Death Valley

Location

Leaving Kern River / Lake Isabella KOA we traveled the 178 into Death Valley. Destination Furnace Creek Campground

The campground was large, many walking paths, access to the visitor center, and a pseudo shopping mall. We visited the Ice Cream Parlor and buffet restaurant. The buffet was horrible, we tried everything, all of it was bad. The grounds had a nice outdoor fireplace and many fountains, yes fountains in the hottest place on earth.

Pulling into Death Valley, I felt the brakes getting a squishy, I was using the engine brake and taking the hills slow, however the grades are steep and I could have been traveling slower. I pulled over as soon as I felt them get soft. The truck was billowing smoke from all wheels. My infrared temp gun would not register a temperature as the range(-52, 1202 F) was exceeded. Everything was fine after letting the brakes cool down. A bit squeaky getting started again but the noise quickly went away after a few uses.

Cycling in Death Valley is amazing, so much open space. Cars can be moving fast and bike lanes don’t exist, however car interactions were positive. Every body gave lots of room. I rode Artists Palette which is a perfect ratio ride (26Miles - 2600Ft elevation). When I go to Death Valley again I will ride the same route. It is easy to run out of water, bring as much as you can.

We toured the borax mine, learning history on the people running it. A few bad decisions were made at the time, those bad decisions lead to the whole basin being turned into a National Park. The region quickly became a tourist destination with big names promoting visiting the area. Death Valley is large basin > 3Million acres. Death valley has much mineral resources and active mineral rights are still utilized in the basin. The basin also catches and stores much water, Devils Hole being an example of massive water storage. Seismic activity in Japan can cause water displacement in Devils Hole. A tsunami was observed in Devils Hole when a 7.6 magnitude earth quake hit Mexico City.

We visited as Manly Lake was filling up due to recent heavy rains. The park has had many floods due to heavy rain and runoff in the last 2 years. Many roads had been washed out and some still remain closed. Walking in the basin and seeing Manly Lake form was special. The salt plains mixing with the rising water gave an illusion that much of the basin was full. We were able to take a full moon hike with the rangers out into Manly Lake. The second photo below is a couple that decided to walk out into the lake. The picture was taken under the moonlight.

After a few days in the Furnace Creek campground, we decided to move over to the dry camping area for a few days. The per night fees were minimal ($7 ??).

starlink

Worked perfect. We were in 3+Millon acres of valley, not an obstruction in site.

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