Into California through Death Valley

Long time no write, where have you been?

Oh wait – that was me.

MIA in Death Valley – ha

Nice to see you on the other side (Hello there – beaming smile).

What have you missed? What happened in that Valley of Heat and below sea level desert valleys? Famous for their high temperatures and extreme landscapes.

I will tell ya – lets get to it.

We woke up early, after the great burro boot caper was foiled (forever vigilant, I swear). Packed up our shoes, Kyle put our tent away (a release thingy here, a push down doo-dad there, click click and done, loving it). We were off, to Henderson Nevada, a city outside of Las Vegas. We are stopping there to pick up our newly Amazon ordered 5 lb. Propane tank, top off our groceries and pop by Camperland RV Store to obtain a food safe water fill hose (because garden hose water doesn’t taste as refreshing as you remember from when you were a kid and hot in the summer running around the backyard – plastic and rubber – not so yum).

Kingmans Wash Exit
Kingman’s Wash, outside Boulder, Nevada.

We arrive at the Amazon lockbox – getting very excited to try this out, as we have seen people use them on YouTube, and heard how easy – but it is our first time, so we are going to figure it out.

Drive to the Safeway, with the lock-box outside- no email with zippy unlock code. Hmmmmm

Double check email – yup confirmed delivered yesterday. (We have 72 hours to pick up before instant return – we are 30 hours in – not the issue). Check email again – nothing. Check Amazon Account – nothing. Okay – we decide to go to Camperland and do that errand first. Get the water hose, dump our super plastic tasting water and Camperland is so awesome – they let us fill our sweet little 10 gallon tank onsite (big shout out to Camperland RV Store, Henderson – you guys are doing it right in all the best ways). We grab a bite of lunch – found a Mexican food place near the Amazon box and thought Tacos. Now we are fed and watered (HA- see what I did there – ba doomp chink). Back to Safeway for a hopeful drop box update. Shop at Safeway, grab the essentials (aka. Gluten Free Oreo’s – I mean we bought more but who cares if you have those delightful Oreo’s).

Still no delivery – and now the account says – package delayed.Well humph – we are on a schedule here; we have places to see, roads to drive and things to tourist the heck out of. It is 3 in the afternoon and we got there at 8 am – we can wait no more. Abandon our hope for our little propane buddy and off towards Death Valley we go.

Road to Death Valley
Moonrise over Mountain Pass, Near Death Valley National Park

Zip along – through the desert and over some mountains, we are cruising down into Death Valley talking of all the trails we will take now we are set-up for the portions of the park we couldn’t do before. This is a return trip as we visited last year in early February. We check in at the Furnace Creek Visitors Center, talk to the ranger on duty and get road/trail conditions – all green for go – along with the warnings – have lots of water, make sure you have enough petrol ( I have the humor of a 12 year old boy so if you say Gas I giggle because – well toots- hahahahahaha). 

Beatty Night Nite
BLM Wild Camp outside Beatty, Nevada

We have decided to stay the night outside of the park, just outside the town of Beatty, NV close to the historic site of Rhyolite. We find our spot while the sun is setting and get ourselves situated under the cover of night and blanketed in stars (not too shabby for day 3 of our new life). Tomorrow we will enter back into the park via Titus Canyon. Morning arrives and we are go to use our newly tasty water from our tank and grum bum, no water will come out? 

What??? It was working yesterday – click click

Check the fuse thing, the pump – is it getting juice? Yup

Is water leaking inside and not making into the hose? Nope

Oh man – we are going to be rolling around backcountry roads in Death Valley and we have no onboard water?

Okay, we can do this, we were going to start the day topping off our petrol in Beatty, grab Kyle a soda and begin. We will just grab some water bottles and a gallon jug or two and we can figure out our pump issue later, nothing we can do on the side of a mountain. Off to Beatty and then to explore Rhyolite Ghost Town along with some very cool art installations. (I could go all travel agent here and give you all kinds of history and information, but there are tons of people who have written, blogged and explored all of this in-depth than anything that I could provide, so we will stick with the highlights. Ready – cool art – Ghost Town – look at the pictures we took – ewwww – ahhhh). 

Plaster Last Supper
Last Supper, Rhyolite Art Installation, Nevada
Mosaic Couch
Mosaic Couch, Rhyolite Art Installation, Nevada
Rhyolite Ghost Town 1
Entering Rhyolite Ghost Town, checking out the local Bank.
Rhyolite Train Depot
Rhyolite Train Depot & Hotel.
Rhyolite Caboose
Rhyolite Rail Road, Caboose, left where the track through town would lead to Las Vegas, Nevada

Now off to Titus Canyon for Closed Mines, dirt roads and some switchbacks up and then down mountains. We check the weather one last time before we head out of service range and find we are due for a huge wind storm for the next 4 days within Death Valley. Roof top tent, gale force winds- blowing dust and no terrain for wind breaks – okay – what do we do? 

I look online (good old google to the rescue again), find that Mesquite Campground within Death Valley has some cover and is a 1st come 1st served campground. If we make it there, we can hopefully ride out the night with some protection, and potable water to refill – praise the Lord.

Plan in place we are finally on our way to Titus Canyon. This Canyon is a 4×4 rated gravel road that traverses steep inclines up a mountain side, switchback curves decent into a canyon and when you are all done, you find yourself emerging from steep Rock walls into a overlook of Death Valley. Truly beautiful and here are just a few pictures. 

Titus Canyon 1
Entry to Titus Canyon, Death Valley, California
Titus Canyon 2
Driving Titus Canyon, Death Valley, California
Beefy Jeep Titus Canyon 3
Rorie, looking sweet rolling through Titus Canyon, Death Valley, California

Oh they have old abandoned mines, lots of interesting history about the area – some of which is a bit scandalous. Involving fraud, a mining town that didn’t last 2 years and a railroad built to sell shares to unassuming investors taken for a very expensive lunch and pocket money fleecing. 

Once we emerged on the other side of Titus Canyon, we revel in the expanse of Death Valley and the variation of the terrain laying before our eyes.

Death Valley Overlook
Overlooking Death Valley National Park, from the Titus Canyon exit.

To Mesquite Campground for, fingers crossed a spot to sleep. This campground is tucked into a little wash basin that in good times has access to some water – hence the small vegetation  that we are hoping will provide some relief against the oncoming wind storm. We find a spot and tuck in. Close to the rest rooms and luck has it – upwind – which unless you didn’t know – matters a lot. (We found that out the hard way this one time in Sedona – ahh perfume a la outhouse). We had a lovely sunset and are counting our blessings as we revisit our 4 day itinerary for the rest of our time here. What we were going to do in 2 nights 3 days will now be a truncated version, drop a trail and hit: Eureka Sand Dunes, up Dedeckera Canyon, up Steel Pass rolling into Saline Hot Springs, out Saline Valley Road to Lone Pine, California. We calculate our petrol and the mileage like – 5 times and we can do it all in a day but we have to make it out to Lone Pine for camping otherwise we will be sleeping in storm winds rolling sand everywhere. I am thinking maybe we could stop in Saline Hot Springs, but Kyle isn’t so sure he is up for naked people in Hot Springs. Such a gentleman my man.

Death Valley Camp 1
Mesquite Campground, Death Valley, hiding from the wind and eating dinner.

Sunrise finds us after a very windy night a-top our Jeep. But we didn’t blow away nor did we have any tent failures, we were safe and sound (loud gusty sounds, but sound).

Top off our water stores and trash in the dumpster – we are off. Let’s off-road this park. Two days of trail in one day – here we come.

Final Pack/Adventure Begins

Hi, 

Wow what a day Monday was am I right? Broken Windshield, stuff just not going our way. Shakedown to say the least. But that can’t keep us down, no sir.

We booked it back down to our house, I started to refine the packing situation, big bulky queen sized sleeping bag, ba bye, little bitty camping pillow for Kyle, ha nice try dude – not making the trip (man needs a real person sized pillow). Streamline and cut weight, while I did that Kyle was finishing up the build of the Jeep. I mean tweaking the added 10 gallon under mounted water tanks, testing the water pump, wrapping up the electrical system and all the do-dads and make the “juice” go hickies (I am not versed in how the electrical magic works, I am just blessed to use it- beaming smile). 

Wednesday morning, last day in our house – we showered in our shower, ate breakfast at our table and then hit the ground running with final packing. Estate Sale team arriving at 9 am, Windshield replacement appointment set for 9:30 am, had a box to send via USPS to Hawaii as all of the European River Cruise clothes did not make it into the Jeep as originally planned (Oh, did I NOT tell you that in the middle of our road trip, we are going for a 10 day river cruise from Budapest to Munich? YAY – we are traveling now people), 9:45 am (walking the streets of Phoenix hauling a box in the morning). Ah the joys of moving your whole life into 96 square feet. 

Are we crazy??? 

Maybe. 

Man, things got done, that day and we made our way to our very 1st -official – wild camp- Kingman’s Wash with views of upper Lake Mead, right before the Hoover Dam byway crossing.

So, we are all settled into our spot and are dipping our toes into our new lifestyle and I have to say, it was eye opening. Not because we are sleeping in a tent on top of our Jeep, nor that everything we own and are taking with us for the next 10 months is packed in same said rig. No, it was the Van Lifer’s. 

Did you know that they circle up with each other like Old Pioneers? Do they know each other, nope, but they saddle next to each and then hang out. Like a little community, wherever you park. Amazing.

Now if you are unaware, Lake Mead has wild burro’s in the area, aka donkey’s. Burro’s like to drink water and they just roam around anywhere they want, I mean really we are parked in their yard, so who is to say anything. So, these 3 Burro’s (Daddy Burro, Mommie Burro and Baby Burro – no joke), trot into the Van circle, dogs go bonkers, Burro’s get skittish and gallop away, Van Lifer’s emerge staring at the Burro’s (I giggle).  Burro family trots around and finds another route to the lake for a drink. La la la – happy day for all.

Wild Burro’s – wandering toward Lake Mead, NV.

Now nature is a funny thing, and I, newbie to overloading, haven’t gotten used to the sounds and ways of said nature. See, serves ME right for giggling. Kyle and I are cozy sleeping in our lofty bed, snuggly and snoring, when out of a deep sleep I hear that snuffle sound, not sure what it is called so snuffling it will be, that horse rumble when they are eating and rummaging. Well, there it was, the snuffling – and it was LOUD. I mean like right by my head loud and I bolt awake – yell out – Don’t eat those Boots! I unzip the tent window ready to throw and scrap with anything because we left our shoes outside and Kyle’s brand new boots were not in the “safe” basket. Now I don’t have my glasses on, or contacts in, I cannot “see” anything, nor did I startle any Burro’s. Calmly, from inside the tent, this is what transpires:

Kyle in a calm and quiet voice – what are you doing?

Me, heart beating and ready to pounce – saving your boots

Kyle – who is after my boots?

Me – the Burro’s – they take boots

Kyle, laughing – Burro’s want my boots? What are they going to do take them for a walk? More laughter.

Me – they don’t eat leather?

Kyle – nope – they like bushes the boots are safe.

So, now, just in case you didn’t know – Burro’s eat Boots and I will save them for you.

Val the new boots savior of Lake Mead.

Off to Death Valley to do a few trails we always wanted to drive.

See you all next week.

Sunset over Lake Mead, NV