I woke in plenty of time for the 5:54am dawn! A good two hours early to be precise! Hacks me off, my sleep pattern.
Thing is I know it won’t help when I get home and have just half a day before setting off to work for another week.
I got the camera and tripod and tiptoed our onto the balcony. Jeezus! It’s 4am and still 38°C! And that was whilst it was “blowin’ a hoolie”! No idea what it would have been if the air was still.
Tbh, it was hard work sitting there in that heat. Especially when you’re eyes told you you should be cold. Very odd! So odd I came back inside for a while!
When the sky started to change colour, I began taking some photos, but being frank, the view, and the sky weren’t a patch on somewhere like the Grand Canyon – there’s a lot of haze here, scattering light. This is reflected in my “average” photos.
I tried again as the sun just started over the mountain tops, but again, not going to make it into the album, probably.
I actually ended up going back to bed and did manage to doze for an hour, before relenting, getting up and prepping for the day (the usual – wash the water bottles/bidons, full with ice water, pack the cool bag, take to car, with camera bags).
By the time sleepyhead Charlie was out of his pit, and we got to the canteen, breakfast was had at just after 10am. And it wasn’t great, either.
Charlie managed to pour the maple syrup down himself, his phone and his shorts. Some did go on the 3 pancakes and bacon, of which he ate half a pancake. Jane had the “breakfast barm” but that turned out to be quite greasy and uninspiring, as was my scrambled egg, sausage “links”, and hash browns. Again fairly swimming in oil.
Oh well, we live and learn! Just a pity that with drinks it was over $50. Maybe Denny’s isn’t so bad after all!
Finally rounded everyone up, and loaded the car, and set off to the visitor centre, just down the road.
Nicely laid out, just a pity we couldn’t get near the tourist thermometer, due to a coach that had just pulled in and deposited 50’ish French folk.
115°C at 11am. May be a warm one today. We decided we’d head north to Ubehebe Crater, a massive caldera, crests by a steam build-up that led to a massive explosion around 2000 years ago. To give you an idea of scale, Ubehebe (Oooh-bee-hee-bee. Go on say it. Makes you smile, doesn’t it!), was a 54 mile drive north. With little else between, that’s a fair commitment for another big hole.
Pretty much all of the last 25 miles were barren, in a really amazing way. Nothing. Until you really look. Then there are little pockets of differing geology. Different colours, plants, textures. It’s really more beautiful in a twisted sort of way, than you may wish to credit it with.
The last 15 miles we’re on a dead end road. Very wide, very flat, acres of flat land to each side of the tarmac. I had cruise on at the desperately low 35mph (ugh). Charlie reckoned it looked so easy he could get us there.
These carefully constructed, very realistic photos, make it look like Charlie drove the big truck the last 5 miles unaided. He was really good! I think all of those computer games have made it easier for him to (pretend) drive, even if it was an auto transmission.
We arrived at Ubehebe and got out of the car. Needless to say, some berk with 20 other potential spaces chose the one next to ours and parked too close. WTF! Is it that same cock-womble from our last Volcano Crater?
When we got out, it was like disembarking a long-haul airline from the rear steps – when the pilot had forgotten to turn off the Rolls Royce RB211 turbofan engines. It was blowing jet-hot air at us, at a right force!
Great view, although way too hot to attempt the hilly, mile long hike through cinders. Just touristy photos, this time! They’ve done the viewing area up (like at Dante’s View) in the intervening years since we came last. Not a massive surprise. But definitely better, and with an emphasis on accessibility as well.
Back down the road for the return 50’ish miles, and Charlie had another (pretend) drive for the next 5 miles. Oh, how we laughed at his (pretend) right turn after a “Yield” sign, and inability to comprehend how much you need to rotate a steering wheel, compared to a bit of “full right stick” on an XBox controller.
Enough of this pretend stuff, we need to make up ground. I took control. “You have control”, said Charlie. “I have control”, said I. Taught him well!
We took a right not far from the Ranch and headed towards Stovepipe Wells. We were overtaken by two cars in ”stealth” mode. Basically, it was two next-year model BMW X5s being tested I presume, in a camouflage wrap, made up of Matt black and wiggly white stripes that meant it was tricky to discern body lines.
We stopped at Mesquite Sand Dunes. Without wishing to repeat myself, jeez, it’s hot! Car temp gauge is now showing 49°C. That’s pretty warm to be frolicking around in sand dunes. So hot in fact that Janes IPhone said enough is enough and flicked the overheat sign on!
Must point out that heading into the scrub, before the dunes, we all did as the notices say – “don’t put your feet where you can’t see them, due to rattlesnakes, scorpions and Black Widow spiders”. Easy to follow. No deviations!
None of us died of the heat or fatal poisoning, and made it back to the car.
We then drove the short trip to Stovepipe Wells, piled into the gift shop/general store and bought a snacks lunch. I also bought a mix of 6-bottles of Ale, which cost only fractionally more than a pint at the Ranch.
We got chatting to a lovely older couple from Oxfordshire who were on their honeymoon. Like us, they are supposed to be off to Yosemite arriving Sunday. It’s now really not looking good as they’ve closed part of the 120, which means you can’t drive east to west, and, frustratingly, they are being very late with their calls on whether there is any accommodation “in Park”. We all think we won’t get there now, and will end up having to do some very last minute reworking of itineraries.
Tbh, I think Yosemite accommodation are at fault here. They should be putting us first rather than trying to make sure they lose as little revenue as possible. The balance just isn’t quite right, IMHO.
We bid farewell, got back in our 4-wheel furnace, and drove off towards todays final stops. The biggies. The showcase “money shot” views – Artists Drive, The Devils Golf Course, and the lowest and likely hottest part of the park, Badwater.
Devils Golf Course came first, and although Charlie was mithered by needing a wee desperately, it’s a real sight to behold. That said, I reckon my mate Alan, would still go around this with his usual cussing, and end up with a similar scorecard.
Driving away, we hit our own blinder! Photo to prove, the temp hit 54°C (127°CF), just 3°C off the world record, I think. That’s quite warm! It must have been, Jane took her Cardy off…
Next was Badwater. At 282ft below sea level it was still a balmy 51°C at the lowest point in the northern hemisphere. However, before venturing onto the salt flats, I had a more pressing engagement. (No photos, you’ll be glad to hear).
Thankfully, the “Long Drop” was in service and accessible. Although taking a dump into a hole in the ground isn’t blog material per se, it is worth a mention, given where we were. If you’ve not had the misfortune, all I can say is I was in and out quicker than Jack Flash himself. No need to linger and read a newspaper.
Off to the salt flats. For about 5 minutes. Because that’s all we could stand. Our eyelids were burning. Our throats parched within seconds. Every pore was forcibly ejecting sweat and max pressure. What a place this is!
A final sojourn through the very scenic Artists Drive, and a quick wave to R2D2 and the Jawa that zapped and then stole him from here in the original (1977) Star Wars Ep III – A New Hope.
Back to the Ranch, tea in the canteen, at which we played safe and went salad and soup, after the breakfast, and then bed!
Hoping to drive out via one of the valleys where the “The United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program, more popularly known as Topgun, teaches fighter and strike tactics and techniques to selected naval aviators and naval flight officers”.
Guess what will be on tomorrow’s playlist! I feel the need, the need for speed!
“Hey Goose! Take me to bed or lose me forever.”
“Show me the way home, honey.”
😉