Spring Break - Day 6 (Death Valley)

Devil's Golf Course in Death Valley

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Wanting to get started on our longest hike earlier in the morning before the desert sun got too hot, we got up at 7:30.  After packing up the car and doing some last minute shopping at the Ranch General Store, we drove to the Golden Canyon trailhead. The first part of the hike was an easy, one mile trek through a canyon (a golden one, at that).  At the end of the trail it led to the Gower Gulch Loop trail, which I had read was much more interesting, although it would add another 3+ miles to our hike which were more strenuous than the first.  We had gotten through the Golden Canyon trail pretty quickly, so we decided to keep going.  The next trail was indeed a lot more interesting, with a steep climb up "Manly Beacon" which had great views of the area, lots of different colored canyon and mountain walls, and finally some rock scrambling near the end.  We finished everything up in around 2.5 hours, and besides the Manly Beacon climb, it really wasn't too strenuous.  It also helped that the weather was great in the morning, with a perfect hiking temperature and consistent refreshing breeze. 

Relaxing in between hikes on our patio at the Furnace Creek Ranch

We headed back to the Ranch for grub at around 11, but found out that the restaurants were done serving breakfast and wouldn't open until 11:30 for lunch.  Even though we were already checked out of our hotel room, we headed back to the porch behind what used to be our room, and played a game of backgammon (always a Schaaf-favorite).  By the time we had finished our game, the 49er Cafe was open so we headed there.  I found the one egg dish they had on the lunch menu and promptly ordered the omelet, unconcerned with what ingredients they had selected for it.  Service was a bit slow, but food was decent.  Probably better than anything we would have cooked up at our campsite, if our lodging plans hadn't gone astray last night.

Badwater Basin: There is no sand in this picture - everything is pure salt

After lunch we had a list of nearby attractions that we wanted to explore, which could all be reached by doing a loop of the nearby Badwater Road.  Devil's Golf Course was a 200 mile area of salt rocks.  Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America (282 feet below sea level), and is a seemingly endless field of pure table salt.  Natural Bridge was  pretty much what it sounded like -  a bridge-like structure naturally formed from the mountains.  Having been to Arches and some other national parks, Death Valley's version was a little underwhelming.  Finally, Artist Drive was a scenic drive through an area of multicolored mountains.

After one final quick stop at the Ranch we headed to Dante's View, which would be our last stop in Death Valley.  It was about 25 miles to the east, a small detour from the exit.  This spot is known for having the best and most ranging views of Death Valley.  Another fun fact: from this spot you can simultaneously view both the lowest (Badwater Basin) and the highest (Mt. Whitney) points in the United States.  We hung out here for a bit, but eventually it was time to make the last drive of our trip - back to LA.  The drive back went relatively smoothly, and we made it back to West LA around 9:30 pm.

Dante's View, overlooking Badwater Basin and the rest of the park.

At the onset of the trip, I wasn't really sure what to expect.  I had done almost all of the planning myself, but much of that had come in the last couple days before we left and a lot was still left unplanned when the trip started.  But overall, everything really exceeded my expectations and it was a really great vacation.  The only major problem we had was that our campsite was overbooked, but I think the upgraded lodging ended up making for a more pleasant experience.  We ate a lot of good food, stayed in some nice places, spent lots of time outdoors, got plenty of exercise, developed skiing skills, and really got to explore some great California spots.  PCH, Tahoe, and Death Valley had all been on my "California Bucket List" of places I wanted to experience before leaving the west coast, so I was happy I got to cross three off on this one trip.  [As a sidenote, I also crossed a 4th item off my list this spring break, by attending a live taping of Conan O'Brien show the very next day, which was very exciting for me].  Not to take away anything from my usual dude-only trips, but it was also memorable being me and Stephanie's first real vacation together.  If comparing it to past vacations, it might not have been the most unique trip I've ever been on (last year's spring break in Ghana may never be beat in that area), nor the most extravagant or wild, but it is definitely up there as one of the most overly enjoyable.

*** More complete photo gallery of the trip:  Spring Break 2012 ***