A bunch of us have been trying to arrange a camping trip of some sort for quite a while now. Between various holidays, work schedules, and the general difficulty of trying to get 20 people together, it took quite some time for it to happen.
Thanks to Nick's persistence, it finally came together.
We loaded up the Jeep and started on the long, 6 hour drive to Death Valley. We arrived long after dark at Wildrose, but managed to set up our site in good time. The sleeping experience the first night left something to be desired. The desert floor is basically solid rock, so getting a tent stake in the ground in any way that you could hope to hold down a rain fly was basically impossible. I wasn't feeling particularly creative, so we just put the rain fly on top and secured it to the tent poles, simply bypassing the tiedowns that you should use to pull the fly taut. Soon after we went to sleep, the cold air from up higher in the mountains (we were camped at roughly 5200 feet) comes rushing down into the valley, and our tent was like a wind tunnel. I got up half naked with a headlamp to remove the fly, and went back to bed.
Saturday after an hour or two of milling around, cooking breakfast and packing up camp, we drove to Mosaic Canyon for what had been planned as a short hike, but turned into a much longer, more enjoyable adventure. The canyon is an amazing place with all the different rock formations.
I've always been a rock lover, and I tend to lug home a rock or two from every trip. On this particular trip, I loaded up my pack with an additional 25lbs of rocks for gifts and as additions to my rock garden, but found out on the way out that removing rocks is prohibited. I kept them anyway, as I lugged them all the way out and back. When we arrived back at the Jeep, I noticed thatt the weather sealant strip around my windshield had started to melt, which was a bit suprising as the desert was only 85 or so degrees. We zipped back to camp, as its first come first serve and didn't want anyone to not get a spot. After some number of hours of flying RC planes, enjoying a drink or two, and watching people attempt to start a fire with a green tree stump, a pallet and a healthy dose of white gas, we went to bed.
Sunday morning was spent cooking whatever food survived the heat and packing up for the ride home. We took an alternative route home, which turned out to save us nearly 2 hours of drive time, even considering a number of stops. The most interesting stop, which was certainly one of the most entertaining parts of the whole trip, was a visit to the Ballrat Ghost Town. Ballrat is an old, long since abandoned mining town. Its partial claim to fame is the fact that the Manson's stayed there for some amount of time, and Charles Manson's truck is still there:
We were given a tour of the musuem by a kid named Bryson:
Bryson was quite the character, and is apparently an actor. If you are in the area, stop by, buy a soda and get his tour.
Overall it was a great trip. I highly recommend Death Valley to anyone. Bring your sunblock, your sunglasses, multiple gallons of water, and enjoy the scenery.
Oh, and of course this trip wouldn't be complete without ass pictures?!
Posted by Jon Hart on February 19, 2007 12:29 PM
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