Well it has taken me about 4 hours this evening to try and load these photos (and still not got all of them up yet) and after a couple of hours last night I had to give up as the connection kept falling over on me.
Sunday started out grey, wet and pretty windy......those snowy peaks across the street from my hotel were totally hidden by dark clouds when I was heading off to Death Valley. Death Valley is the lowest point in the USA and holds the record for the hottest place on the continent.
The sun appeared as I approached the park which was most welcome although I was still wearing my cold-weather gear all day as it didn't warm up too much until mid-afternoon.
you can see the line of the road as it snakes down to the valley floor
this road started to climb at about 2000ft above sea level
and climbed to just short of 5,000ft really quickly.....
...before dropping down the other side to sea-level....
The park was expecting strong winds throughout the day with gust up to 45mph and they weren't wrong....the gusts weren't really a problem (unless of course you are mid-hairpin when they kick in) but the winds did create something of a sandstorm. Thankfully I got to Stovepipe Wells before the storm hit full strength (called Stovepipe Wells as the prospectors would mark the wells they had dug in the area with stovepipes) and was having lunch as the storm passed.
As I was leaving the restaurant a guy walking in asked if I was really going to ride 'in that' and then told me I was out of my mind! Actually, once the bike coughed back into life it wasn't bad at all.....as I said the worst was already behind me so I just continued on my way.
sand caught by the wind...
salt anyone?
rock salt that is!
And on to Badwater...which is the actual lowest point of the valley.......
yes, that is salt out there......
there is a sign on this rock face.....can you see it? about 2/3 of the way up...
ok, here it is .......or where the water used to be...
There is still a pool of water here....although it is quite small.....Badwater get it's name from a prospector whose mule wouldn't drink from the pool and so he assumed the water was bad and hence the name. The water is not actually 'bad', just salty......so there you go!
the floor of the valley
I headed out of the park by mid-afternoon and headed towards Las Vegas although I must admit I took a wrond turn at some point and ended up in Henderson.....eventually gave up on finding a hotel in Henderson or Vegas and ended up in Boulder City for the night.
End of Week 7:
Total Mileage on the Bike - 18, 365
Miles Ridden this week - 1, 876
Total Miles Ridden - 10, 921
I can't believe you have been gone 7 weeks, the time has flown by. I only have 3 days left at work now and then I can get prepared for mine and Mark's own adventure. I am sure the scenery will not be quite as dramatic or picturesque but the adventure will be just as big :)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your last 3 weeks before you return to reality.
Ruth
xxx