Along Route 66 to Death Valley and beyond

Although rain had fallen on both of our evenings at the Grand Canyon, it had been unusually warm and we were constantly reminded by Apple Maps and by the internet that excessive heat was expected everywhere we were likely to be. We had been warned!

My plan had been to revisit the filling station at Desert View where we had topped up on the way into the park. But my plan was foiled as I found myself driving out of a different exit, having not even considered that when I checked the map!!!!

We drove through the last part of the park, past the airport where there seemed to be a lot of early morning helicopter activity (we think it may have been associated with a man dying by falling – or throwing himself – from the skywalk on the west rim) and made our way through the forest to the small town of Williams. What a joy that was!! The first real community since West Yellowstone and some characterful streets, helpful people and interesting businesses.

What a find! Coffee was both good and reasonable as were the muffins and we had an interesting conversation with a young couple who had recently moved to the US from the Netherlands.

We looked into the ‘Western Outfitters’ next door and left pretty quickly after seeing the prices-but it was fun to look and to see what visitors (as well as locals, perhaps) are willing to spend money on. A few more photos in the street, fuel, a visit to the Tourist Information office at the station and we were off in the right direction – we thought. A few miles along the road, however, we decided we were going in the wrong direction: I had got my East confused with my West and needed to do a u-turn. Soon done and we were off in the right direction and looking out for interesting stops.

Soon it was time for lunch and we found the Road Runner cafe in Seligman.

Fast food, cooling drinks fountain with refills to keep us going for the afternoon in the heat, fun conversations with one of the staff who was also a designer with jewelry on sale in the shop and it was time to move on – oh, yes, it was hot: 112F probably at that stage.

We drove on from Seligman looking out for Hackberry General store which is one of the landmarks along Route 66. The road itself passed through a few communities and by-passed others. There were long stretches of yellow fields – dry fields, not healthy crops. The road was quite narrow but was a steady, easy drive. I was disappointed to see a sign off to the left for Hackberry. It looked as if we wouldn’t see the General store. But then it appeared on the right and was a great source of ice-cream. There were ‘give away’ Daily Bread ministries Bible reading notes, too.

And then it was Las Vegas…..via a huge freeway with exits to both right and left and loads of traffic. We got to the hotel tolerably easily but were too far from the Strip to make the effort to go in to the centre of town in the evening, choosing instead to indulge in an Indian Buffet in our hotel. But a hotel in a major tourist destination that offers all kinds of gambling machines and casino tables that has neither coffee nor drinking water in the rooms was a disappointment, especially as there were no shops nearby.

Had we been there on the right night we could have chosen to see Penn and Teller or The Chippendales but neither was particularly inviting so we enjoyed the comfortable beds and prepared for an early start.

When I hear the word ‘Valley’, I think of somewhere flat: in the case of Monument Valley that was true. A vast expanse of sand and rock reminiscent of the Jordanian desert. Even getting in to the area seemed flat on major roads through (or largely bypassing) small communities along the way.

Death Valley was different. The road in from Vegas was quite varied with pretty barren soil most of the time and flat but we were actually much more interested in the temperature as the ‘excessive heat’ warning was still in place and we were keen to check just how high the temperature was.

Having not had breakfast, we stopped at a Taco Bell on the outskirts of Las Vegas. The quesadilla was good – but their range of drinks was extremely limited and I ended up experiencing blue raspberry lemonade for the first time ever: never again! I’ve often wondered what the attraction was, hence my willingness to taste it – don’t bother!!

The drive was not long, mainly through traditional desert landscapes, and we arrived at the Ranch in Furnace Creek before the official check in time. But a room was available and a very helpful receptionist checked us in immediately. It was good to be in an air-conditioned room with the temperature outside hitting 114F. Even when we went to the restaurant in the evening it was really high.

The buffet was generous (probably too generous!) but the food suffered from being under warmers too long and the salmon which had looked so tempting was not as moist as I hoped it would be. 

We started on a dusk journey to the Badwater salt flats but decided the distance was too great and getting back in the dark along unedged roads even at -282 feet (282 ft below sea level) was too much of a risk for my companion as was the 122F (50C) recorded on the car’s temperature gauge: little did she know what the next two days would bring!! Just one or two photos to show how the different light affects the appearance of the shape of the land.

We were up early the next morning to hit sunrise at Zabrieskie Point and then visit the salt flats. The latter I found a bit disappointing, but still fascinating. There were already others there when we reached Zabrieski, but the light was still not fully on the opposite valley.

Gradually it came.

A gentle, rather longer than anticipated, drive to Badwater Basin proved that we had probably been right not to go the previous evening!

To me, the salt looked like snow that had been trampled and I appreciated much more the deeper colours further along the valley.

A quick stop at ‘Golden Canyon’ which did not disappoint, another at the hotel to have a coffee and check out and we were on our way to Yosemite. What a road!!

On the road out of the valley, we stopped at the Mesquite Sand Dunes. By this time it was 10am and, despite those dire warnings everywhere, even though they’re not evident in the photo below, there seemed to be large numbers of families about to enjoy some time in the dunes. I heard one young woman say, ‘We come here often. This isn’t bad.’

I had not thought about the fact that if you are at -282 feet there must be a fair bit of climbing to do to get to the higher elevations we had been experiencing: it didn’t cross my mind that this might result in some fairly hairy drives – but I soon learnt.

Leaving Death Valley reminded me of another long, twisty climb I drove out of Strachan in Tasmania – that had me on the edge of my seat, too. At least this time I had company!

The drive to Yosemite was long, through a huge chunk of California, some freeway, some just standard roads with far fewer potholes than in Surrey!! And it was getting towards dusk when we began another upward climb and another road of hairpin bends. By this time I was tired and the thought of being too close to a 6000 foot drop was not welcome. But the scenery was spectacular! Needless to say, as the driver, I had to wait for my opportunity to press the shutter.

Monument Valley, Vegas, Death Valley and on to Yosemite: such memorable drives, primarily because of the changes in elevation and the hairpin bends to navigate: I wasn’t sure I enjoyed being on the edge of a 6000ft drop, especially on fairly narrow roads with camber that seemed to lean to the edge. Add the insecurities of driving on the wrong side of the road and of  a hire car and you get the picture.