Day 1 - Las Vegas to Death Valley

The first hotel I recognize is the pyramid of Luxor, with the sphinx in front. I had no idea how much I've been looking forward to this vacation until that moment. Everything I've been reading about for the past weeks is suddenly here! We see the Stratosphere, then Excalibur, then another and another. Soon we're so busy pointing out hotels to each other that we barely even notice the plane touching down.

At the rental center we get a free upgrade to a mid-size SUV, but our excitement is short-lived when we realize the car is overdue for an oil change. Somehow the second car turns out to have the same problem! After switching a second time we end up with a monstrous Jeep Patriot. It's pretty nice, but switching cars took up quite a bit of time so we waste no time getting on the road.

After a quick stop at Walmart for a much needed lunch we leave the bustle of Vegas for the endless desert. There are no rolling sand dunes here, only miles of dirt and rocks dotted with sparse vegetation. Joshua tree:

It's when we pass through the small town of Beatty that we run into this strange contraption; a surfing sail rigged onto a bicycle. Only in America!

We reach Rhyolite in the early afternoon. Its short history started in 1904 when gold was discovered. Within 5 years the population reached 10.000, but by then the mines were beginning to fail. When gold is discovered to the north two short years later the population is down to 675. By 1920 only 20 people called Rhyolite home.

The old general store.

The bottle house.

A beat up old car sits behind the general store.

The bank too has seen better days:





















After a quick drive through town, we decide to head for Death Valley and find that it's not what either of us had expected. Somehow driving through snowcapped mountain ranges doesn't jive with what's known as the hottest place on earth. It is however unbelievable beautiful and more diverse than any national park I have seen so far.

White salt flats in the distance.

We stop at the information desk (closed) and it's then that I realize I can't hear anything. No identifiable sounds, but more importantly, no background noise. I don't think I've ever heard "nothing" before. What a special feeling!

JC at the information center.

After a short detour, looking for something we weren't able to find, we decide to head towards the village of Stovepipe Wells. First two pictures I took from the car;

I love the layers of all the different colors!

'








Not long after turning down the road to Stovepipe Wells, we come across the Devil's Corn field. Wow! The ground is white and spiked, but when I touch it it's soft and the white top layer crumbles to reveal brown dirt underneath. I think the white top layer might be distilled salt?

A short distance further down the road, the scenery changes again and this time we see golden dunes that look like a scene from the Sahara desert.

Now that's the kind of desert I've always dreamed of!

Up close it turns out there's quite a few plants on the lower part of the dunes and in the valley. I run from dune to dune convinced that if I just keep going I am going to find a shot without plants in it. Sandy wisely decides to stay behind and wait for me.

It's 40, maybe 50 degrees at the most and yet it's easy to see why heat stroke is a serious problem in the summer. The air is dry and it's tough going up and down the shifting sands. When I get back I'm absolutely knackered.



I never found any dune views completely without vegetation, but I saw several mud cracks like this one.

The sun is starting to set and we decide against driving to Zabriskie's Point for the sunset. It's cloudy, plus we're not sure if we'd make it there in time. Instead we get to watch as it turns the surrounding mountains a soft red.

We make it to the hotel shortly after 6 o'clock and head to the cozy 49ers restaurant for dinner. Sandy decides on a gyro sandwich and I order a mesquite grilled chicken salad. Yum!

It's barely 40 degrees by the time we finish eating. The desert gets very cold at night, but that doesn't deter me from taking a quick dip in the hotel's spring fed pool. The warm springs keep the pool water around a comfortable 80 degrees year round, although the cold night air is chilling to any part that is not underwater. Sandy burrows into the warm comfort of her winter coat to watch me swim.

Time for me to get some sleep. We've decided to make the most of the short winter day light hours while we're here and that means getting up before sunrise tomorrow. No free internet here, so you I will post this from the visitor center tomorrow.

Goodnight everyone!

Total mileage day 1: 216