Today was the first day I would was riding alone all day long by myself. Because Paul and Roylene were starting to get into the wedding mode on Friday, I picked dirt roads that I thought would be fairly easy, and they were for the most part.
I started at 9:00 a.m. From Furnace Creek and headed south towards Badwater, which is the lowest elevation settlement in North America. But I turned off this highway and crossed over to the other side of the valley on the dirt road called West Side Road. During this stretch I was always below sea level.
When crossing the river, which happen to be running because of the rains this year, it all appears white and is only a few inches deep. It looks like snow and ice in the photos.
I continued on West Side Road, passing numerous roads that lead up to some canyons. Since I was by myself, I stuck to my game plan and didn’t venture up those roads, although I was very courious. The road was failry easy with only a few major ruts and mud flows from the recent rains. About 50 miles later I hopped out on highway 178, south of Badwater, and continued south to the the town of Shoshone to fill the tank back up.
After a small rest and jawing with a Harley rider there, I backed tracked to Furnace Creek Wash Road and turned on this gravel road to come up Green Water Valley. This was a fast gravel road with a few off beaten trails. I did take one of the off beaten trails to see where it lead, only to turn around once it started to get a little challenging. They seem to head into the mountains and meandee around.
Furnace Creek Road came to a paved road that took you up to Dante’s Peak that sported a view of the all of Death Valley. I stopped and had a late lunch there and then headed back to Furnace Creek.
Just before heading to the hotel,I venturedback down toward Badwater to do a small loop road called Artist Drive before heading home for the evening. You’llknow by the photos why it recieved it’sname.
At night we were to meet up with the other guests coming into town for the wedding at the bar at Furnace Creek Ranch 8:00p.m., so I claened up and got ready to enjoy the evening.
OK, I’m tired so it is short and sweet for you tonight. I also noticed that SPOT isn’t tracking that great. Probably due to the canyons I’m in and also the location of the SPOT device on my backpack. So it is best to download the Google Earth track that I downloaded from my GPS and see the trail.
Started at 9:30 and did Marble Canyon by myself. It was more work than I thought it would be. Rode it to the end and did a half hour walk up the canyon. Saw a cool skeleton remains of a coyote. Road out of the canyon and headed to the Racetrack – a dry lake bed where rocks “walk” and leave a trail. I was to hook up with Paul, Roylene, Tre, Stacy, and Katherine at the crater before heading to Racetrack.
Did hook up with the gang at 2:30 and headed to Tea Kettle Junction and Racetrack. Then returned and was back at 7:00 pm.
An Amazing place.
What an awesome place. The only other time I was in Death Valley was when I picked up my sister Jan in Las Vega and we headed to Mammoth Mountain. That was just a pass through drive.
You truly need to spend a few days here to see this massive area and all it has to offer. It is a geological wonder area….
Originally I was planning to start off with Titus Canyon. Paul and Roylene came by in the morning and we stopped in the Visitor’s center only to find out that Titus Canyon was closed. Turns out, Titus canyon was closed and the Hunter mountain pass was closed. These were two routes I had planned. So the three of us decided to try Echo Canyon that was just a few miles from us. The waiter last night recommended.
2.1miles from Furnace Creek Inn we hanged a left on Echo Canyon road. A good gravel 4-wheel drive road that snaked up to the mountain. We went through several slotted canyons, stopped at the Eye of the Needle before proceeding to Inyo Mine.
Inyo mine turned out to be a gem of a ghost mine with the mines not fenced off. We had quite a hike to get to them up in the mountain but was well rewarded with several mines that, according to Paul, went on and on in several ways. I didn’t have a light so I didn’t follow very far and Roylene was weary to venture into the mine without a canary.
Do we watched Paul’s light disappeared in the mine and we waited about 20 minutes before he resurfaced with his report of several shafts and openings.
We climbed higher and saw some mine shafts that drop deed deep into the earth and other mines openings that we a bit shakier.
We continued down the Echo Canyon trial to the end, which we were told that a short hike from the end would lead you to some paintings on some rocks. We hiked up the path for a while and it started to spit snow – that was how cold it was here. I was tired of hiking in my Sidi motorcycle boots (think ski boots) and decided to hang back and wait for a report from Roylene and Paul.
Roylene came back negative, Paul came back saying he saw the wall with about 15 paintings. I called bullshit, but I wasn’t about to hike back up there with him, so he won…
We headed back out of Echo Canon and when we got back to the highway, we headed up the road to the “Hole in the Wall” trail. This was a short 4 mile ride up a wash to unique area where it looked like woodpeckers had a filed day on the rocks.
With the mixed clouds and sunshine that we had, the landscape kept changing on us. You may look up and see a different perspective on the same angle from the last look
p.s. if you click on “View with PicLens” you can see the comments I wrote for the pictures
3/9/2010
Left at 7:30 am with a cold windy day here in OC. Forecasts called for a windy day with gusts up to 60 mph on the passes, which I had to climb. Last night I went to check the tires on the trailer and low and behold, someone screwed around with one of my spares and the valve stem was sliced. I still had another spare, so I’ll fix it when I return.
Talked with Johnny to get some tips on pulling a bigger trailer and he set me straight. talked with Larry for some additional tips. I had no problems with the new toy – after a while, forgot I was towing…
Paul and Roylene left a little latter and we ended up hooking up at a gas station in Baker before heading into Death Valley. On my way in I stopped at the Badlands for a break and photos.
This route was a very easy and quick way to get to Furnace Creek. We at the Furnace Creek Inn by 2:00 p.m. having a drink by the pool. My room wasn’t ready yet at Furnace Creek Ranch, so I took off for a quick loop through 20 Mule Canyon before checking into my room.
The Ranch is no Inn, but it isn’t bad. I’m staying with the people where Paul and Roylene are with Royalty, and probably the youngest ones there!
So far, a beautifulplace this time of year. And thanks for the comments….
p.s. if you click on “View with PicLens” you can see the comments I wrote for the pictures
Kind of… Paul’s youngest daughter is getting married and the wedding is in Death Valley National Park. So I decieded to take advantage of the time and go early and explore the back roads in this unique place with my DRZ400 bike.
I won’t be leaving till Tuesday morning but I wanted to get this out so you could register on the website and leave a comment so I can get the initial approvals out of the way before I leave. By registering now, you will get an email notification when I post. By leaving a comment now, once I approve your comment, you won’t be held in moderation on future comments.
The DRZ400 is a 400cc motorcycle manufactured by Suzuki. I purchased this bike for just this purpose – to explore back country roads and not worry about having a big heavy bike (such as the V-strom). If I drop this bike,I can easily pick it up. It is basically a street legal dirt bike.
I’ll be trailering the motorcycle to Furnace Creek and plan to make that my home base for the week. I’ll be borrowing Big Steve’s SPOT traker and will have that set up before I leave. I’ve gather from books and maps numerous routes I plan to take. I’ve also plotted those route in Google Earth and plan to have the file availabe for download.
So sign-up, post a comment and let’s have some fun!