Through Death Valley to Mojave National Preserve

After several days lounging in the hot springs near Mammoth, California, it was time to hit the road again.  Southward, of course.  We carried on down 395, east of the Sierras, through Bishop and beyond.  Usually, this involves a stop of a day or three in the Alabama Hills, in the shadow of Mount Whitney, just out of Lone Pine.  But a serious flood and washout more than a year ago destroyed the normal access route - the Whitney Portal road! Last year, we took the alternate route, but it's longer, and very winding and steep, and narrow, and not really worth the effort - only to get onto Movie road and find even more former camp spots closed.  So, we continued on.  There were flashing signs indicating some sort of closure or detour on 395 further south.  To get the low-down on when Whitney Portal road may re-open, and what was happening on the road ahead, we pretended we were 'authorized personnel' (see photo below) and pulled into the Visitor Center just south of town.  Where we learned absolutely nothing ...

 

For a change of pace, and to break up the routine, we decided to take the Death Valley Route.  After hiking half an hour down Centennial road before the Death Valley boundary to make sure it was passable and there was a place to turn around, a non-descript spot with great 360 degree views provided a good spot to spend the night, and for Bailey, a chance to brush up on his lizard hunting techniques!

Next morning, it was right down into Death Valley.  Coming in from this side involves 2 long, super steep, winding descents, and one brutal climb.  Traffic was very light in the morning, so it was no issue letting the engine do the braking all the way down, and gets it's exercise going up again.  Having spent time here before, we more or less cruised through the valley, with the obligatory test of the dump station at Furnace Creek.  

Departing Death Valley on 190 is a very gentle, extended climb, where the big GM barely has to shift down.  Just out of the park, and free from any pesky cell signals, we spent the night at The Pads, but opted to forgo the nice concrete pads for a more isolated spot off the end.  My Starlink was still active before it's pause for the winter, so it was still possible to be online without any cell coverage.

A short detour through Pahrump got us a fill of propane, and much cheaper Nevada diesel, before re-entering Califonia at Shosone, and on down 127 to Baker, on the I-15.

South of Baker, in Mojave National Preserve, we again shook things up a bit, and chose a spot at least 50 yards from our usual spot!  It seemed quieter than usual with few vehicles seen, and almost no other campers.  So we took advantage of the good weather and lack of people, and spent over a week there, with lots of hiking, scrambling, biking, and a bit of touring around.

Some of the required moonlight shots!

There is a rather unique cattle guard on the Kelbaker road through the Preserve.  There are NO fences anywhere near the cattle guard,  hmm?  I can only assume the guard is there to deter speeding tortoises from using the paved road!

There are some cool sand dunes in the area.

When out hiking, I can keep an eye on what Bailey is up to back in camp!

Oh, the hardships of life in camp!  Sometimes you just have to watch hockey games on an iPad while enjoying the sunsets!

Much to my surprise, the Starlink worked just fine, set up indoors on the bed.  Who knew!

That's about it for now.  Next post, we pass up on the night life in Vegas, for the wild night life at Six Mile Cove!

Down the Left Coast - Masked trespasser in camp!

In the last post, we'd reached Cape Meares on the Oregon coast, and enjoyed the sounds of the surf and smell of the sea.

From there, we moseyed on southward at a relatively slow pace with light traffic.  A quick stop in Lincoln City found some diesel at $3.39 ($1.25Can/L), so any spare fuel cans got filled as well, knowing that the prices would be much higher ahead.  Propane also topped off.

 Well down into California, this great spot was re-discovered for another night with only the sounds of surf.

Check out the videos!

As per usual, we left highway 101 at Leggett, opting for the #1 right on the coast, after the very winding, sometimes steep road to get there.  Due to shoreline slumping and collapses, several preferred ocean view pull-offs were occupied with construction equipment attempting to save the road.  We did find a good spot nevertheless, though a masked trespasser came by in the dark - or perhaps we were trespassing on his home?  Bailey also decided that there should not be any deer allowed in camp!  Check out the videos below!

Another sip of fuel in Fort Bragg had us continuing down the coast, trying to stay ahead of any predicted precipitation.  Found this great ocean-view spot, and we were joined for the night by three different van campers.

A short detour took us out to the Point Arena Lighthouse, where this video was taken.  I posted this one on YouTube!

https://youtu.be/ozmDLzIiFLI

At the mouth of the Russian River near Jenner, we stopped a while to watch the harbour seals, and large flocks of gulls the brown pelicans feeding in the estuary.

We don't usually use Starlink in the winter down south, because of a much cheaper grandfathered unlimited plan with AT&T we have, but it's brought along as backup.  It's been paused, but is still active till the middle of the month, so decided to give it a try in a short cell-free zone.  Much to my surprise it worked quite well, just set up indoors on the bed!  It didn't even tip over when left there while driving!

The coastal route south of San Francisco in the Big Sur area is still closed because of landslides last year, so it was time to blast all the way across northern California for some hot spring action.  Luckily, that route involves a short incursion into Nevada, where fuel prices for diesel were decent at $3.33/g.

 

Compare that to Bridgeport, Ca, where I've traditionally found the highest prices ever!

After driving that far, it was a big disappointment to find the hot springs closed with this sign!

Plan 'B' was quickly put into effect, and we headed down to the collection of hot springs in the Whitmore/Mammoth area.  This area is much lower elevation as well, so the nights would not be dropping well below freezing like they were predicted to do in Bridgeport.

Time to slow down, relax, and enjoy the hot water for a few days!