Back in the early days of Covid (March 2020) I blogged about a bike trip from Death Valley, through Joshua Tree National Park and on to the Anza Borrego desert. It was a great trip, so a few of us thought 'Why not do it again?' So, we did .....
While most folks heading to Vegas on Super Bowl Sunday are anticipating a great party during the game, there were seven of us on a different track, heading to Death Valley. Fred from Black Sheep Adventures met us at the airport with his big van and our bikes and we cruised out route 160, grabbed a coffee in Pahrump, then took Belle Vista and Stateline roads out to Death Valley Junction and the Amargosa Opera House for a tour and lunch. You can find more info. about Marta Beckett and her opera house in my blog from March 2020.
After lunch and a change of clothes, our cycling adventure
began. We rolled past the DVJ Fine Cannabis shop and pedaled the 30 miles out
Route 190 to Furnace Creek. The first 10 or so miles were relatively flat, and
then we were treated to a 20 mile downhill ending at our lodging ‘The Ranch at
Death Valley’. The desert landscape was
dramatic, and the road had little traffic.
We found our rooms, cleaned up and headed to dinner at the ‘Inn at Death Valley’ a four diamond resort, built in 1927 in classic California desert style. The swimming pool is fabulous as are the views. My ribeye steak terrific, but Bill ordered the halibut, and as Death Valley is a good way from the sea, the fish seemed to be a bit tired (more on this later).
Monday morning we loaded up the van a bit before sunrise for
the short drive up to Zabrinskie Point.
There is an easy trail up to the point, and as you can see from the
photo below, it is worth getting up early for a short walk.
After breakfast we shuttled up to Ubehebe Crater for a hike around the rim to be followed by a bike ride back down to the sand dunes at Stove Pipe Wells. We enjoyed the hike and managed to stay on the trail and out of the crater.
Fresh off our hike, we changed shoes and started our
‘downhill’ bike ride back toward the dunes at Stove Pipe Wells. I did this ride in pre-covid times and it was
a blast, 40 or so miles with a bit of uphill and lots of downhill. I recall seeing 45 mph on my speedometer that
day. Well, on this day we never made it
to the dunes, the wind came up and changed what was to be a high-speed romp
into long grind downhill. Tom and Richard were on e-bikes and as I watched them
recede into the distance ahead, I began to appreciate their wisdom in bike
choice.
Tuesday, the wind that tormented us on Monday continued through the night and around 3 am it knocked out power to most of Furnace Creek. At one point during the night I woke up, looked for the clock, and could see nothing but blackness. I had a momentary panic that I had gone blind, but contained my panic, found my headlamp and figured the power must have failed. That meant that we had to forego breakfast at the ‘Ranch’ and head up to the very posh ‘Inn’ again for breakfast (oh, darn).
Our plan for the day was to: ‘shuttle one hour out to
Father Crowley Overlook aka “Star Wars Canyon” where fighter jet pilots
sometimes race through for low altitude flight training, then we’ll
shuttle 30 minutes to the top of Towne Pass to enjoy and epic descent
back to Stovepipe Wells where we’ll have lunch before continuing on back
to Furnace Creek.’
So much for
plans. The wind literally blew this plan away.
We did drive out to Father Crowley Overlook. On the way we encountered a
blinding sandstorm. For those wondering
what that might look like from inside a van, see the pic below. Thankfully, our
encounter with the sandstorm was brief and we continued to the Star Wars Canyon
overlook. While we anticipated that
there would be no jets or Wookies, or even droids, Bill and I decided we had to
take a look over the canyon wall. The wind coming up over the edge had to be
hurricane force and we had a major struggle against it getting to the railing
for a peek down into the canyon.
Given that our plans for the day were
scuttled, the group decision (suggested by our guide, Fred) was to make a visit
to the Japanese internment camp at Manzanar, one of the ten war relocation
centers built during WWII (https://www.nps.gov/manz/index.htm). It is a ruin now, but there is a Visitor
Center with excellent displays describing the history of the camp and the lives
of the people interned there. It is a
moving and educational experience to learn details of how many Japanese were
treated during WWII.
Manzanar is near Lone Pine and the
Alabama Hills, a picturesque area that is often used in movies. So much so that one route through the hills
is named ‘Movie Road’. This location has
been used in more than 400 films including Gladiator, Djanjo Unchained, Iron
Man, Wagon Train and numerous TV series: (https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?locations=Alabama+Hills%2C+Lone+Pine%2C+California%2C+USA)
One of the most famous is the Mobius Arch, that frame a view of Mt. Whitney
(pic courtesy of the web).
The drive back to Furnace Creek was spectacular. The wind had died down a bit and the air clear and fresh. We had great views of the Panamint Valley and Telescope Peak. We did forego biking the epic descent from Towne Pass.
Adventures on the culinary front
continued that evening. We once again
had dinner at the ‘Inn’. On our earlier visit many of us noticed that they had
‘Airline Chicken’ on the menu. After having a bumpy flight down from Oakland to
Vegas, that wasn’t appealing on our first visit, but this time I asked the
waiter to describe it. Turns out, it is
a way to prepare chicken breast that also includes a portion of wing. The description of their preparation (deep
fried) sounded appealing, so I ordered it. When my order arrived it sure didn’t
look like chicken, but I’d never had the ‘airline’ version, and this looked a
little like chicken one might get on an airline. I gave it a taste and it sure
didn’t taste like chicken. Earlier I mentioned the tired Halibut that Bill had
on Sunday night. It seems that halibut
was still around, and even more tired and on my palate. I flagged the waiter, and in an instant, the
tired fish was gone, soon to be replaced with a plate of very tasty airline
chicken.
We returned to the Ranch for breakfast and a change of clothes and set out on a fun ride downhill and with the wind to Badwater.
Conditions were perfect for cycling, so we continued another
ten miles or so, making it a 30 mile ride, before shuttling to Twenty-Nine
Palms, with a stop for lunch and a date shake at the China Ranch Date Farm
along the way (https://www.chinaranch.com).
Twenty Nine Palms is not known for it’s luxury
accommodations, and we stayed that night at the funky and quirky Twenty-Nine
Palms Inn. Their website aptly describes
the place as follows: Sprinkled with
one-of-a-kind Adobe bungalows and wood-framed cabins. No two rooms are alike,
each with its own character and something different to offer.
So true! My room had a bare concrete floor, but the bed was quite comfortable. The bathroom window had been left open and the pedestal sink had a nice coating of dust from the recent storm. Bill’s room was actually out the gate and several steps down the road, while Mary was treated to an outside bathroom (she was moved to another unit). However, the onsite restaurant was lively with music and patrons, and the food was great. They definitely know how to prepare a flat-iron steak. They also have a profound understanding of time.
After pedaling a few miles we arrived at the northern boundary of Joshua Tree National Park, The park is ‘high desert’ with barren landscapes and interesting rock exposures. A lot of the rock in the park is metamorphosed granite and the USGS website for the park indicates that: ‘Much of the large-scale erosion that shaped the Joshua Tree National Park’s rocks is no longer occurring. Instead, the weathered formations that we see today occurred long ago. The landscapes left behind by these conditions are truly something to behold. In particular, large masses of rounded granite with interesting weathering patterns can be seen throughout the park (https://www.usgs.gov/geology-and-ecology-of-national-parks/geology-joshua-tree-national-park).
One of them is the ‘Wave Rock’. We didn’t get to see this but it is emblematic of the rocks we did see.
One of the weathering patterns is called spherical weathering, and Bill took this pic of some spherical weathered boulders that called out to me as I rode by.
We didn’t see as many Joshua Trees in the park as one might
expect (at least along the main road), but we did see several natural gardens
of teddybear cholla cactus. Some of
these were in bloom, and while very pretty, Bill pointed out that on windy days
sections of the cactus can break off and appear to jump onto unsuspecting
passers by. I believe he was speaking from experience as he was content to stay
by the bikes and relinquish the chance to venture out into the cactus gardens.
Past I-10, Box Canyon Road leads to Mecca at the North end of the Salton Sea. This road is a cyclist’s dream, smooth and scenic, with a mild, steady downhill gradient and very few vehicles. We rolled into Mecca quite exhilarated from the day. The van arrived and we headed to our hotel, the very nice Casa Del Zorro in Borrego Springs, about an hour’s drive away, only to learn that their power had been out, but was now mostly restored.
Friday was our last day and the plan was simple enough. Take a twenty mile ride around Borrego Springs to view desert flowers and the amazing metal sculptures that dot the landscape, hike a slot canyon, then head to the airport for a flight home.
Along the way we had coffee with Fred while he waited for a
tow. Had coffee with Fred while he waited for a
tow. Note: This illustrates how Mother Nature can hoodwink even the best, most
experienced drivers!
After the ride and a shower, we enjoyed lunch at the Red Ocotillo restaurant (I highly recommend the fish tacos), and headed out to our final activity, a great hike through a slot canyon.
After the hike, we headed to
the Palm Springs Airport to catch our flight back to Oakland. Once in the airport we started receiving
notices that the flight was delayed – several times, but finally departed two
hours late. The good news was that this
allow time for Rob to give a master class in solving NYT crossword
puzzles.
Acknowledgments: Fred Ackerman and Black Sheep Adventures provided outstanding organizational and logistical support and an ample serving of humor. Sally G. worked with Black Sheep to develop the itinerary.
A short video of the trip can
be viewed at: https://www.dropbox.com/s/eixj4vyzrkjesls/2023.02.12-MO-BSA-VeloRaptors.mp4?dl=0
