Valley of Death

 

It’s that time again. Time again to hit the road!

After the wet-fest last year, I asked my friend Glenn if I could borrow his teardrop trailer to take with me in case of rain or cold. He agreed, so I headed out to Death Valley to pick it up where he works seasonally at the Furnace Creek Resort.

The drive in was fun on the 190 off of US 395.

Up hills,

and down hills.

I stayed at Texas Springs Campground about a mile from Furnace Creek.

I set up camp and decided to cook some tacos and enjoy the hot sauce my nephews gave me for Christmas.

I guess the smell of taco’s carries far in the desert air because soon Glenn showed up with the trailer.

He saved me a couple and we enjoyed a campfire before I retired to my tent and Glenn went back to the resort.

This is what my campsite looked like.

I could of sworn I heard the sound of running water during the night. See that bit of shrubbery in front of my car?

Well they don’t call it Texas Springs for nothing. Behold!

I walked the campground and took photos. It was very crowded. You can barely see my car, trailer and tent in the middle of the next picture.

Afterwards I had lunch with Glenn at the resort and then went back to camp to hide from the sun in a tiny bit of shade next to my car.

Normally at this time of year the temperature is around 75 – 80 degrees. It was approaching triple digits during my three day visit. Well, at least it wasn’t raining. It cooled off a bit at sunset and some clouds moved in for some nice photos.

The next morning I played the part of a coyote and chased around a road runner before heading down to the Furnace Creek campground.

They put in a new Visitor Center here a few years ago.

They also closed the campground down for the 2011 – 2012 season for some remodeling. They also renumbered all the sites. And they added a big surprise, which I will get to shortly.

The sites are now numbered 10 – 87 and 100 – 150. Makes sense I guess. Three more group sites were added. I really liked Group Site 5. Perfect for a small gathering and has some shade.

Now for the big surprise. They added several full hookup sites! Numbers 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 67, 68, 69, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, and 77.

In typical government fashion, however, they could not decide on how much to charge for the electricity. So they just locked the power boxes. Yep. 100 degrees and the big RV’s are hooked up to water and sewer only. Surprise!

I am heading south now towards Alamo Lake State Park in Arizona. There were some nice views on the way out along the 190 and 127.

The first picture is from Dante’s Peak, the second was taken roadside about 40 miles later.

About 30 miles north of Baker a sandstorm propelled by 40 mph winds blew across the road. Visibility was reduced to about 20 feet. I attempted to take some photos while driving. We will see how they turned out in the next blog post.

Regards,

Greg

Animal Crackers

 

And some bugs and birds as well.

This will be my last post until I hit the road in mid-March for 8 months. I thought I would share some photos of the “wildlife” I have encountered over the last few years.

Let’s start with bugs.

Biggest crab I have ever seen, and wearing a hat no less. OK, not really a bug but it looks like one. How about some spiders?

A Tarantula from New Mexico and a Cigarette-Butt spider from Florida.

Here is a stick bug thingy also from Florida and some caterpillars from Washington.

Canadian Geese seem to follow me wherever I go. I saw these two while canoeing and they invited their friends to visit my campsite at Jenkinson Lake in California.

I ran into a wild Turkey at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park in California.

I think this is how they say hello.

Or maybe not. It’s amazing how they can plump up their plumage.

I also get ignored by birds.

Or maybe that is their photogenic side. A cheeky little Chickadee serenaded me in Olympic National Park.

Villanueva State Park in New Mexico is a nice spot alongside the Pecos River. Just don’t go there when cows have booked the group site.

They think that they have a free run throughout the campground.

And they will make your kids wait to use the playground.

I had to push several down the slide just to get my turn.

Deer are plentiful wherever I go but this one loved the smell of my tacos and stopped by to ask for one near Mount Shasta in California.

I never knew they scratched themselves likes dogs.

Tree Rats are everywhere as well. They will sneak up and grab your snacks if you do not pay attention.

They also send out scouts…

And will yell to try to scare you away.

I don’t have a lot of bear photos but I did run across these ones at Lake Mary in Mammoth Lakes, California.

Mom was keeping an eye out.

While the kids played.

I expect to have more bear photos after I visit Yellowstone this year. Big bears. Grizzlies. Yippee! They have wolves there too. Luckily I will have a hard sided trailer to camp in during my time there.

Well, it kinda looks like that. Minus most of that.

I have also seen some lizards. Some small…

And some big.

And the occasional turtles, like these ones from Hillsborough River State Park in Florida.

One thing you may have noticed in most of these photos is the lack of eye contact with the subject. So I will add a little photo tip to end this post.

EYE CONTACT

You have your subject composed in your viewfinder. Maybe a once in a lifetime shot. Take that shot. Then try to get eye contact. Whistle. Most animals will turn their head to check you out.

Just don’t do that with bears.

Regards,

Greg