Stephen and I totally missed out on the Vegas nightlife. We went to bed at 6 p.m. last night, and got up at 6 a.m. today. That's 12 hours of zzzs! Now I feel recovered from Toroweap.
So, of course, it's off to test our luck against Death Valley. (What could go wrong?)
The 95 north out of Vegas is not particularly interesting, except that the map indicates that there's a weapons testing site just on the other side of the mountains (that's where they used to do atomic tests). There are still lots of military bases there. We decide against seeing what kind of welcome we'd get if we drove in and played stupid: "Is this Death Valley? We're looking for Death Valley." Army guy: "It's the valley of death for you, spy!"
Nope. Better not.
We stop to gas up in Beatty, which is just outside Death Valley. It's a tiny little tourist town, but gas will be cheaper here than in the park. Side note: If we'd kept on driving down this highway, we would eventually get to the Extraterrestrial Highway. This confused me, but Stephen says it's because Area 51 is somewhere in Nevada, not in New Mexico. Who knew? (Those military base guys probably knew.) Oh yeah, and this travel agency in Yucca Mountain also knows.
Our first stop is not Death Valley, but the little ghost town of Rhyolite, NV. It was a mining town that started up with the gold rush in 1904, and it had about 3,000-5,000 people by 1907. The mine closed by 1910, the population dropped down to below 1,000, and by 1920 there was almost no one left there. Wow. Boom to bust. Most of the buildings are in the last stage of ruins, but the train station has been kept up, and Ned Kelly's bottle house - the walls are made of bottles! I'd love to take a peek inside - see how the light filters through, but alas, it is a ghost town and there's no one home. The BLM has also fenced off a lot of the sites now (in the past, it appeared to be wide open).
Just off from Rhyolite, there was also a little piece of property called the "Goldwell Open Air Museum". We wandered around and took a look at the sculptures (very cool!), but unfortunately, the building was closed when we were there.
After that, it's a short hop to cross the border into California, and on to Death Valley. I caught a glimpse of an old mine just as we were driving up the hills and into the park. The first thing you notice once you start descending down into the valley is this wide expansive salt flat that spreads over the base of the valley.
The first place we stopped was at the remains of the Harmony Borax Works (they used to mine a lot of minerals in Death Valley). There was a short little trail around the site, which was more than enough exertion in the heat.
At the Furnace Creek Visitor Centre, they've got a thermometer prominently mounted there, because they're the current record-holders for the highest temperature ever reported in North America: 134F (56C), set in July 13, 1913. Sadly, no records are broken today: it's only about 109F (43C) at Furnace Creek today. Oof. And I am apparently only one of three people in the park wearing long pants today (I don't want to burn).
There's a golf course at Furnace Creek, if you want to have a leisurely game in the heat. The visitor centre has tape wound all around their doorknob, so that you don't burn your hand when you grab the handle.
This is where we also discover that, yikes! gas is $5.30/gallon in the park. That exceeds Canadian gas prices (Stephen had calculated those to be around $4.50/gallon). Fortunately, we got cheaper gas in Beatty. Whew!
Zabriskie Point is a spectacular viewpoint of the desert, although you do face a short hike uphill to the viewpoint. :-) After that, we drove the Twenty Mule Team Canyon drive, which is an unpaved road (but it IS a road) - this was also a really cool drive, winding up and around where some of the old mines are located. The other very scenic drive was the Artists Palette (which reminded me of the Painted Desert in Arizona) - very beautiful multi-coloured hills.
But the hottest highlight of Death Valley was our little hike out to Badwater Basin. This is the lowest elevation in the US at 282ft (86m) below sea level. When we parked, there was a sign halfway up the rock face behind us, labelled "Sea Level". It wasn't a long walk, but I grabbed my water bottle anyway and clipped it to my belt.
Whew! It's HOT. Every time you open the door, it's a blast of heat. There's a hot wind blowing, like a little convection oven. Make that a big convection oven. We're walking out onto the salt flats at Badwater. It's very hot. Stephen checks his super-accurate lab thermometer (yes, he had permission to borrow it), and it's 52C. Fifty-freaking-two. By the time we turn around to go back, I decide to take a swig of my precious water - bleargh! We've been out here for maybe five minutes, and it's now the temperature of hot tea. Guess I should have got the insulated Sigg water bottle.
After that, our only stop was the Ashford Mill ruins (I like ruins!), and then we were driving out of the park towards Shoshone, and eventually Las Vegas. There's not much on the road, it's pretty empty until we're approaching the Interstate, and the small town of Baker.
Then I discover that we're near Zzyzx, which I want to see, and which is in the opposite direction of Vegas. This spurs a peculiar "who's on first, what's on second" imitation as we discuss "east of Baker... no, Barstow... but that's to the west... no, that's Baker, not Barstow." Baker/Barstow, east/west; we're not sure where we're going. Until we see the signs for the Alien Fresh Jerky store, at which point, everything is on hold: we slam on the brakes, go inside, and buy some Abducted Cow Jerky. (We're suckers for aliens.)
Eventually, having sorted out that we should go WEST from BAKER, we drive to the exit to Zzyzx, and I get my picture. We cruise over Zzyzx Road. Is that all there is? Somehow I want more. But there is no more. Zzyzx is gone, and only the signs remain. So sad. :'-(
We're too late in the day to visit the Mojave, but the Interstate runs alongside it for a long distance, so I get a peek at it. Back into Nevada, which immediately welcomes us with a flashy obnoxious casino right at the border. It's night by the time we're hitting Vegas again. We accidentally turn onto the strip for one block, before we get ourselves turned around and back to the Ramada. And that's it for Vegas. (We kind of snubbed it this time.)
So, of course, it's off to test our luck against Death Valley. (What could go wrong?)
The 95 north out of Vegas is not particularly interesting, except that the map indicates that there's a weapons testing site just on the other side of the mountains (that's where they used to do atomic tests). There are still lots of military bases there. We decide against seeing what kind of welcome we'd get if we drove in and played stupid: "Is this Death Valley? We're looking for Death Valley." Army guy: "It's the valley of death for you, spy!"
Nope. Better not.
We stop to gas up in Beatty, which is just outside Death Valley. It's a tiny little tourist town, but gas will be cheaper here than in the park. Side note: If we'd kept on driving down this highway, we would eventually get to the Extraterrestrial Highway. This confused me, but Stephen says it's because Area 51 is somewhere in Nevada, not in New Mexico. Who knew? (Those military base guys probably knew.) Oh yeah, and this travel agency in Yucca Mountain also knows.
Our first stop is not Death Valley, but the little ghost town of Rhyolite, NV. It was a mining town that started up with the gold rush in 1904, and it had about 3,000-5,000 people by 1907. The mine closed by 1910, the population dropped down to below 1,000, and by 1920 there was almost no one left there. Wow. Boom to bust. Most of the buildings are in the last stage of ruins, but the train station has been kept up, and Ned Kelly's bottle house - the walls are made of bottles! I'd love to take a peek inside - see how the light filters through, but alas, it is a ghost town and there's no one home. The BLM has also fenced off a lot of the sites now (in the past, it appeared to be wide open).
Just off from Rhyolite, there was also a little piece of property called the "Goldwell Open Air Museum". We wandered around and took a look at the sculptures (very cool!), but unfortunately, the building was closed when we were there.
After that, it's a short hop to cross the border into California, and on to Death Valley. I caught a glimpse of an old mine just as we were driving up the hills and into the park. The first thing you notice once you start descending down into the valley is this wide expansive salt flat that spreads over the base of the valley.
The first place we stopped was at the remains of the Harmony Borax Works (they used to mine a lot of minerals in Death Valley). There was a short little trail around the site, which was more than enough exertion in the heat.
At the Furnace Creek Visitor Centre, they've got a thermometer prominently mounted there, because they're the current record-holders for the highest temperature ever reported in North America: 134F (56C), set in July 13, 1913. Sadly, no records are broken today: it's only about 109F (43C) at Furnace Creek today. Oof. And I am apparently only one of three people in the park wearing long pants today (I don't want to burn).
There's a golf course at Furnace Creek, if you want to have a leisurely game in the heat. The visitor centre has tape wound all around their doorknob, so that you don't burn your hand when you grab the handle.
This is where we also discover that, yikes! gas is $5.30/gallon in the park. That exceeds Canadian gas prices (Stephen had calculated those to be around $4.50/gallon). Fortunately, we got cheaper gas in Beatty. Whew!
Zabriskie Point is a spectacular viewpoint of the desert, although you do face a short hike uphill to the viewpoint. :-) After that, we drove the Twenty Mule Team Canyon drive, which is an unpaved road (but it IS a road) - this was also a really cool drive, winding up and around where some of the old mines are located. The other very scenic drive was the Artists Palette (which reminded me of the Painted Desert in Arizona) - very beautiful multi-coloured hills.
Whew! It's HOT. Every time you open the door, it's a blast of heat. There's a hot wind blowing, like a little convection oven. Make that a big convection oven. We're walking out onto the salt flats at Badwater. It's very hot. Stephen checks his super-accurate lab thermometer (yes, he had permission to borrow it), and it's 52C. Fifty-freaking-two. By the time we turn around to go back, I decide to take a swig of my precious water - bleargh! We've been out here for maybe five minutes, and it's now the temperature of hot tea. Guess I should have got the insulated Sigg water bottle.
After that, our only stop was the Ashford Mill ruins (I like ruins!), and then we were driving out of the park towards Shoshone, and eventually Las Vegas. There's not much on the road, it's pretty empty until we're approaching the Interstate, and the small town of Baker.
Then I discover that we're near Zzyzx, which I want to see, and which is in the opposite direction of Vegas. This spurs a peculiar "who's on first, what's on second" imitation as we discuss "east of Baker... no, Barstow... but that's to the west... no, that's Baker, not Barstow." Baker/Barstow, east/west; we're not sure where we're going. Until we see the signs for the Alien Fresh Jerky store, at which point, everything is on hold: we slam on the brakes, go inside, and buy some Abducted Cow Jerky. (We're suckers for aliens.)
We're too late in the day to visit the Mojave, but the Interstate runs alongside it for a long distance, so I get a peek at it. Back into Nevada, which immediately welcomes us with a flashy obnoxious casino right at the border. It's night by the time we're hitting Vegas again. We accidentally turn onto the strip for one block, before we get ourselves turned around and back to the Ramada. And that's it for Vegas. (We kind of snubbed it this time.)
Comments
Post a Comment