HOT in Death Valley
We arrived in DV 20 days after the end of the season. OK, so we're a bit nuts. We wanted to hike AND get a head start on summer which we definitely did! We hiked nearly every trail in the park -- certainly all those reachable by dirt or paved roads, vs. extreme 4WD. Unfortunately, the week before we left for DV was a comedy of errors and we were not able to replace our Titan tires before we left, so we didn't travel some of the more remote roads in DV. We learned quickly during our first week -- we began to set our alarm clock for 5:06 AM so we could hit the trailhead early, while the shadows were still long and the temps only in the 80s and low 90s. Here are a few of our 122 photos!!
We arrived in DV 20 days after the end of the season. OK, so we're a bit nuts. We wanted to hike AND get a head start on summer which we definitely did! We hiked nearly every trail in the park -- certainly all those reachable by dirt or paved roads, vs. extreme 4WD. Unfortunately, the week before we left for DV was a comedy of errors and we were not able to replace our Titan tires before we left, so we didn't travel some of the more remote roads in DV. We learned quickly during our first week -- we began to set our alarm clock for 5:06 AM so we could hit the trailhead early, while the shadows were still long and the temps only in the 80s and low 90s. Here are a few of our 122 photos!!
Death in Death Valley
Big hot winds brought in our second week, as the temperatures rose to 106 (air temp) and 117 (according to our thermometer which was in the morning sun.) Having already bagged the major canyons, etc., we drove further out and found four geocaches in the desert west of DV (Panamint Valley), toured Scotty's Castle, did some drawing at the Artist's Palette, and completed smaller hikes, like the very fun sand dunes. We also drove through one other of the very few open campgrounds, Mesquite Spring, at a very sobering time ... shortly after the park rangers had arrived to deal with a woman who began to set up her camp, and died at the campsite. She lay sprawled at camp.
Last one to leave, turn out the lights
We talked with a man at camp in Furnace Creek (there were a grand total of five campers by now!) who was camping in his big motorhome and golfing in the mornings. That day, three golfers were on the course. We also talked with the government employee who ran construction projects in the park. They were about to shut down until October. And we talked with an employee on her last day. Restaurants were closing, and definitely DV was settling down for the summer season of extreme heat.
The Price of Gas
We never paid more than $4.79 a gallon! Yikes! 2/3rds of the cost of this vacation went to gasoline. The other third covered camping fees, food, a few times at restaurants, showers and dips n the Furnace Creek hot spring-fed swimming pool (a God send!), Dr. Peppers and ice cream sandwiches!!
A Great Time!
Our hiking legs are engaged; we could tell we had been working out and lifting weights; we have some early tan; and we drank gallons and gallons of water. It was a blast!! If you ever want to join us on one of our clearly exquisite adventures, let us know!
Andrea & Beryl
