Death Valley Park

Death Valley, 15-16 april 2006

CURRENT SITUATION

Currently coming: Maryam, Jamie, piero, Ben, Dan, Jennifer
Maryam has rented a 4WD.
Ben and Dan drive friday morning to LA and meet us at the campground very late at night
Dan will drive back sunday morning, while Ben will drive back with us
Rangers: the road to Telescope Peak is open but there is snow on the trail. The road to the Racetrack is open and has no snow but it is in bad conditions.
Jamie and Ben could also take monday off.
Maryam and Jennifer come to piero's house before 5pm
Ben needs to borrow a sleeping bag. Jamie has borrowed one for him.
Jamie, Jennifer and piero have two tents. Dan is buying one.
Yes, i *love* the green background of this page (this is non-negotiable)

Program (can be changed)

Right now the idea is that

Ideally, buy sandwiches/drinks for saturday so we don't have to do too much shopping. In fact, buy all the snacks/drinks you may need for the weekend because stores in Death Valley are not easy to reach (one/two hour drive) and are very expensive.
Note: gasoline in Death Valley can easily be $5-6-7 per gallon. So we have to remember to fill up before entering the park.
Dan and Ben leave friday morning
Maryam, Jennifer, Jamie and piero meet friday around 4:30pm at my house
We drive down 280-85-101-152-99-Bakersfield-58-Mojave-14-Red Rock Canyon State Park (see below for distances)
We camp in Red Rock
Saturday morning we drive to Death Valley

Before you ask the question: highway 120 east through Yosemite is closed till mid May.

Most of the trip is driving, with frequent stops.
Very little hiking is required.
See Main attractions for a description of each attraction.

Friday evening: Drive to Mojave Desert
Camp at Red Rock Canyon (where "Jurassic Park" and many other movies were filmed)
Saturday:
- 7:00 piero plays heavy metal music to wake up everybody
- 8:00 Breakfast in Ridgecrest. People who want to hike Zabriskie Point pack lunch. It might be a good idea to buy food for sunday as well, because the Death Valley store is very expensive. Fill up gasoline before leaving Ridgecrest (extremely expensive in Death Valley, i heard $7 per gallon). Stop at Maturango museum to drop note for Janet (100 E. Las Flores Ave. at China Lake Blvd across from Home Depot, Ridgecrest)
- 10:00 Enter Death Valley but drive straight to Badwater to take advantage of morning light
- 11:00 Badwater (morning light for best pictures), Natural Bridge, Artist Drive, Golden Canyon
- 13:00 Hikers: hike from Golden Canyon to Zabriskie Point via Red Cathedral (1.5 hours) while Non hikers: check out the splendid victorian hotel "Furnace Creek Inn" (open only until mid May), eat something and meet at Zabriskie Point after 1.5 hour
- Twenty Mule Team Canyon
- 16:00 Stovepipe Wells (sand dunes)
- 19:30 Romantic sunset at Dante's View
- Dinner ("Forty-Niner Cafe" at Furnace Creek Ranch? Trona?)
- Camp at Stovepipe if we are not adventurous. Otherwise there are several alternatives.
Sunday:
- 8:00 Breakfast ($28 sunday brunch at the Furnace Creek Inn 11am-2pm requires reservations 760 786-2345)
- 9:00 Buy drinks/food at the Furnace Creek store (extremely expensive)
- (If there is a gas station near Ubehebe Crater, fill up)
- 10:00 Ubehebe Crater and picnic in the desert.
- Racetrack? 5 hours roundtrip
- 14:00 Hike to Darwin Falls (1h)
- 16:00: Drive back (read again what i wrote about 120 before you ask the question)
- Dinner along the road
- 01:00: Reach the Bay Area
Other attractions if we have time (i doubt it):
- Eureka Sand Dunes

What To Bring

sleeping bag (mattress and pillow if you want to be comfortable)
blanket (if your sleeping bag is not warm enough)
FLASHLIGHT
hiking boots or good walking shoes
two/three extra pairs of socks because you may get your feet wet at Darwin Falls
hat, sunscreen
camera, batteries
cash (no, there are no ATM machines in the desert)
if you are a member of AAA, i recommend that you pick up the following maps: Guide to Death Valley, map of California
Everything in Death Valley is extremely expensive, so think carefully what you are going to need. E.g., bring as much food as possible for snacks, so you don't have to buy them in Death Valley. Do not say "I'll bring sunscreen" when i'm there: it may cost you a fortune.

Cars

If we need a second car, click here to see the options for that weekend.

Costs

Park entrances: $20 per car for the entire weekend (but i have a national park pass)
Campgrounds: $30 for two cars for each of the two nights
Cabins/motels: $60 for 2 people
Gasoline: about $200 each car for the entire weekend
Rental cars: about $180 each car for the entire weekend

Approximate cost per person: $8 (campgrounds) + $50 (gas) + $50 (meals) + $10 (motel) + $40 (rental car)

Food

We will mainly eat at restaurants, but you should always have food in your backpack for little hikes.

Where we sleep

We have no reservations. Right now, the idea is that we all camp in the Mojave Desert the first night.

Second night. Plenty of choice but none of them take reservations. Stovepipe is always available, and it's warm (near motel/restaurant). Texas Springs, near the ranch (i.e., restaurant). FC is noisy because of a generator at the ice machine at the gas station. Solitude, at Mesquite, is cold at night but near the northern attractions.

Non-campers:

Lodging in Death Valley
Panamint (E-mail) has no rooms for that weekend: Panamint Springs Resort (50 kms west of Stovepipe Wells on highway 190)
Stovepipe Wells motel

Campers:

It should be very easy to find campgrounds because all campgrounds are open till april (after april they close because of the heat): Stovepipe Wells campground, Texas Springs and Sunset campgrounds, Furnace Creek campground, Panamint Springs resort, but best is Telescope Peak.
Showers ($3 or so) are available at both Stovepipe Wells Motel and Furnace Creek Ranch

Route

Orientation to Death Valley: The park is transected from east to west by California Highway 190. On the east in Nevada, Highway 95 parallels the park from north to south with connecting highways at Scotty's Junction (State Route 267), Beatty (State Route 374), and Lathrop Wells (State Route 373). South of the park, Interstate 15 passes through Baker on its way from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. State Route 127 travels north from Baker to Shoshone (State Route 178) and Death Valley Junction (Highway 190). West of the park, State Route 178 passes through Ridgecrest and Trona on its way north to a junction with 190. Also to the west, Highway 395 parallels the park from north to south with connections to Highway 190 at Olancha and Lone Pine.

Freeway	Dir	Kms	Freeway	h:mm	Kms
580	E	80	5	1:15	80
5	S	160	46	2:15	240
46	E	25	99	0:20	265
99	S	20	58	0:15	285
58	E	95	14	1:00	380
14	N	30	Red Rock	0:30	410
14	N	40	178	0:30	450
178	E	130	190	1:30	580
190	E	80	Furnace	1:00	660
Furnace	S	15	Badwater	0:15	675
Badwater	N	30	Dante's	0:30	705
Freeway	Dir	Kms	Freeway	h:mm	Kms

How we communicate

Cell phones are unlikely to work in the Mojave Desert or Death Valley, and i hope i don't spend the weekend listening to people screaming "hello can you hear me?".

I will give everybody my 800 number, where we can leave each other messages from any phone booth.
We want to know if you heard a message: every time you call the 800 number, leave a message just to say that you did hear the current message. I cannot change a message until i am sure that everybody has listened to it.
Every car should have a walkie talkie.