the Dante’s view turnoff and headed up to the top. It was at least 25 ºF cooler. I took some more photos, but there was so much haze I didn’t expect very good results.
While at the top I talked with a gentleman
who had his camera on a tripid taking time lapse images of the valley at
the rate of about 30 frames/minute. He said he’d run the series for 24
hours. He’s looking for a result that is soothing when played back.
Sounded interesting.
Texas Spring Campsite
Another glorious sunset
Sunset 2
Sunset 3
Moon in the east
Moon
I got back to my campsite about 5 PM. I had a beer while snacking on some chips, then made soup for dinner. As the sun went down the camera came out for more sunset and moon pictures. The moon was so brite this trip I barely used my flashlight and didn’t bother using a lantern. By 9 PM I was in my tent. It was still plenty hot.
