Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Death Valley Adventure…

A quick note here, I am posting this as at Monday morning, 9:30 a.m. mountain time… we have had problems with our Hughes Net Satellite Dish, but now have it working… sorry about the delay folks… we are enjoying Death Valley… now, carrying on with the blog…

We were all packed up and out of Pahrump around 10:00 this morning… it was nice out, and we took our time getting ready, as it is only about 1 1/2 hours out to Death Valley…

It was a nice drive from Pahrump out to the Valley…

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Back into the badlands…

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We were heading to a little Town called Furnace Creek, but we stopped along the way at Zabriskie Point… what a stop!   Awesome for the first view of Death Valley…

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You could hike into the badlands…

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A view of the parking lot from the lookout… yes, the big white dot in the middle is our RV…

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We had to stop and buy a $20.00 pass which is good for 7 days to get into the park at the Ranger’s Station at Furnace Creek.

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They have a dry camping RV lot at Furnace Creek, where we are tonight, for $12.00 a night.  We got set up and then decided to take a ride on the Burgman down to Daunte’s Peak… remarkable!  About a 25 mile ride from the RV.

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We ran into a nice couple from Oregon who took our picture… they just bought a trailer and are on a bit of a tour… no, that is now snow behind us, that is a salt flat/dry lake bed… the snow is on the top of the mountains behind us… what a spot… cannot describe this to you…

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This shot looks right up Death Valley, we are at the south end… it is about 90 miles up to the top!

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Had to get a picture of Judy with Her Burgman…

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We left the peak and headed to the floor which is the lowest spot in North America at about 220 feet below sea level…

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This was a 7 mile scenic tour we took on the bike…

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The mountains are all different colours… hard to describe and pictures just don’t do it… you have to come in person to see this!

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This is called a “Dip” below… rain will flow right to left right across the road during a rain storm…

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The dry lake bed sticks out like a sore thumb for miles…

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This whole valley used to be a lake years and years ago… the water is all gone, and all the minerals from the mountains settled on the lake bed and surrounding mountains… that is minerals you see behind me… the most common here is Borax.  They have now stopped open pit mining here, and it has been left for the Tourist!

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The scenic drive was one way, as the road got very narrow… lots of minerals…

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Stopped back at Furnace Creed for some gas in the Burgman… check out these prices… $5.40 a gallon… $5.77 for Diesel…  we took $7.00 worth and were happy!  No, we don’t have to buy any diesel here, we will have enough to get back to Arizona.  The average price for Diesel now is $3.99 a gallon.

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Here is our camp site tonight, and this post will be very late, as we are having problems with our usually reliable satellite internet tonight, and need to call tomorrow for help!

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Till tomorrow…

7 comments:

  1. I loved these pictures. We were there a few years ago and you are right, you have to see it in person!!!!

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  2. Friend of mine just came back from that area. Thought I was reading it twice! Check out her blog here -

    http://pintarsdeserttrip.blogspot.com/

    Deb

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  3. Very cool pictures. Is it very hot there yet?

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  4. Yet another great day for you and Judy!!..thanks for sharing the lovely photos!!..the price of fuel was quite something at Furnace Creek!!

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  5. Looking at your pictures reminded me that Anne and I have to make another trip up there soon. I think our last trip was soon after we were first married - about 38 years ago. Loved the pictures. Have a safe journey and I will see you in Bracebridge over the summer.

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  6. Thanks for the great tour and pictures. I never realized that Death Valley was so scenic. We'll have to add this place to our must visit list! Wow! I'll make sure our tanks are full before we go though!

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  7. I can't wait to see Death Valley. Did you know the run an ultra marathon in Death Valley up to Mt. Whitney. From the lowest point to the highest mountain in the lower 48. It's called Badwater. http://www.badwater.com/

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