I am writing this posting as i overlook the extraordinarily beautful view at Dantes View in Death Valley. This most gorgeous place on earth was never on my list of places to experience, but it should have been, long ago. Somehow, my instincts to pay it a visit on this trip, and to stay for four days, were richly rewarded. Wow, what a beauty it is here
I have sent photos, provided some commentary, and explained some of the logistics, including our good fortune to end up in the site we secured, so i will not dwell on them. I will only note those things that come to my well-cleared mind as i sit here with the view as my music, the slight cool breeze as my virtual ink, and my naping dog beside me as additinal inspiration. I would never have come here without him, nor will i ever take a road trip without my dogs.
We drove about 420 miles through the park these last three days on just about all the roads there are to drive here. The return trips were just as exhilarting as the outward bound trips because when driving you can onky look one way at a time and because a view from the east is not the same view from the west. Not once during those 420 miles did i feel indifferent to what i was seeing, nor did i take my eyes off those views except when road conditions demanded my attention.
I purposely decided to divide the rides over three days to bask in the sheer beauty of these majestic mountains and the desert skirting them. Unless someone wants to take the half dozen or so short hikes, it is possible to drive through the entire park in one long day, but i would not advise it.
As for those short hikes, they do not allow pets on those
trails, so i took none of them. I refuse to leave my dogs on these trips as they are for the two of us. Only once did i regret not being able to hike a trail, the 2-mile round trip to the beautiful oasis Darwin Falls, but i will find find some videos on line to experience it through others' eyes what i missed. Besides, it was took hot to hike two miles, so nothing lost.
But while the ubiquitous school-marmish No Pets signs kept me off some trails, the Defender in several places took me to a few places few would dare go, Donner's Cove for one. This vehicke over its 26 years and moon-distance miles have taken me places i never would have ventured with any other vehicle. And to think that my decision to adopt it back in 1993 was spontaneous. Many of my best decisions were made that way.
The No Pets signs, or the Defender's go-everywhere attitude notwithstanding, no matter how much joy people experience on these public access facilities, no one, and i mean no one, can experience anything near the full pleasure and satisfaction and sense of accomplishment of this park or any park like tthe backcountry hikers. Having taken six expeditions into the backcountry wildernesses of Alaska and Russia, i know that. I am not one for regretting past actions or inactions, but i as i sit here taking in this view, i regret not spending time as part of this grand landscape when i could have. But knowing it is there for others to experience is good enough for me. (Note: i imagine backcountry hiking is limited here because of the dearth of water sources, and one can only carry so much water in a place that requires one to drink a gallon of water a day with temperatures going up to 124 degrees at times.)
But the backcountry hiking instincts were still with me durung these three days. As i scanned those individually unique mountains to the left of me and to the right of me as we drove by, after my first joys of the beauty were exhausted, my thoughts were always, Which is the best pass to take? How dffucult would that route be to traverse? How long would it take to hike from there to there? Where are there water sources, even snow? And where would a good place be to bivouac for the night? My last expedition (on Kamchatka) was in 1997, but i cannot get these questions out of my mind when a look at a mountain. In a sense, they are still as useful today as i apply them to my current mode of experiencing nature, the road. But on a scale of one to ten, if backcountry hiking is a 10 and watching a video of the same terrain is a 1, the way i am experiencing it now is at best a 4. Oh how i miss those 10s.
As for some additional logistics, the weather really cooperated with us. Except for the first few hours here , the tempersture has been tolerabke. And the occasional breezes and winds were welcome visitors, not onky for heat relief, but to keep the fly population under control, although Donner keeps himself quite busy trying to catch them.
As for snags on this trip so far, it has been as snag-free as one could hope for. The latest came yesterday when i could not open the hood on the Donner, but a little ingenuity and an hour of my quality time succeeded.
Tomorrow we move on to Zion, 270 miles away. The place is becoming so popular you cannot get a camp site withun 50 miles. Since my guess is that it will look like the annual RV convention is being held there, and because you have to board a park bus to view the canyon (yes, you guessed it, no dogs allowed ) i will just drive though the park in one day, save it for the National Geographic special, and move on to the Grand Canyon north rim before the snows arrives there and closes the campground there. (From the 90s today, we plummet to the 20s at night there.) After that, it is off to Arches, which is only a few miles from I 70, which will take us 2020 miles to virtually our front door.
One of my dear friends commented earlier on that the Defender looks like it needs a bath. Very perceptive comment. But it is not getting one till we are back home. I do clean out the inside almost daily, especially after miles of dirt roads with the Defender's side and rear panels up. But the Defender prefers to look this way. (How many Mercedes G-Wagons - a very capable overlander vehicle - have you seen with a smidgen of dirt on them? Answer- none). But the Defender is not the only one in need of a bath. I do, however, take a handiwipe bath every day, which meets Donner's standards. As for Donner, i meticulously groom him every day, to catch the spots he misses in his own daily grooming.
It's 5:30 and time to feed Donner. Then, tonight i will light another fire and reflect on my good fortune to be able to take these trips and for meeting all the good people i meet on these trips.
Ed and Donner, from the road
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