Death Valley Day 3

Ride: Furnace Creek to Stovepipe Wells
Distance: 25 miles

Well, the weather was good while it lasted. Last night the winds came up and this time it was clear the weather was changing - and not for the better. So rather than heading down to Badwater and then Stovepipe Wells, I just packed up and booked for Stovepipe Wells.

Clouds coming in

As this was another "shakedown" ride, I got to see how the rig (and it's pilot) would do in strong(30-35 MPH) headwinds (and crosswinds). I think we passed the test - the only uncomfortable moments were when one of those giant, flat faced RVs got a little too close (no shoulders on the roads here) and smacked me with a bow wave of air that (like me) probably just wanted to get out of his way! 

But most of the drivers were more than courteous and gave me plenty of room - which I occasionally needed with the gusty winds! Got back to the truck just in time for the rain to start. Now I was the one who didn't mind being inside a comfortable, climate controlled vehicle.

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Death Valley Day 2

Ride: Mesquite Springs to Furnace Creek
Distance: 52 miles

The winds did come up from the north last night, but not too bad and I was only shaken awake a couple of times. Coffee'd up, fed and rolling by 730. After the 2 mile grind out of the campground (uphill and into the wind - nice warm up). I set sail for Furnace Creek. With a 20 mph tailwind and heading downhill, I averaged about 25 mph for the first 20 miles - nice!

I can't get enough of the open road views

Mesquite was in bloom

While waiting for campground kiosk to open after lunch, I ran over to store and grabbed a drink.

It was about 85 F - shade felt great!

The visitor center had a super swell (filtered) water bottle filler so the water didn't taste like borax - a big plus for a water connosuer like me. Met some more nice people in camp and then got down to cooking up a little dinner - pasta and herbs with smoked trout. This paired nicely with a pale ale from the Furnace Creek general store. Simple pleasures :)

A fine pale ale is best enjoyed in a semi- clean plastic cup

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Death Valley - Day 1

Ride: Stovepipe Wells to Mesquite Springs campground (side trip to Scotty's Castle)
Distance: 54 miles

Lots of wide open road

Made a last minute decision to do another mini tour - this time to Death Valley. California may have its faults (no pun intended), but beautiful places for weekend bike tours is certainly not one of them. Left the peaceful Pine Avenue Compound at 430 and after a very nice drive via CA 190, was at Stovepipe Wells at 8:00. A little final packing and I was rolling at 830.

Nice rest spot

Was a bit worried about the wind as a dry front was supposed to be kicking some north winds up, but all I had was a tailwind! No complaints from me...... Although it will probably come in tonight and blow me out to Vegas!

Easy riding, courteous drivers and (of course) the surreal beauty of the valley kept me smiling :) and before I knew it, I had knocked out 40 miles and was at the campground (there was a pretty good 2500 ft. Grind at the end that had me glad I that brought 3 water bottles).
I found a site and had camp set up in short order. When I went to pay for my site, I got a nice surprise:

That works for me

To celebrate my windfall, I took a quick ride up to see Scottys Castle - while taking a break there, this coyote cruised through looking for some tourist handouts!

Wiley working the tourists

Scotty's handy work

Signs with numbers and arrows help tell the story

Met some nice folks in camp (steve and terry from Portland) chatted for an hour or so about camping, running and the drought. Nice people. The crescent moon was paired up with a couple planets (Mars and Venus I found out later) which made for a just evening sky show. Fell asleep with a pack of coyotes howling and barking their evening plans amongst their pack.

Can't see the smaller planet (Mars)

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