Blog reader, Randy - also an avid motorcyclist - who calls Santa Barbara, CA home, wrote me an email, a few days back, with word that Death Valley was alive with wild flowers. He included a video which got our travel juices going. Death Valley was clearly awash in colour not seen since 2005.
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| Death Valley alive with wild flowers. |
Click on this link for a comprehensive National Geogrpahic expose':
The recent rains had awoken the desert floor. Jeanette and I chose to go. Trena and Lucky also jumped at the ride. Travel dates were agreed to, accommodations were booked and we headed out from the Palm Springs, CA area this past Saturday morning.
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| Heading north towards Pahrump, Nevada. |
The weather was perfect. The roads were great. The views were fantastic.
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Impressive topography
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While searching for accommodations in Pahrump, I quickly learned that some major event must be happening during the days we had planned to be there. Rooms were difficult to find. But find I did. Searching the numerous hotel/motel search sites on the Internet, I did manage to find two rooms at a Casino resort.
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| This was why Pahrump hotel/motel rooms were hard to find. There was a major hot air balloon festival happening there. |
Our first day (last Saturday) was a five hour ride. With rest breaks, stops for fuel and lunch, our ride took us about seven hours.
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| Early Sunday morning at the entrance to Death Valley. |
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| Trena and Jeanette posing for the camera. |
We had heard that Scotty's Castle, a popular destination in Death Valley, was closed due to recent washouts that severely damaged the tourist spot. It is believed that reconstruction could take the better part of 18 months to complete.
Click on the following link for more information on Scotty's Castle:
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Past Furnace creek, the area called Bad Water is situated well below sea level.
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| The salt flats draw many hikers to walk this below sea level floor. |
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| Beautiful array of wild flowers. |
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| We stopped several times to capture view and appreciate this awesome area, |
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| We did see several wild burrows in the rocky, desert areas during our ride. |
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| One of the many old mining towns that dot this area, |
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| Photo taken by Jeanette from an elevated area she and Trena hiked up to. Lucky and I are guarding our rides...... |
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| Trena captured Jeanette's curiosity |
On the road back out from Death Valley, we took a break in the small town of Beatty. It's here that a gun toting Sheriff came over to check us out.
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| The Sheriff was telling us about the shootout that happens in Beatty several days per week. He was a fun and engaging fella. |
Pahrump and area is also known for the chicken, mustang and other names that brand ranches that offer ladies of the night to interested men. We rode by a couple of those ranches on our tour.
For detailed information on Pahrump and area; including a bit
of information on the brothels, click on the Wikepedia link below.
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| Lucky and me enjoying early morning coffee outside our motel room in Pahrump. The gardens were beautiful here at the Saddle West Casino and Hotel. |
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| Our breakfast spot in Shoshone, NV on our return ride back to Palm Springs, this past Monday morning. |
Click on this link for more information:
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Readying to leave Shoshone for our return to Palm Springs.
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| A final rest break just south from the city of Barstow, CA |
A special thank you goes out to Randy from Santa Barbara for his email that fueled our juices to take the three day Nevada ride to Pahrump and Death Valley. It was a most memorable trip.
You can tell who was manning the cameras. There were numerous photos of Lucky and me but very few of Jeanette and Trena. Hmmm. We have to change that on the next ride. And there is another ride with a larger group in our future. So, stay tuned for that.
Thanks for dropping in.
