February 20, 2025 - Car Fixed and Return to Fresno

 

Title: February 20, 2025 - Car Fixed and Return to Fresno
Hike Info : Description : Trail Lessons : Menu : Extra Photo's : Animals 

Hike Info:

Type:Car

Borax Museum

Description:

Wow! Last night we had a couple wind events. Both Sherri and I woke up to things flying off of the table. But Sherri got ready first and secured things. Then a few more things were banging around and she went out again. This time it was the neighbors stuff which was flying. The wind was strong enough that I felt the floor of our tent lift up a bit, even with my body on it. In case you cannot tell, Sherri is the hero of this story.

Once things settled down we both fell asleep. I got up at 6:30 and walked our campground, talking with a couple from New York. This is their first time in Death Valley. When I plop down in my camp chair, Don comes walking up. Sherri gets up shortly afterwards.

This is our cue for getting breakfast going. It is a repeat of Tuesday mornings: French Toast and Turkey Sausage. Sherri makes the batter and I cook this morning. It feels good to have a spatula in my hand.

By 9, Steve has not shown up, so Don goes for a walk. Shortly afterwards, Steve shows up and starts to work on getting the car put back together again. We talk and he thinks he can get it together in a couple of hours. That would be great If that happens, then we will get camp broken and be able to go by noon.

 Sherri and Don make lunch and get the food put away. I start to clear out the car and get things organized to go if it happens. Don had visited the Borax Museum at the Ranch area, so the two of them went down, while I babysat the situation and did some preparation for a possible departure.

Don shoting the Palette

I do not get much done between talking with the two Dave’s-our jumper friend and the campground host. Then Jim and Joe, our neighbors. I tell them all that it looks like things will get fixed and we are planning on leaving. I enjoyed talking with all of them.

By 11, Steve is putting the finishing touches on the car. I got some water for him, about a gallon, so he can top off the radiator. Then we start up the car and it works! I am amazed and thankful. We let it run for a few minutes and I start to break down the camp. Steve wants me to take the car down to the shop to put some coolant in. I meet Don and Sherri on the way up and let them know. Steve takes the car for a ten minute test drive and it passes. We are good to go!

When I get back to camp, Sherri and Don have gotten much of the camp broken down. I finished up on a few things. 

One thing which we decided to leave out was a scorpion. It was under the ground cloth of our tent. Don saw it before it decided to seek shade someplace else.

We have the car packed and ready to go by noon. So we say goodbye to our campsite and head out.

But let's get one thing seen in Death Valley. We choose Artist Palette. This is about ten miles south of us. We quickly drive, within the speed limit, to the entrance. Artist Drive is a one way road. At the southern end, there is a women’s bicycle tour group. Sherri gives them a thumb’s up.

Rainbow Canyon

Don is suitably impressed by the terrain and with where Sherri and I have walked before. And we had not gotten to the Palette portion yet. When we do, Don goes and gets a closer view of the colorations. We stay at the parking area and talk with a couple of the women cyclists. When Don comes back, he is really jazzed by the assortment of colors. He starts spouting off about what makes the various colors. It is always good to see someone who is energized by the beauty of what they are seeing.

It is now time for us to start back to Fresno. We go through Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells. The car is holding up nicely. When we get to Panamint Springs, I decide to put five more gallons of gas into the tank, just in case, even though I think we would be able to make it to Bakersfield on this tank, but why chance it?

About 20 minutes later we get to Father Crowley’s Point. Here we have lunch before we continue on. But we were able to look into Rainbow Canyon. I do not really see the rainbow colors, but Don sees it. A couple asks us if any jets have come through? Not in the 20 minutes we have been here, but they did see a jet earlier on a practice run.

I am back in the driver's seat and we continue on our way. After leaving the Park, we go through some valleys where we see some small Joshua Trees. Then we break over a small hill and the peaks of the high Sierra Nevada start to show through. We are trying to pick out Whitney, but not sure that we are. That is until we got to a sign close to Owens Lake which pointed out where Whitney was.

 At that stop, Sherri takes over driving. She guides us down 395 to 14 and into Tehachapi. There we stopped at Chipotle for dinner. It has been awhile since we have been there. Evidently it is Don’s favorite place. We come out of there full and content.

I drive down to Bakersfield and get filled up with gas at Costco. Then it is up 99 to Fresno. Thankfully this trip home is uneventful. Shortly before 9, we let Don off at his house, unloading his stuff. Here we do notice one causality from the trip. A syrup bottle must have tipped over and Don’s tent now has a certain sweetness to it. Then it is another three minutes to our house. We decided to just leave everything packed in the car until morning.

While the trip was shorter than anticipated, it certainly felt longer. I am also glad that if the car was to suffer a breakdown, it was where it did and not in the middle of the desert. Just feel gratitude that we were being watched over.

Places we planned on, but could not do:

ubehebe crater

old stovepipe wells

mesquite dunes

Trail Lesson:  Gratitude is the response I should have at the end of each trip

Menu

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
French Toast/Turkey Sausage/syrup/jam	PB&Nutella or jelly Sandwich	Chipotle in Tehachapi	Clif Bar, GORP, Propel, CytoMax, Scratch, Coffee Candy, Jelly Belly

 

Extra Photo's

View of the Sierra

The Road

View to the south of Father Crowley Overlook

View to the east of Father Crowley Overlook

Rainbow Canyon

Wash close to Artist Palette

Don climbing up for a better look

Artist Palette

Borax Museum

Animals

Scorpion

Scorpion

February 19, 2025 - Death Valley

 

Title: February 19, 2025 - Death Valley
Hike Info : Description :  Menu : Extra Photo's : Animals 

Hike Info:

Type: Camping

Description:

I got up at 6:40 after a good night's sleep. Went for a short walk around camp and when I got back Sherri was up but Don had not returned from his walk. We are having oatmeal and cinnamon muffin for breakfast. Then Don came back right as we were about to eat.

Don walking the ravine

After breakfast Sherri and Don go up a canyon close to camp. I hang around camp while Sherri and Don go on a jaunt. Yesterday I found a horse trail in a canyon next to us. They followed that around for about 40 minutes before making their return trip.

I wait for the mechanic. Steve and Morgan come about 9 while Don and Sherri are out. Steve is the mechanic and Morgan is his wife. He checks out the battery and it is shot as well. So he orders another battery which will be brought by his boss. A delay is that evidently someplace in the phone tree, a wrong VIN was transmitted. Steve verifies the VIN.

About 11:30 the alternator and battery show up and the work starts. He gives me a bill, about $1,080. Morgan takes me down to Farabee’s and I pay the bill. I am thinking that this may be pretty reasonable. Apparently replacing an alternator is not as easy as it sounds, at least on a Highlander. Steve keeps taking off parts of the engine. This goes on all afternoon with more and more parts coming off as Steve tries to get to the alternator and then tries to make room to put the new one in. Some of the people from Farabee’s come up to either assist, encourage or check on the progress. About 5:30 they call it quits for the night. It is getting dark. Alternator is somewhat in place, but everything needs to be put back together again.

 They leave and we have dinner. Dinner is soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. We discuss the situation and decide that we will leave tomorrow if the car is working by about noon. That should get us out of there by 1. Also tomorrow while they are putting the car back together again, Don will take Sherri down to the Borax Museum he discovered-we did not know about it.

One situation which is getting a bit critical is the device battery usage. Both Sherri and I are getting close to the end of our battery supplies. So we are conserving power a bit more than we did yesterday. I have been reading a lot on my device. By 9:30, we are all ready for bed. One thing which I am worried about, maybe not enough to keep me up, but enough to be on my mind as I fall asleep, is will Steve be able to get all the pieces and parts back together again?

What we were going to do, but did not:

Jensen Canyon/Mummy Canyon

Dante Point

Zabrinske Point

Menu

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Oatmeal and add-ins, such as dried peaches, strawberries, nuts, granola.	PB&Nutella or jelly Sandwich	Soup&Grilled Cheese	Clif Bar, GORP, Propel, CytoMax, Scratch, Coffee Candy, Jelly Belly

Extra Photo's

Don walking the ravine

Interesting colaration

Is Don resting or waiting?

Animals
 

Roadrunner

Roadrunner

February 17, 2025 - Go to Death Valley

 

Title: February 17, 2025 - Go to Death Valley

Hike Info : Description : Menu : Animals 

Hike Info:

Type:Car

Description:

Today is the day which we have been planning on for the past couple of months. Our neighbor Don has been to a lot of places, but not Death Valley. So we are planning on showing Don the highlights of the Valley. Can you really have highlights in the lowest place in North America?

I got up at 6:40 and had my breakfast. I got most things packed yesterday, but there are still a few things. But we are ready to leave at 8:30, which is good for us. Then it is off to Don’s house. We exchange some carabiners Don is taking to Rachel for a few of his things. The car is packed, but not as bad as the last several trips.

I will be driving today. Our first stop is the Costco in Bakersfield. We also make use of its facilities as well. So far we are making good time. When we leave Costco it is 10:30. Onward to Death Valley. We plan to go through Olancha so we can visit the Father Crowley’s Overlook. But that is not what we actually do. Hunger strikes and we feel the need to eat. When we hit 395, instead of going up 395, we go across to Ridgecrest.

There looks like some interesting and with some possibly good restaurants in Ridgecrest. Casa Corona catches her eye. We have one in Fresno, but they are not connected, we find out later from our waiter. But getting someplace is half the adventure. It takes us a while to find it, even though it is on the main drag, but it is well worth the wandering.

Don and Telescope Peak

It is good food and we all feel it was worth the price and travel to find this place. I have the #17 equivalent-a cheese enchilada and Chile Relleno; Sherri has three tacos and Don POLLO EN SALSA VERDE.

We waddle out of the restaurant and are on our way. Our route is 178 which leads us to Trona. This looks like the last reasonably priced gas for aways, so we top off the tank. This is a way we have not been before and there are reasons to come back again. First, there are a lot of interesting sights around here. Next, we pass by a road leading to Trona Pinnacles. We can see them in the distance, but it is a bit off of our way. As a note: Later on we find out from a fellow Texas Springs camper that there is a nice campground here for those who come prepared. But the area can be cool and windy. Lastly, there are ghost towns back here and as I understand it, where the law finally caught up with Charles Manson.

 There is even excitement along the road. I spot two burros along the side of the road. I did not see them in time, or I would have taken a hint from last summer and slowed way down. Both to see them and make sure they did not end up on my front bumper.

Takes awhile for a call

As we enter the Park, we stop at the sign and do the tourist thing and take a picture with it. We see Telescope Peak and enjoy the coloration of the mountains. We are all impressed. The road by WildRose is washed out and we have a minor diversion. We hit 190 just east of Panamint. Then continue on eastward.

After going over Towne Pass, we go on a long downhill. When we get to the Emigrant Canyon rest stop, we do. There is the smell of brakes, so we let them cool and are on the way again. I use the gears for the rest of the downhill to Stovepipe Wells. There is not anything stopping us, even though we go a bit slower through Furnace Creek. Shortly afterwards,we turned up a hill, up to sea level to the Texas Springs Campground. Our favorite campsite is taken and so are many others. We grab an open one, A20. It is pretty rocky and sparse with no cover. The ground is hard and stakes will not go into the ground.But for right now, it is the best we can do. We start pitching our tents around 4:30

Orion's Belt

And now it is time to rest after a long drive. The campground atmosphere is good even if the ground leaves something to be desired. After the skies go dark, we take a walk around the camp. Even seeing a telephone booth. Apparently the phone is taken as it has been taken for awhile while the skeleton has been here waiting. When we got back to camp, we talked for a while. There is a reason why next weekend there will be a dark sky event here. The stars are especially bright and glorious. Orion graces our sky. When I put my binoculars on, I can see the Orion Nebula. After observing for a few minutes, it is time to go to bed. After all, It is 9:30. I read for a while and then turn off my phone. Sherri watches a movie past my sleepy time.

Did not get to the points we thought we would do:

Father Crowley Overlook

Rainbow Canyon

Menu

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Home	Dinner along the way. Where depends on time	Leftover from lunch??? or PB& Nutella	Clif Bar, GORP, Propel, CytoMax, Scratch, Coffee Candy, Jelly Belly

Animal

November 19, 2021 Death Valley: Going Back to Fresno with a stop at Darwin Falls

 

Title: November 19, 2021 Death Valley: Going Back to Fresno with a stop at Darwin Falls
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's :  Flowers and Plants

Trail head:  Darwin Falls Parking area

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking :  Car
Trail: Darwin Falls
Destination:  Darwin Falls
Distance:  1.87 miles ¹
Elevation Rise: 314'
Descent: 314‘
Maximum Elevation: 2,694' 

GPS Tracks
 ¹I lost the GPS track from this hike. I am using Google Earth data and maps for this blog.

Car Mileage: 362 Miles

Description:

Lunar Eclipse

Today we go back home. But before we even got up for the day, I had gotten up around 12:30 last night to watch the lunar eclipse. Earlier in the evening, the sky was covered in clouds. But by the time I opened my eyes at 12:30, there was clear skies. I should say semi-clear. While the clouds were gone, there seemed to be moisture in the upper air causing a glow to be around the eclipsed moon and the moon to appear a bit fuzzy. I watch this for about 45 minutes until I turn in.

Our Campsite

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cracked Water Pipe

I do not know if it was the middle of the night interlude, a hidden anxiety about leaving or something else, but I did not sleep very well afterwards. At 6:30 I got up. Sherri got up a little while afterwards. Eric from last night comes over and we talk a little more until we said we needed to eat. Sherri made french toast and then we packed and left around 10:30.

We know we need to get gas before leaving the Valley. But we think we can do better at Stovepipe Springs than the $6+ a gallon at Furnace Creek. Sherri drives along to Stovepipe Springs. There we are surprised. All the pumps have an out of order sign on them. We have enough gas to get to Panamint Springs where there is another set of pumps. But what happens if they are out of gas? Fortunately we have a good cell connection at Stovepipe and I was able to find the phone number for Panamint. Katie thankfully answers and said they have gas.

Sherri on path

We have about 100 miles worth of gas left and only 30 miles to Stovepipe. We get to Panamint and yes there is gas. While not filling up, we do put a bit more gas in. I find Katie behind the cash register an thank her. Now that our minds are at ease, we go to the trail-head for our hike-Darwin Falls.

 

The trail head is two miles down a dirt road about a mile from Panamint Springs. Not really far at all. A couple evidently did not like the look of a dirt road so they were doing a U-turn when we started down it.

When we got to the trail-head, several cars and vans were already parked there. Some were leaving, others were just starting out. We do our usual slowly getting ready. There was one person left when we started going. Sherri and I walked in this dry, unshaded, sandy wash for about a third of a mile. There is a pipe which parallel our route, sometimes it is iron, other times PVC. At this point, a PVC pipe has split and it is sending a thin sheet of water 15’ into the air. The little kid in me gets under the desert fountain and enjoys the cool, refreshing moisture. Sherri is more of a stick in the sand and hangs back, shacking her head.

But there is redemption. The woman who was at the trail-head? She sees me enjoying the fountain of water. When I move out of the flow, she enjoys the coolness. As Sherri and I start going further up the trail, she joins us. All three of us will walk together the rest of the way, well almost all the way. By the way, she is from North Carolina and does not even talk funny.

Darwin Creek

Shortly afterwards, a couple of things happen. We get a lunar simulation, going from the hot sun to the cool shade all within a step. What a difference that makes. Shortly afterwards, the desert wash turns from sand and scrub to trees, flowers and grasses, almost like hiking in the Sierra foothill in spring. Finally, there is a small flow of water down the middle of the canyon. Maybe there really is a water fall at the end of the trail!

Darwin Falls and Gary

But even in the garden of Eden in the middle of the desert, there are obstacles to overcome. In the dry canyon washes, if there is a boulder, you go around it. Here where there is water and lushness of growth, the boulders have thickets of trees and brush. Not only that, but I suspect the water has caused a bit more rock slides from around the canyon sides making more obstacles. I either find routes or try to guide over or around rock.

We come to a huge boulder where the choice is to climb up a steep rock slide or go over the boulder. Our friend will goes over the slide. As I am examining this, a group of females come down the boulder. I decide this is the way to go. But Sherri is having none of this and is will to stay here and wait for our expected return.

The lady and I go over a few more obstacles and then up a rock and see the falls. Not as spectacular as the pictures, but we may be at the wrong angle. Still it is pretty remarkable that this place is even in the desert. After observing for about ten minutes, we return back to Sherri. She is not at the bottom of the rock, but a little ways beyond, watching the female group finish up their lunch.

We continue on down the canyon. Shortly afterwards, the group passes, as expected. And then we have our ¾ of a mile trudge back to the cars. We stop only a couple of times when something catches our eyes. But I think Sherri and I know we need to start moving soon as we have a long drive back to Fresno.

Sherri with our new North Carolina friend

At the parking area, we say goodbye to our North Caroline hiking friend. We follow her down the dirt road until she turns to go to Furnace Creek and we to the west. We still have not had lunch, so we stop at Father Crowley Point. But all we do is eat in the car and make use of the facility. And then we are off.

We drive the long highway to Olancha, catching highway 395 there. We do not go over Walker Pass, but head towards Mojave. All of this is uneventful. Then it is over Tehachapi and down to Bakersfield. We get gas in Bakersfield. By this time it is after 6. So we pick up a hot dog at Costco to tide us over. Two hours more of driving gets us back home in Fresno. We are tired enough that we will unpack in the morning. But we get reunited with Steven, take a shower, rest so we can go to bed. After all, it is after our 9pm camping bedtime.

Extra Photo's

Looking down Darwin wash

Darwin Creek, not Falls

Stones to climb

Water source for Panamint

Gary and the North Carolina friend

 
Flowers and Plants