WIND, TEA KETTLES AND FLOWERS ON STRIKE…

Lava Rock
Death Valley

With an early morning hasta la vista to Chula Vista we head north.  Our plan is to see how far we get, with a goal to be in Death Valley the following day.  Traffic is light so we keep going and get to Death Valley in the early afternoon.  Arriving at the Furnace Creek campground we discover that the space we reserved is still occupied, but the Ranger remembers us and offers another space that we gladly accept. We check the map and son of a gun if it isn’t the same spot we were in last December.  Now this just feels like home!

In less than an hour we are set up and walk over to the visitor’s center to check the schedule of ranger talks for the week and check their weather station.  Good news: there are a number of ranger talks on new subjects – (cool.)  Bad News:  winds will be hitting up to 65-70 mph in the next 2 days – (argh.)

Taking advantage of the calm before the storm we head up to the Furnace Creek Inn for a cocktail and to see if our favorite bar tender, is still there.  Unfortunately, she transferred to another park two weeks ago.  However our waitress recognizes us and we have a fun time catching up.  After one cocktail we decide to head down to the Corkscrew Saloon for the one dish worth ordering in Death Valley; Dante’s Pizza… a bit of thin crust heaven with extra chorizo & jalapenos. (Mouth burning heaven for us, or hell for those with sensitive taste buds.)

Dust Storm at Mesquite Flats Dunes

We get up early the next morning and drive up to Dante’s View, the wind isn’t too strong but a dusty haze obscures the landscape.  We drive out to the mesquite dunes.  The wind is picking up and sand is billowing and drifting across the road. Not too fun and certainly not weather to spend out of doors taking lots of pictures and the gusts are really picking up moment by moment.  So we head back and hunker down.

Once the winds subside we are ready to venture out.  This time of year usually draws hundreds of tourists to view the spectacular desert wild flowers and cactus blooms.  But this year the plants are on strike.  Seems the flowering plants are protesting cut backs in water and general climate change.  This coupled with the high winds leaves very few specimens but we are able to find and photograph some. 

Wild flowers

Wind Blown Wild Flower

Desert wild flower
& pollinator

Teakettle Junction

Starting early morning driving past the Ubehebe Crater we take a dirt road that leads to the racetrack. We stop at the quirky roadside attractions, Teakettle Junction. It’s located at the junction of two dirt roads neither of which leads to anything explaining the name.  The origin of its name is lost to history but its legacy lives on with ever-changing teakettles. Last December we passed the junction twice and were disappointed that there were no teakettles the first time and one teakettle and a watering can the second.  Visitors since that time have replenished the supply and we added our kettle to the mix.

www.daveanddimples.com

Wildrose Charcoal Kilns

We continue on the little used dirt road to Hunter Mountain, and down Saline Road to Panamint Springs through desert with budding yuccas and over higher passes through pinion pine forests.  From Panamint Springs we take the Wildrose cutoff to the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns. The charcoal kilns complex in Wildrose Canyon is among the more remarkable historical-architectural features of Death Valley National Park. These ten beehive shaped stone structures, about 25 feet high, are believed to be the best known surviving example of such kilns to be found in the western states.

Mesquite Flat Dunes

Our last stop is the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes.  The dunes freshly sculptured by the recent windstorm in the late afternoon light make for some great photo ops. All in all we complete a 200-mile loop with 70 plus miles of dirt roads through some of the more remote areas of the park with spectacular scenery. 

Touring off road in Death Valley without accurate maps can be dangerous.  (They don’t call it Death Valley for nothing.) Thanks to the National Parks Maps HD app by NationalGeographic we are able to navigate the unmarked dirt roads crisscrossing the desert and mountains with confidence. 

Now for our unsolicited testimonial:  With downloadable (when we have internet connections) detailed topographical maps for 20 of the top National Parks this app gives us accurate GPS positioning when we’re off the beaten track without cell service or internet.  So far we have used this app on our iPhones when hiking and iPads when driving in Yellowstone, The Arches and Death Valley.  At only $3.99 this is a Dave and Dimples top pick tool for select National Park adventure travel. 

Death Valley is beautiful (as usual) but we can’t dilly dally here for long… So it's onto Reno to visit some family.... We need to continue on northward…
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