Sept 25/08 - Death Valley ... Fiery Furnace

Thursday, Sept 25th/08

We wanted an earlier start today as we head into Death Valley where the temperature at the Junction will reach at least 115F. WHEW!!! We were loaded up and on the road just after 8:00 in the cool sweet freshness of the morning. At present the temperature is in the high 60’s and perfect for riding. Smarter today I am back to wearing boots and the added protection of my chaps.

We stopped for fuel in Shoshone at 9:00 – time to take off my jacket – it’s already growing much warmer. As we were fuelling, a car with California plates drove into the pumps. A handsome young family – he takes note of our Canadian flags and asks in beautiful French “Parlez vous francais”? Well … my very rusty high-school French is rudimentary at best and that is a number of years ago. They are travelling here from Paris and are also headed into Death Valley. As we each stop to enjoy different photo ops we honk and wave as we pass and re-pass each other enroute.

The colourful red rocks of Arizona give way to softer, almost pastel hues here in Death Valley. Dusty rose, ochres and soft charcoals. These enormous monoliths rise up from the valley floor thousands of feet skyward. One can only marvel and wonder at the violence that birthed them an eternity of years ago.

A brisk wind from the summits chases pink sand across the road. It dances and snakes down the highway creating a myriad of patterns quite mesmerizing to the eye.
Death Valley is extreme desert. It is one of the hottest places in the world. Summer daytime temperatures often exceed a blistering 120°F (49°C), and nights may fail to cool below 100°F (38°C).The dramatic landscape in Death Valley helps generate these extremes. In the low valley bottom the desert sun heats the air. The valley's steep mountain walls trap rising hot air and recirculates it down to the basin for further heating. This cycle leads to sizzling temperatures. Death Valley is also the driest place in North America, with an average rainfall of less than 2 inches a year on the valley floor. The surrounding mountains and the Sierra Nevada to the west capture moisture from passing storms before it reaches the valley, creating a "rain shadow." Only the occasional summer thunderstorm or most powerful winter storm brings rain to the valley.
We turn into the visitor area in Badwater – the lowest point in North America. The low, salty pool, just beside the main park road is probably the best known and most visited place in Death Valley. A sign in front of the pool proclaims it to have an elevation of -282 feet - below sea level. Adjacent to the pool, where water is not always present at the surface, repeated freeze-thaw and evaporation cycles gradually pushed the thin salt crust into curiously hexagonal honeycomb shape. The young family pulls in beside us and I call over “Hey! Are you following us”? She gets it – and laughs.

We fuel again in Furnace Creek at 11:30 – aptly named as it is already in the low hundreds and not yet in the full heat of the day. As quoted by Oscar Denton, caretaker of what is now Furnace Creek Ranch on the record hot day of 134F (56C) in July 1913. “It was so hot that swallows in full flight fell to the earth dead and when I went out to read the thermometer with a wet Turkish towel on my head, it was dry before I returned”.

We stop for a much needed cold drink in Panamint Springs and enjoy a short sojourn in an air-conditioned oasis. Rod has been talking for some time about buying some sort of RV or “Toy Hauler” that will allow us to bring the bikes with us and day trip from areas with them and have a ‘house’ to come home to. That way during the long ‘boring’ stretches (or areas where air-conditioned comfort would be welcome) we could pack up the bikes and drive. Today, that is sounding like a great idea. The scenery is breathtakingly beautiful and warrants more time spent here but being continually in the blazing sun takes a lot out of us. Even the normally placid Rod gets a little grouchy. There are a number of roads that we would love to explore further such as “Artist Palette” but we decide to come back another time. Perhaps January would be better. The curvy, one-way, one lane Artist’s Drive leads you up to the edge of the Black Mountains. Artist’s Drive rises up to the top of an alluvial fan fed by a deep canyon cut into the mountain. As you make your way up to the mountain face you'll dip up and down, roller coaster-like as the road dips into ravines carved into the fan by Death Valley's occasional, but intense flash floods. The narrow road runs high up onto the fan, with views of the strikingly white salty floor of Death Valley in the distance.

As we head towards the mountains and Mammoth Lakes, at the 6000 ft elevation there is finally some surcease from the stifling heat. At 7000 ft I consider donning my jacket but decide to wait and enjoy the coolness for awhile. Lyn – you would love this!!!

We pull into Mammoth just after 4:00, fuel the bikes and ask directions to the Cinnamon Bear Inn – our accommodations for the night. I am quite taken with the name – it sounds very welcoming. Once we arrive, we realize that it’s a little quainter (rustic) than we imagined. No matter, it’s only for one night – we can certainly ‘rough it’ for once. After all – it’s not like camping. Rod always teases – “Linda, camp? No that’s a four letter word like tent and she tries not to use it”.

We ask Mike, the owner for a recommendation for dinner. He suggests ‘Whiskey Creek’, a mountain bistro with marvelous views out to the hills. We walk there … uphill with me whining half the way there. Me, who normally looks for a place to stay with exercise facilities and loves to walk is sniveling like it’s some kind of marathon.

After the heat of the day, we are both depleted and after an early dinner we are in bed by 8:30 and sleep and sleep. There was a visitor outside last night that left his calling card at the commercial garbage containers out front – a very well-fed black bear. Just after 4:00 I am awakened again by further noises outside. A number of coyotes are out on the porch and not being very quiet about it.