We had a horrible a nights sleep; a combination of cold temperatures and really uncomfortable beds. It felt that we had hardly slept at all! It was a real effort to get up, pack our belongings into the car and throw some food down our throats. Today was going to be all about travelling. Our next destination, Death Valley National Park, was only about 150 miles in a straight line but the problem was the Sierra Nevada mountains laid in our way. This meant going some 100 plus miles south, travelling east 50 miles, then turning north for 100 miles before turning east for another 100 miles. We made a relentless push for our destination, stopping only at Bakersfield for a quick bite in Costco. The plan had been to leave early to beat the roadwork on the road through the Park that was due to start at 7:00am, unfortunately we didn't make it and had to wait an hour for a construction vehicle to escort us through. Despite having to wait, we enjoyed our final trip through Park's forests and back down into the Central Valley.
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As we crossed over from the Central Valley to the other side of the Sierras we noticed a distinct change in the vegetation. The weather for this area predominantly comes from the west, and the Sierras wring most of the moisture from the westerly winds, leaving the areas to their east dry and barren. We were now travelling through the Mojave Desert. It was strange looking back on the same set of mountains we had seen from Kings Canyon, where the surroundings had been lush alpine forests, here was almost no plants except for rugged, low lying shrubs. The wind picked-up as a weather front pushed through and before we knew it we were being buffeted by gale force gusts.
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We climbed up through another set of desert mountains before reaching the boundary of Death Canyon National Park. This huge, barren park is the largest National Park in the Continental US, only the Parks of Alaska are larger, and it took us more than an hour to reach the first sign of civilisation, Stovepipe Wells. There is not too much here apart from a Ranger Station, a store, two restaurants, a bar and some accommodation. Still we were in much need of a break so we pulled over by a sign telling us we were now at sea-level. We were almost bowled over by the heat; Death Valley's reputation for being regularly the hottest place in the USA seemed well founded. When we got to the store there were lots of signs telling us that this is a hot place and that you need to take care when travelling through the Park. No kidding! The thermometer on the side of the store confirmed that it was hot, it read a
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steamy 105 degrees Fahrenheit. This seemed an ideal opportunity for an ice cream! Refreshed, we carried on the 25 miles to Furnace Creek, to the resort we were staying at. This is an oasis in the desert, complete with palm trees, swimming pools, golf courses and cold beer.
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As we crossed over from the Central Valley to the other side of the Sierras we noticed a distinct change in the vegetation. The weather for this area predominantly comes from the west, and the Sierras wring most of the moisture from the westerly winds, leaving the areas to their east dry and barren. We were now travelling through the Mojave Desert. It was strange looking back on the same set of mountains we had seen from Kings Canyon, where the surroundings had been lush alpine forests, here was almost no plants except for rugged, low lying shrubs. The wind picked-up as a weather front pushed through and before we knew it we were being buffeted by gale force gusts..jpg)
We climbed up through another set of desert mountains before reaching the boundary of Death Canyon National Park. This huge, barren park is the largest National Park in the Continental US, only the Parks of Alaska are larger, and it took us more than an hour to reach the first sign of civilisation, Stovepipe Wells. There is not too much here apart from a Ranger Station, a store, two restaurants, a bar and some accommodation. Still we were in much need of a break so we pulled over by a sign telling us we were now at sea-level. We were almost bowled over by the heat; Death Valley's reputation for being regularly the hottest place in the USA seemed well founded. When we got to the store there were lots of signs telling us that this is a hot place and that you need to take care when travelling through the Park. No kidding! The thermometer on the side of the store confirmed that it was hot, it read a .jpg)
steamy 105 degrees Fahrenheit. This seemed an ideal opportunity for an ice cream! Refreshed, we carried on the 25 miles to Furnace Creek, to the resort we were staying at. This is an oasis in the desert, complete with palm trees, swimming pools, golf courses and cold beer.
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