Day trip to Scotty's Castle, Death Valley, California

Day trip to Scotty's Castle, Death Valley, California

10th October 2015 - Scotty's Castle

Scotty's Castle is an easy 52 mile drive from Furnace Creek, surprisingly a cool wind blows through that area and it was a pleasant in the shade. Built by millionaire Albert Johnson (or billionaire in today's terms) in 1927, this castle was actually called Death Valley Ranch. Johnson and his wife Bessie met Walter Scott, a con artist through a gold prospecting investment created by Scott.

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The driveway inside the castle...to continue with the story. Well, Johnson was a very sharp businessman and it didn't take long for him to work out that there was no gold mine. But instead of taking umbrage, he and his wife struck up a life long friendship with Scott. There appeared to be no single bone of truth in Scott's body, he was a compulsive liar -he even claimed to have built the castle.

The Spanish influence is very evident throughout the castle..all artefacts, furnishings, including the Johnsons' clothes in the wardrobes are the original. It's as if time stood still for Albert Johnson when his wife died in an automobile accident in a vehicle driven by him.

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The couple enjoyed Scotty's company so much, he lived with them at the Castle and was very much a part of their social life. In fact, Scotty was the resident "court jester" at the Johnson's parties. This gun rack holds Scott's guns at the entrance to his bedroom.

The 1 hour tour cost $15 per person and was quite fascinating.  Our Ranger Guide Andrew did a great job of captivating our attention.  There is also a tunnel tour but we felt it would take too long to do both.  I won't tell you all of the story....you'll just have to go visit!

One of 2 Packards owned by Albert Johnson. Built in Detroit, Packards were the premier luxury American cars when they were first built. The first model rolled off the production line in 1899 and the last in 1956.

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8 miles from Scotty's Castle is Ubehebe Crater...worth the detour from the Castle. When we got out of our truck, we were almost blown off our feet...the wind was absolutely howling across the landscape...quick reflex action saved my visor before it could take off  to oblivion. Thankfully the wind was blowing away from the crater and not towards the crater!

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Ubehebe is not a crater caused by a meteorite but it is a volcanic crater. The crater was formed when magma migrated close to the surface and the heat of the magma flashed groundwater into steam, throwing large quantities of pulverized old rock and new magma across the stony alluvial fan draped across the valley floor. 

The resulting light to dark gray cinder deposits consist of finely fragmented volcanic rock mixed with pulverized bedrock.

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Here and there across Death Valley, we came across areas that appeared to have some form of underground water source, resulting in what appears to be pockets of oases.

How narrow were the rv lots?...well our slide outs were pushed into the trees, even the birds didn't know we were just a pane of glass away from them.

Tom giving a fellow rv traveller a hand at backing into his lot. The guy was doing the directing and his wife drove...well done Michelle!

Entrance to Furnace Creek Golf course - 214 feet below sea level. Tom had a game at the course which he found challenging due to the lack of elevation.

The Borax museum is within the RV Park - it is a free exhibit of carriages and machinery used during the gold rush era.

There is no smoking allowed - as you can imagine everything is tinder dry. You do not want to gain notoriety as the eejit who smoked the Borax Museum...it will be like knocking down one of Stonehenge's pillars!

A disused train.

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Another bit of disused equipment.

October 9th Death Valley, California

October 9th Death Valley, California

5pm and it is still a blistering 43deg C/109.4F. Just across the road from the entrance to Furnace Creek Resort/RV Park is this wonderful view of the Funeral Mountains...one can only imagine the extreme hardships endured by first settlers.

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Tom decided we would treat ourselves to some fine dining. The Furnace Creek Inn is a green oasis a mile or so from the RV park.

Built in 1927 in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, this grand old lady is a wonderful haven from the harsh reality of Death Valley. It is AAA, 4 Diamond Star rated resort, so fellas bring your wallets.

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Apron of Rock..large cones of sedimentary material accumulate at the mouth of the canyon leaving behind alluvial fan like formations.

Deserts are valleys that have dried up and yet, when it does rain water gushes over the land leaving trench like rifts.

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!

October 7th Yosemite National Park revisited

October 7th Yosemite National Park revisited

We did another drive into Yosemite - weather was just as gorgeous. We've been rising to 5deg. C/42F the last few mornings with peak temps. at about 19deg.C/66F.

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Great photo of contrails over the OMG road.

Olmstead Point....if you are brave, walk up to this vantage point and get a breathtaking view of Tunnel View.

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Olmstead Point looking to Tunnel View.

Tenaya Lake with imposing mountains rising above it. Check out this link for some more pics.

http://www.myyosemitepark.com/famous-viewpoints/

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Tom at Olmsted Point.

This ribbon of autumn colours running up the mountain was just lovely.

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Mono Lake, a desert salt lake in Lee Vining. Surprisingly home to two million annual migratory birds due to its abundance of brine shrimp and black flies..

This unusual car was at the Chevron petrol station when we pulled up for diesel. It has a Chevy V8 engine and a Jaguar rear end. Diesel at this petrol station was $3.99/gal - a few miles down the road on the way to Mammoth Lakes the diesel at Shell was $2.69/gal...is this free enterprise at work or highway robbery?