Hikes in Death Valley

While in Death Valley on this trip we got to take 5 hikes.  We would have taken more but had to return to civilization to deal with a problem with our home.

But the hiking was, as usual, wonderful.  Sometimes we were on old mining roads, and sometimes we did cross-country.  We saw no one else on any of hikes, except a motorcycle rider on "main" (i.e., only) road as we returning to our campsite.  That's our idea of hiking--nobody but us.

Our camping spots above Sand Flats, Death Valley, after crossing the Panamint Range

We had two camping spots for our five nights in Death Valley.  We saw only three vehicles driving past our sites in those 5 days and nights.  One was a motorcycle.  Another was a couple who was lost.  We encountered one other motorcycle on our hikes.

That's it!  That's the isolation we seek.

Our two camping spots:

You have to look closely to see us in this one, but we are there.  This shows the grandeur of Death Valley, the scope of it.  And how we truly are lost in the desert. It was beautiful.

 

A nighttime shot.  We happened to hit a full moon.  It was awesome.

Crossing the Panamint Mountains in the Rat

The second stage of our adventure was leaving the Panamint Springs Resort and heading north into Death Valley, crossing the Panamint Range.

This dirt/rock road was classified as a Level 2 road, with Level 3 in a few places.  This means that you shouldn't try it in your Prius (or, more specifically, don't try it in OUR Prius)

It was amazing.  The road was a nothing for our 4Runner.  In fact, and this is the truth, we didn't even need to put it into 4WD once!  But that is a testament to the vehicle.

A section of the road we drove on:

After we had climbed a few thousand feet we had an awesome view back down into the Panamint Springs area.  Because we were facing the early morning sun the photo can't do justice to the view:

Death Valley in the Rat: Starting from the Panamint Springs Resort

150+ years ago, some settlers trying to get to California made two fatal mistakes.  The first is that they left late, and the second is that, to make up time, they tried to take a short-cut.

The short-cut they took was to try to go over the Panamint Mountains instead of around them, as most settlers did.  They didn't make it.  Two of them died, and the rest had to eat their oxen to survive.

When finally through all of this, one of them said:  "This was really a death valley."

The name stuck.

This was our sixth time in Death Valley.  Obviously we like it.  Actually, obviously we love it.

But this trip was different.  For all of our other trips we were in the "Turtle" (i.e., our camper).  This time we were in our "Rat" (i.e., our new Toyota 4Runner).

Because we were in the Rat, we could get to the interior parts of Death Valley, the parts that are dirt/rock roads that even our camper on our 4WD Dually pickup can't reach.

We chose Death Valley for this trip because it was on our way back to Whidbey Island.  We had planned on spending 10 days to 2 weeks there.  Those plans got derailed, but nevertheless we had another great experience.

We spent our first night at the Panamint Springs "resort."  For real. The name actually has the word "resort" in it.

You can look at this "resort" in two ways.  One way is to compare it to other resorts, in which case the idea is laughable.  Our "resort" was a room with no TV, no coffee maker, no refrigerator, no microwave, no air conditioning (IN DEATH VALLEY?), no room service, no swimming pool, no pictures on the walls, no nothing except a bed in a room with ONE wall outlet.

The whole "resort" has dirt roads.

Does this sound like a "resort?"  No?  Well.........let's be fair.

To look at it in the other way, fairly, it is in the middle of nowhere.  To even have a room (a pretty expensive one actually) was appreciated.  There was even a gas station with overpriced gasoline.....except it cost a lot to have someone deliver it there so it wasn't really overpriced.

And for the time of year......the off season....it was fairly busy.  It fills a need.

We have no complaints.  Here are some photos, and I'm sure that anyone looking at this room would gasp with how primitive it is.  But, as we say, it was appreciated.  It is what we needed in order to enter the back country of Death Valley.  It was a fine jumping off place.

We had a good night's sleep, actually.  The next day we entered the heart of Death Valley in our Rat.

The Panamint Springs Resort--an over priced motel.  Just what we needed.  Thanks!

Grandsons

We are blessed to have six wonderful grandchildren.  Four of them have been spending the past two weeks with us.  We have gone camping, swimming, hiking, out to eat, and to movies.