The Road To Perdition

DEATH VALLEY, CA - I spent the night in a truck stop/casino parking lot on my way into the desert. It was a short, fitful sleep, but refreshing nonetheless.



By the way, I'm worried about running out of disk space for pictures on the blog, so I'm going to try Photobucket. We'll see how it works.

I was feeling a bit peckish after not having eaten in quite some time, so the truck stop diner was a real treat.

Guess how much this spread cost:



$3.99!!!

Just my kind of price. After chowing down, I ran down the road to grab some gas. I love the look of things around this part of the country.



I was really disappointed in myself for not taking pictures of Encino, NM while driving by in the daylight to Roswell. This place was a true ghost town. So I was pretty happy when I stumbled across this little spot on the way out to Death Valley.





The Valley was close and I was really pumped for it. I've always wanted to see the desert, especially right here.



I still haven't gotten used to just how bright the sun is here. It's so hard to look up its way. Blinding (you know, more so than the usual blinding qualities of the sun). But I'm no longer surprised by the abundance of life, even in the most difficult of conditions.



Once I got into the park, the first destination was Dante's View. Dante's view is a site that looks directly over Badwater Basin, the lowest point in the U.S. Directly across from Dante's View is Telescope Peak, the highest point in the park and one of the higest in the U.S. It's a lot to take in. You can see the whole valley from this spot.



I got a kick out of all the Hell-inspired names here. There was Hell's Gate, Dante's View, Devil's Playground, Devil's Cornfield, and, of course, where all the lawyer's go to play...



So, I'm up on Dante's View, chillin' out, maxin', relaxin' all cool (as you guys know I'm apt to do) and enjoying the view. I've wandered out onto one of the points away from the parking lot. And I'm in the middle of nowhere. Check out the video.



Anyway, I standing around, taking pictures and the only other people around at this point are a boy and his mother. While I'm snapping some shots, the boy says to his mother, "Hey, mom. Look. A UFO. We should call the U.S. Army." His mom didn't even look up, instead walking back to the parking lot. I started looking around and discovered a black object hovering in the air between the peaks, doing some circles. It was strange and unbelievable. The boy ended up seeming bored and walked off. I started snapping pictures with my film camera and then switched to digital.

The thing looked black to me the whole time and oval in shape. I should have shot some video too, but the thing dipped down behind a rock outcropping and after I ran around it to keep my eye on the thing (this took maybe 10 seconds), it was nowhere to be seen. Completely gone. It was hard to get my bearings on just how far away it was because perspective is really skewed at altitudes like this. But the valley is at least several miles across and it looked like it was in the middle. Unfortunately, the pictures make the object look smaller than it really was because of the wide angle lens kind of compacting everything. I need to get the film shots developed and see what turns up.

Here's some of the best.







I guess that made up for Roswell letting me down. Or maybe they did receive my messages. No abduction though. Oh well.

So, I moved on with my day. I really didn't know what else to do. The thing had vanished and I had no control over it. Acceptance is the answer.

I am sticking with the statement that this thing was a UFO. After all, it was an object, it was flying, and I don't know what the hell it was, so...

I grabbed a few more pictures while on the peak.





While making the various steep climbs in a car, this is not the kind of sign you want to see.



There are so many sites to check out in Death Valley. I'm disappointed I didn't get to check out more, but the place is massive. I made a stop at 20 Mule Team Canyon. It was beautiful.





By now I was anxious to see Badwater Basin, so I rushed out to catch that. Badwater Basin is 282 feet below sea level. Whenever there is rain, it rushes down the mountains to this spot, collecting minerals along the way. Once there, it has nowhere to go as the Basin doesn't let out to any bodies of water. So over all the years, things head down there to stay. It's a giant salt flat. The salt reforms into different shapes over time and with each new rainfall.





Up close, the salt looked like hairs. It was strange.



The salt and sand were rock hard. I expected different I guess.



I had my compass with which also has a thermometer on it. Keep in mind that this is now November 20th... two days before Thanksgiving. (The time is set to the wrong time zone - it was actually 12:38).



I peeled off one shirt and started to strip off everything else, but started to get concerned looks. Fine. I'll just suffer the heat, folks.

It's hard to see in this picture, but up on the hill side there is a small plaque indicating where sea level is located.



There was much more to see, so I had to be on my way. The road out to the basin is 17 miles long. On the way out there, I passed a hiker. I don't know where he was going or what he was doing, but he seemed determined. I spent at least an hour in the basin. On the way back, he was still chugging along.



I realized on this trip, I had never actually seen a desert. It was definitely different than expected.



I went to one of the meeting points of main roads, to a place named Furnace Creek. I was looking for something to eat and there's were some diners there.

Walking up, I could feel the juices flowing already. Food... good...

Then I saw the menus posted out front. $12.50 for a sandwich?! Who're they kidding. We live in the 21st century. I know food isn't plentiful out here, but there is no excuse for that. We all have cars. Food is reachable.

What these restaurants didn't realize is that I'm like a camel.

And by that, I mean poor.

I can go days without proper nutrition. It's all part of the territory when you decide to be a counselor. It's essentially like a vow of poverty. I feel confident I could handle being a monk if necessary. There are many "Ramen Days."

So screw their $12.50 sandwiches! I didn't need them! Back to the open road!

But first, here's the temperature in the shade by the diners.



I didn't know where to begin with things to see. On the road came across the first true desert sand I had seen. Despite what movies may show or what I was brought up to believe, there is not a lot of sand in the desert. Lots of rocks? Yes. Lots of dirt? Yes. Lots of sand? No. Not so much.



I stopped here for a little bit, checking out the rocks. These rocks have been here for millions of years, slowly showing the wear and tear of the desert. There were tons of rocks that had been etched by sand. The looked exactly like what I would expect dried dinosaur skin to look like.

The sun was slowly being lost and sure enough, I found myself constantly stopping by the side of the road to take pictures.





Here's my one bone to pick with Death Valley. I'm out there, in the desert for the first time, and I ask very little. I wanted to see a couple things and was totally let down. Not one single cactus. No coyotes. And not a rattlesnake or scorpion or tarantula anywhere. And it's not for lack of trying on my part. At one roadside stop, I found these.



I've seen enough Survivorman (two whole episodes) to know these are scorpion holes. But try as I might, no one wanted to come out to play. I think they were abandoned.

A thorough disappointment. Just a word to the wise, get your crap together, Mojave Desert. I'll be back through at some point and I don't want to be disappointed again. Yellowstone was nice enough to throw some bison, elk, and bighorn sheep my way. The Grand Canyon had to be a jerk and show me a black squirrel, but at least it was something. The only signs of animal life I saw in the desert were a couple ants. Don't let me down again, DV.

I had my first desert sunset and, yes, it was amazing again.



I love shots with the moon (even if the lens makes it look pretty small).



There were some sand dunes a bit down the road again and a whole caravan of people seemed to have stopped to go hang out. I was starting to feel the time crunch and wasn't too keen on getting a bunch of sand in my shoes at the moment, so I grabbed a shot and moved on.



I was in desperate need of some gas on the way out of the park. There was no way I would make it to the next big town without some.

Luckily, DV saw what desperate need I was in and decided to thoroughly screw me.



After a nice, long day of hanging out together, this is what I get? I felt violated.

So, I got enough to get to get me to the next stop and sputtered down the road.

There was a long drive ahead. The sun went down around 5pm and I needed to get back to the hostel by midnight or I wouldn't be able to get checked in, which means I would be showerless and bedless again. Not an option.

The roads through the mountains were long and winding. I didn't think I would ever get anywhere. Out on the main highways, I wanted some food. And what I really wanted was an In 'N' Out burger.

I was fortunate to come across one later in the night. Sweet relief! I chatted with a couple people and discussed alter egos before moving on again.

It became clear at certain point that I wasn't going to make it back on time. I talked with Chris though and he said he would help me get in after hours. Great news. Even if it meant I would be sleeping on some bench cushions.

I finally reached the Bay Bridge and couldn't have been happier.



I did end up sleeping on a cushion that night. Which wasn't so bad. I would only end up sleeping for a couple hours before people started getting up and moving. But everyone was happy to see me back and I was glad to see them.

A good day.