Death Valley day #1: driving, Darwin Falls & camping
This post is part 1 of the "dv-2008-10" series:
- Death Valley day #1: driving, Darwin Falls & camping
- Death Valley day #2: the Racetrack, Hunter Mtn & the boxcar cabin
- Death Valley day #3: Owens Valley
- Death Valley day #4: Warm Spring, Badwater & Wildrose
- Death Valley day #5: sand, salt & holes
- Death Valley day #6: Titus, Eureka & flying things
- Death Valley day #7: Saline Valley
We got out of the house at 5:30AM for the long drive out to Ridgecrest where we'd rent the 4x4 SUV. I took US-101 south, to CA-152 east, to I-5 south, to CA-46 east, to US-99 south, to CA-58 east, to CA-14 north, and finally CA-178 east. The drive was uneventful, and we got to Avis just after 10AM. I got a 2008 4x4 Jeep Liberty, we moved all of the stuff from the car into the rental, had lunch, and were back on the road by 11:30AM. Our original plan was to just drive to the park and setup camp. However, since it was not even 1PM yet, we agreed that we'd have sufficient time to do the Darwin Falls hike that we never finished back in December 2006, as David really wasn't old enough to handle the stream crossings on his own, and they were just wide & deep enough to be very difficult when carrying a 4 year old.
We reached the trail head just after 1PM, and hiked out. Overall, the water levels were noticeably lower than they were the last time, but this was to be expected since this past year was one of the driest on record in California. The stream crossings weren't too bad, and David did fine. While it definitely became greener the closer we got to the falls, it was obvious that the lack of rain this year had dried things out a lot. The falls looked basically as I expected, and it was still rather lush (considering the desert surroundings) immediately around the falls. On the hike back to the car we ran into one guy who warned us that he almost stepped on a snake, and to be careful. We never saw any snakes although we did see these quarter sized frogs hopping around near the stream. The round trip hiking time was just over an hour.
Our original camping plans for the day were to stay at Wildrose, however after some discussion we decided that Emigrant would be a better choice as its at a lower (and therefore warmer) elevation, and is also somewhat closer to the primary destination for the next day, the Racetrack. Emigrant is literally just next to CA-190, on the long slope leading into Death Valley proper. However, since this is Death Valley, there's not all that much traffic. Emigrant is a free campground, with 10 sites & running water. When we arrived, there was one tent setup, with no owner present, and then this old, semi-Amish looking guy sitting in his 30 year old Mercedes-Benz in a separate camp site. Initially, we didn't pay the guy much attention, but as the afternoon progressed, we started to wonder about him. He had no tent setup, or anything for that matter. Plus, he was just sitting in his car, in the hot afternoon sun, seemingly drinking something. After watching him for a while, we noticed that every so often, he'd get out of his car, go to the trunk, and grab a bottle of what looked like some kind of hard liquor. The guy was basically getting massively plastered, sitting in the heat (it was roughly 90F), in a campground. We were starting to get a bit creeped out by the guy, as there's no way that he was in any condition to drive anywhere, and he also didn't have any obvious provisions for camping. We were half joking that perhaps he killed the owners of the other tent, and they were inside dead, and he was going to come after us in the middle of the night. Thankfully, just after 4pm, another group showed up to camp, and then over the next few hours 3 more groups arrived, leaving 6 of the 10 campsites occupied for the night. Mr Creepy Drunk Old Dude eventually pulled what looked like the world's oldest camping stove out of his drunk and made something to eat, and then slept, sitting up, in his car the entire night. Thankfully he was quiet, albeit creepy as all hell. Who drives to Death Valley, gets massively drunk in the afternoon heat, and then sleeps in their car? Anyway, the weather overnight was nice & comfortable, and the stars were beautiful.
This post is part 1 of the "dv-2008-10" series:
- Death Valley day #1: driving, Darwin Falls & camping
- Death Valley day #2: the Racetrack, Hunter Mtn & the boxcar cabin
- Death Valley day #3: Owens Valley
- Death Valley day #4: Warm Spring, Badwater & Wildrose
- Death Valley day #5: sand, salt & holes
- Death Valley day #6: Titus, Eureka & flying things
- Death Valley day #7: Saline Valley