Death Valley, March 2006

We almost always travel somewhere for Michelle's birthday. For 2006 we returned to Death Valley.

As on our previous trips, we flew to Las Vegas, rented a four-wheel-drive car, then drove to the Valley. 4WD isn't needed unless you plan to explore the minor roads, but we enjoy that, and we did a good bit of it this year. In particular, we completed the trip from Saline Valley to the Racetrack valley over the Hunter Mountain road. (We attempted that last time but were forced to retreat because of snow.)

It wasn't a great trip for photography. Death Valley often has high winds and dust storms during the summer; we didn't encounter any on previous winter and spring visits, but we did this time. Skies were hazy, the light was flat, sand was in the air, and the wind was high enough at times to make it difficult to hold the camera steady.

This trip we made the drive from Death Valley to another one of our favorite areas, the Owens Valley. The stark high desert scenery was well worth the effort, and the roadside geology is a good introduction to the basin-and-range country. We've heard about the plumes of dust and alkali that are blown off the surfaces of the dry lake beds east of the Sierra, but this was the first time we've seen them. (Judging from their position against the backdrop of the Sierra as we crossed the pass east of Keeler, the tops of the plumes from Owens Lake may have reached 10,000 feet.) Allen was interested to see Keeler and the Death Valley areas where Erich von Stroheim's influential movie Greed was filmed in 1924.

Once again we can recommend the restaurant at the Furnace Creek Inn, and next time we'll follow their suggestion to try the stuffed french toast for breakfast. The Mt. Whitney Cafe in Lone Pine is not only a good place to eat (Allen's favorite is the Black Rock bison burger), but has hundreds of autographed stills from movies that were made in town and in the Alabama Hills nearby.

Finally, if you visit the Valley and are headed to Las Vegas afterwards, we recommend taking the "scenic route" that runs down the Badwater Road, over route 178 to Shoshone, 127 to the vicinity of Tecopa, and then the Old Spanish Trail Highway to 160 near Pahrump. It's a little mind-boggling that the entire drive from Lone Pine to the Nevada border by this route is in a single county (Inyo).

To see a larger version of one of the photos below, just click the small version. At the bottom of each large photo you'll find links you can click to take you back to the previous photo, forward to the next, back to this index page, or back to the arden.org home page. (So if you start with the first large photo, you can step through them all by clicking the "Next Photo" links. The link on the last large photo page returns you to this index page.)

2006DeathValley/010015 2006DeathValley/010017 2006DeathValley/010060

The Racetrack and the Grandstand seen from the road

The Racetrack

The Grandstand and environs

The Racetrack

The Grandstand and a view to the northwest

The Racetrack

 

 

 

 

 

2006DeathValley/010029 2006DeathValley/010035 2006DeathValley/010039

Michelle on the playa

The Racetrack

Looking south from the base of the Grandstand

The Racetrack

Michelle on the Grandstand

The Racetrack

 

 

 

 

 

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Racing rock

The Racetrack

Racing rock with mud pileup, and track leading toward the Grandstand

The Racetrack

Nearly submerged racing rock, with Grandstand in the distance

The Racetrack

 

 

 

 

 

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View to the southeast

The Racetrack

Powered paragliding

Furnace Creek

Dunes

Death Valley

 

 

 

 

 

2006DeathValley/010070 2006DeathValley/010076 2006DeathValley/010082

Dunes and the Grapevine range

Death Valley

Dunes and the Grapevine range

Death Valley

Panamint Valley, the Panamint range, and Telescope Peak

West of Panamint Springs

 

 

 

 

 

2006DeathValley/010103 2006DeathValley/010162 2006DeathValley/010111

Panamint Valley and the Panamint range

Father Crowley Point

Panamint dunes, Telescope Peak, and Panamint Valley

Hunter Mountain road

Dust plumes rising from Owens Lake bed just east of the Sierra

Lower Centennial Flat, east of Keeler

 

 

 

 

 

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Dust plumes rising from Owens Lake bed

Keeler

Our Explorer and the Inyo mountains

Keeler

Joshua trees

On the Saline Valley road

 

 

 

 

 

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Joshua trees

On the Saline Valley road

Joshua trees

On the Saline Valley road

Joshua tree

On the Saline Valley road

 

 

 

 

 

2006DeathValley/030004 2006DeathValley/020004 2006DeathValley/020009

Allen checking the depth of the flooded road. Snow lingers along the right-hand edge

Hunter Mountain Road

High winds raising sand from the dunes

Death Valley

High winds raising sand from the dunes

Death Valley

 

 

 

 

 

2006DeathValley/020014 2006DeathValley/020019 2006DeathValley/020023

High winds raising sand from the dunes

Death Valley

Dunes

Death Valley

Dunes and the Grapevine range

Death Valley

 

 

 

 

 

2006DeathValley/020028 2006DeathValley/020035 2006DeathValley/020041

Artist's Drive

Death Valley

Artist's Palette

Death Valley

Artist's Palette

Death Valley

 

 

 

 

 

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Artist's Palette

Death Valley

Badwater

Death Valley

Telescope Peak seen from Badwater

Death Valley

 

 

 

 

 

2006DeathValley/020056

Badwater salt pan

Death Valley

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