After buffet breakfast in the Saddle West Casino ($6.45), we set out from Pahrump. The election advertising still amusing us, especially Judge Kim Wanker vying to retain his role at the next election. Last night we'd identified a gas station selling fuel for $3.69 a gallon just outside town, so we stopped there and refuelled the 'tour bus'.
The SR-160 climbed over a low pass before heading down into the Amagosa Valley, a long flat desertland with mountains either side. After 30 miles we reached the town of Death Valley Junction, just inside California and joined the US-190 West. Once again, we climbed over a pass at around 3000 feet, before heading down into Death Valley National Park. There was no ranger station to pay for entrance, so after a brief stop for pictures, we carried on down into the valley.
Not much further on, we pulled over into a parking area at Zabriskie Point. Here we walked up a small hill to a overlook of the 'Badlands' part of Death Valley. This area, consisting of barren rocky hills and salt flats is the lowest part of the USA some 276 feet below sea-level. After taking a few photographs, we continued on deeper into the valley and Furnace Creek, a small collection of houses, a hotel, RV park and General Store. Outside the RV park was an original steam-driven tractor used for hauling Borax. The tractor had been designed to replace a 20-mule propelled wagon used before.
By now the temperature had reached the mid 90Fs and the landscape mainly barren desert still below sea-level and bordered by large mountains. The road ran for miles dead straight around salt flats and the temperature passed the 100F mark. We stopped at Stove Pipe Wells for a drink and a few photographs and then headed on west. There were warning signs about vehicles overheating and we realised why as we rapidly climbed from below sea-level to over 5000 feet over a rocky pass. Once over this, the road descended again through a dry canyon onto another wide plain with the settlement of Panamint Springs at the far side.
Climbing again, this time to over 6000 feet, we finally left Death Valley National Park and started the long descent into the Owens Valley. Towards the end of this stretch of road we skirted the dry Owens Lake before joining the US-395 North. Shortly after this we arrived at the town of Lone Pines and stopped at Subway for lunch. Following this delight, we continued north, through the towns of Independance, Big Pines and onto the larger town of Bishop. This stretch of road had the Sierra Nevada bordering its western side, the highest Peak being Mt Whitney at 14400 feet high, the highest peak in the lower 48 states.
After Bishop the road swung round to the north west and we climbed again up to Mammoth Lakes and joined the SR-203 for the last few miles. Mammoth Lakes is an up-market ski resort with lots of expensive accommodation, but we managed to find a Travelodge for a reasonable price. Once we had checked in to an enormous room, we did a bit of laundry before heading out for dinner. A lot of the local eateries claim to be 'fine dining' with appropriately inflated prices. We managed to find a slightly cheaper restaurant called 'Slocums' and had fish and chips.
Hotel - Travelodge, Mammoth Lakes
Weather - Clear skies and sunny. Warm to start with, but very hot crossing Death Valley. Distinctly cooler at Mammoth Lakes
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