Truckin' Across Nevada!

Leaving Death Valley National Park we turned “The Rambler” (yes, I decided to name the rig Rambler as that was my first car model. Yep in 1976 my father purchased a 1964 pea green colored Rambler from my grandfather. It was nicknamed the tank because you couldn’t dent that thing if you tried!) towards Valley of Fire State Park, northeast of Las Vegas. We stopped in Pahrump Nevada for fuel and laundry, groceries and lunch. As we were driving this Monday, April 8 – the day of the total solar eclipse in parts of America – we realized that we weren’t going to be seeing anything out here in Nevada. That was ok. My friends posted great pictures!

Almost every campsite here has a view like this.

This state park is tied for the “Oh Wow” factor with Lost Dutchman in Arizona. We’re here for 3 nights. There’s a strong north wind blowing on us and it was cold enough that it kept us in the rig.

View behind our campsite

We woke to a beautiful, clear sky day! Chilly in the morning but back to shorts in the afternoon. The park isn’t big. It’s about 7 miles between the west and east entrance and about 5 miles one-way on the scenic loop. The roads were narrow, and crowded, so we opted to drive it and not use the bikes. There are so many tour vendors coming from Las Vegas with tourists.  Parking lots were crowded. Trails for me were challenging in the sand as I am still recuperating from a sprained ankle.  The Rainbow Vista was stunning. So was Fire Canyon Road.

Stunning colors!

Driving the road through the park

A geologist will love this place!

You can always find great beauty with the road less traveled.

Stunning formations

Look for the petroglyphs.

Here, you can listen to the wind as it blows and whips through arches and holes, taking it’s time to make another beautiful creation from our Creator.

And we have some good news to share! Our youngest daughter had a doctor visit on Wednesday, confirming she’s expecting a baby in November! How exciting is that!

A little history here at Valley of Fire State Park. For thousands of years, Native Americans have used it for many purposes. Their petroglyphs are found throughout the park. It’s a geologic wonderland and when the sun shines on it, the rock formations look like fire. It gained popularity in the 1920’s and was formally opened in 1934.  It’s Nevada’s largest state park. They close the trails mid-May through end of September due to the heat.

We did one more state park in Nevada. Cathedral Gorge State Park, about a 3 hour drive north. We’re here for 2 days and we scored a great site!  Site 14!  And we have decent Verizon cell service. Some of the sandstone formations here look like beach sandcastles.

Don't you think it looks like a sandcastle?

We got the bikes out and rode about 4 miles to go see the Cathedral Caves, the Moon Caves and walk into some of the slot canyons.  So cool! Literally! The CCC in the 1930’s built a water tower and restroom facility, no longer being used.

Site 14

Spring blooms!

Beautiful night sky

Our bikes!

Going up to a slot

Slots

Nice and cool in the slots

The Water Tower that was built by the CCC.

Headed to another slot

Explain to me what the board is for.

Looking up pat the sky

Restroom facilities built by the CCC in the 1930s

I hiked the Juniper Draw Loop, a little over 3 miles. It walks you along the formations around the valley floor.

If you look hard, you can find a bloom. These were on the valley floor.

Both parks, if you haven’t ever visited, need to go on your list. Be smart about the time of year you come.  We’ve never been here in the spring and have really enjoyed the flowers.

We logged 505 miles in the state of Nevada! As we wait for the north country to start thawing, we will head The Rambler east into Utah.

Death Valley National Park

This post is all about Death Valley National Park, located in the desert in California. I don’t know about you, but when I think of Death Valley, it’s my childhood memories.  Hot as hell. Mormons died in the 1800s because the only water they found was salty and no one or no other animals would drink. I remember watching western tv shows about it.

But…..if you come in the spring it’s a whole different story!  We planned our launch date for this trip around getting here in hopes of a super bloom or at least wildflowers.  Well, sorry to say no super bloom.  But there are many wildflowers to view.

 

Near Pannamint Canyon

Here’s some history.  Death Valley National Park was established in 1994, the 53^rd park among America’s 59 National Parks.  It straddles eastern California and western Nevada.  Death Valley is known for its colorful rocks and Badwater Basin’s salt flats…which we hiked to. Badwater Basin is the lowest place in North America at 282 feet below sea level.  It’s record temperature is 134 degrees Fahrenheit makes it the hottest place on earth.  Thank goodness we visited in the spring before it got so hot.  The massive salt flat here covers nearly 200 square miles and lies more than two miles below the 11,331 foot Telescope Peak that looms above it. Whew.  But don’t forget about the Mormons that traveled through here, couldn’t find water, and well….you might remember the rest of that story!

So, Day 13, April 5 our destination is Death Valley National Park.  We logged 732 miles driving in Arizona.  On our route here, we travel into California, then Nevada close to Las Vegas, before entering the park back through California.  We got hailed on south of Vegas.  Nothing big or bad.  We got settled into our site (#16) at Furnace Creek which is below sea level.  We have views of snow capped mountains on one side and views of black clouds in the valley and over the mountain on the other side.  It’s cool – upper 50’s (I know you were expecting heat).  It’s beautiful! Not what we expected. We came in hopes of a super bloom but there’s just beautiful patches of flowers.

Hail south of Vegas

View from campsite

Day 14 – April 6

What a beautiful, peaceful place this is. Today it’s clear blue skies. There are flowers – if you walk in the desert. We undocked and took a ride to Badwater Basin that is 282’ below sea level. We made a side drive through Artist Canyon which was well worth it. Then we took a long hike to the Devil’s Golf Course. There’s still water in the lake, which is amazing. The dried salt formations here looked like coral. So cool to see this.  BTW it’s not hot. We have on jeans and long sleeves. We continued our drive which made a long loop back to Furnace Creek. We saw beautiful cactus in bloom. Their hot pink flowers looked fake as we were driving through.

The truck looks small!

Really didn't expect to see so much snow here.

Looking down at Badwater Basin

Some twisting roads!

Pretty patch of yellow daisies

Worth the long hike down to really see and touch!

Wading to the water

These almost looked fake when you're viewing across the land.

Day 15 – April 7, 2024

We’re starting week #3!  We did a drive on the northeast side of the park.  We headed towards Stovepipe Wells Village where the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes are.

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

As we neared Panamint Springs Valley, you could see a carpet or yellow daisies everywhere!  Very pretty!

Fields of yellow flowers

Even taken through the windshield it's pretty

We then drove up to Father Crowley Vista Point that overlooks Rainbow Canyon. We didn’t realize that the Air Force does drills through this valley and canyon.

Rainbow Canyon

You know the song…..”The stars at night are big and bright, deep in the Heart of Texas!” Well the stars here our just absolutely amazing. We left the window open on the hatch above the bed just to continue watching them. Billions of stars look like a pincushion stuffed with pins.

The weather is still good.  Came back and docked the truck and camper to be ready to leave tomorrow for a state park in Nevada.  Our California driving miles totaled 520 miles, mostly just driving through this enormous park.

Death Valley…….so empty, so vast, so simple, so quiet.