Mesquite Dunes and Artist's Drive

Tuesday 5th November

I slept pretty well considering our basic accommodation......compared with Yosemite it was positively balmy but I did get a bit cold a few hours before dawn. We woke early, before 6am, brewed some coffee to warm us up and then got up and got ready to run. We were actually on the route of the Badwater Ultramarathon as we set out from the camp to run north back up the 190. It was still cold enough to require a hoodie at this time of morning but it was rapidly warming up. We ran a mile along the road and then turned off on a gravel trail to Darwin's Falls. The path gradually climbed upwards making it hard work and in fact by the time we reached the falls we had gained almost a thousand feet. At this point the trail became muddy and we had to hop from side to side of the stream on stepping stones as we followed a steep sided gulch upwards. Once we reached rocks where we had to clamber we gave up trying to run and just went a little further to quite a deep pool before stopping. This was indeed a little oasis of greenery in the desert and we wondered if there was water here now because of the snow fall in the Sierras the previous week.

We retraced our steps back down the trail to the road and then enjoyed the last mile blasting downhill at 6.30 pace which didn't actually feel that easy as it was into the wind. It's not often we can claim to have done an 8.5 mile run and been back in time for breakfast at 8am! Although the sky was clear and the sun was shining it was still on the chilly side and cooking breakfast was quite frustrating because the wind was strong and gusty and anything that wasn't anchored down kept taking off. After we had eaten we packed the tent and headed south into Death Valley itself. This called for several road side stops to admire the spectacular views and take photos.

We passed the Emigrant Campsite where we had originally thought we might camp and then Stovepipe Wells, a tiny settlement; the next habitation was Furnace Creek where we were planning to camp the night. However en route we passed the Mesquite Flat sand dunes and as these looked fairly interesting we decided to stop and hike out onto them. At first there were quite a few other people with the same idea but once we got a quarter mile or so from the car park we didn't see anyone else. It was really hard going as we chose what looked like the highest dune and struggled towards it, some of the sand was quite hard and you could almost walk on it without breaking the surface but it was incredibly strength sapping climbing up the soft sand. We finally reached our goal and sat at the peak for a while - it was only about 100 feet above sea level but we had started at 45 feet below - enjoying the sun which was now beginning to feel very hot. Then we "surfed" down the steepest side which was great fun but left us covered in sand, which proved extremely difficult to get rid of!

As we reached the car park having covered just over 2 miles in slightly longer than an hour we were approached by a young American guy, Mark, who had seen Martin juggling (those balls go everywhere!) and introduced himself as a fellow juggler. He also got his balls out (pardon the expression!) and demonstrate a few tricks for Martin.

Next we drove on down to Furnace Creek where we went to the Visitor Centre for advice on where best to camp. The Texas Springs site was the recommended option for tent only so we headed over there, about half a mile away. It was a self registration site so we found a really nice spot, Martin went to the machine to register and I started putting the tent up. However when he got back with the all important ticket we realised that someone had already got bagged the site we had selected even though there was no tent or car there......so we had to move the tent and the car to another much less desirable spot.

We had a quick snack on left over tomatoes, bread and a tin of tuna and then drove down towards Badwater with a brief stop to pick up coffee (me) and ice cream (Martin). We had found a loop to cycle, the Artist's Drive, a paved 9 mile loop which climbed relentlessly for the first couple of miles up into the Black mountains. Although this was paved and therefore open to traffic it was a one way loop and it made for an interesting ride. This is so called because of the striking colours of the rocks particularly the area known as the Artist's Palette. Once we had reached the top there were some great dips and twists as we headed north and then we started the descent which was really fun......until we reached a u turn and realised to our horror that we had to climb back up to the top! Great if you're sitting on your large back side in an equally large 4x4 but not so great when you're relying on pedal power! However it did mean another exhilarating rush back some more tight bends, made even more exciting this time as the sun was setting and was directly in our eyes making it very difficult to see.

In order to complete the loop we had to cycle back along the " main" road, making the total distance nearly 13 miles and it was getting quite dusky by the time we got back to the car. The early morning and evening light makes the desert with the Panamint mountain backdrop seem even more atmospheric, it's a beautiful time of day but unfortunately it doesn't last long as darkness falls very quickly.

We headed back to Furnace Creek store to pick up a couple of over priced absolute necessities and then back to the camp site for the evening. The early darkness really is a drawback to camping at this time of year, we had a beer and cooked some pasta but once we had eaten and cleared up there really was nothing to do but retire to the tent and read. At least it was toasty and warm compared with Yosemite and it was such a relief not having to worry about bears and having to lock up every last crumb and even the toothpaste!