October 8th Lee Vining to Death Valley, California

October 8th Lee Vining to Death Valley, California

We followed much of the Eastern Sierra Nevada on leaving Lee Vining.

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It is a stunning drive with much of the mountains sprinkled with snow. We uploaded more diesel at Lone Pine, the town just before you turn off to Death Valley. Diesel at Panamint (the first stop in Death Valley) was $5.49/gal.

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Smoko at the Death Valley Visitor Centre car park...what a beautiful spot to have coffee with a view of the Sierras. The temperature has been steadily climbing from 5deg C/42F when we left Lee Vining to 23deg C/72F.

The desert floor is littered with  Joshua trees and numerous hardy desert bushes. Okay - the heat has really ramped up now - we are only half way to our destination at Furnace Creek (no prizes for guessing why its named that) and its 39deg C/103F.

Entering Death Valley National Park - 3 million acres of Mojave and Bad Basin desert terrain. Entrance Fee is $20 per vehicle.

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At its lowest point, Death Valley is 282 feet below sea level and its highest peak is 11,049 feet.

I thought I'd had seen the last of OMG roads but this one is just as bad as Yosemite. The downhill ride is as steep as 8% which is the same as some of those in Yosemite.

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In as much as we love snow capped mountains and pine trees, these monolithic granite mountains have a beauty of their own.

We came across a pack of 3 coyotes along the highway.

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Hell on wheels and the road to Furnace Creek is way, way over yonder.

Some folks having a bit of fun, getting their photos taken on the sandy desert floor.

and yet, on the opposite side of the desert is a lake.

We were told there was1" of rain over the weekend and places in the valley got flooded quickly.

More rocks!

That's the road you see on the left and right of the picture.

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But wait, some more rocks!

We stopped at Mesquite Sand Dunes. I got out of the truck and instantly felt like a chicken on a rotisserie, throw in some mesquite and I'll smell like a smoked chook! It is now 40deg C/105F.

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There are also warnings for vehicles to turn off their airconditioners - it is a hard drive for vehicles with the blistering heat, the varying challenging levels of ascends and descends.

At last, Furnace Creek Resort and RV Park. 195 feet below sea level. This resort has a golf course attached to it. There is a pool, museum, bar, restaurant, cafe and a general store.

The RV slots are pretty tight- we were given a back in lot which was rather challenging to get the 5th wheel in squarely so we can have the 2 slide outs opened as well as space to open the awning. Our truck would not start after we got Al, our 5th wheel set up...not surprising in view of the temperature it was operating in. Thankfully my man knew what to do...we stayed hitched to the 5th wheel till we allowed the engine to cool down, which was about 2-3 hours. He got out there in the heat, fiddled with the truck and got it running again...hurray! Too technical to tell you what he did but thank goodness he is a Mr Fix It!