Monday, May 30
Had
a fairly good nights sleep. We had a suite with two rooms, so the kids had one
to themselves which allowed us a little bit of privacy.
After packing up we got on Lee Vining’s main street which is also highway 395
and continued south towards tonight’s stop, Death Valley while looking out for
Hot Creek,
an icy cold creek with some boiling hot springs emerging under its
bottom that makes it possible to find a spot with just the right hot tub
temperature.
After
missing it and having to ask directions (and get gas) we made a U-turn and went
back north just past the little airport and found the graveled exit. After
driving a few miles, which I couldn’t remember that we did in 1995, we found
it, this time with substantially more water from the spring’s snow-melting than
at the last visit in October. Ten years ago I was able to wade out in the
water, but this time one had to get past a torrent of cold water hanging on to
a rope across it. For the longest time I tried to convince my kids to make it
across, but they were no braver than me and never made it any further than up
their wastes. When another guy dived in the water upstream and swam across I
figured I’d do it too, although it meant spending 80% of the energy fighting
the current and the remainder to get across. It was freezing cold and it
probably showed as the people greeting me on the other side looked at me like I
was dying. But over there it was nice, although streaks of hotter and colder
water eventually hit the body.
Now, of course, the real trouble was making it
back, which meant I lingered in the water longer than I would have without the
cold barrier ahead of me before finally convincing myself to go back. I started
out by cutting my feet on sharp rocks pushing out in the water and I had a
bleeding wound when I had dragged myself half the way on the rope. Oh well, no
pain, no gain.
Got
back on 395 down to Lone Pine and then on CA-136 to CA-190 towards the valley. Before
getting that far, we had to get past a long line of slow-moving cars stacked up
ahead of me and a persistent guy in his truck with his louder than powerful V8 was
tailgating me. Of course, at the first opportunity to pass, he immediately
pulled out in an attempt to get past everyone, including me. There are moments
when owning an M5 is extra rewarding. I quickly got out in front of him,
stepped on it and with satisfaction checked out his rapidly shrinking image in
the rear-view mirror!
Before
entering Death Valley we would hit our old favorite restaurant in Panamint Springs after some switchbacks coming down the
The
restaurant was still there and they had the supposedly same miner’s steak on
the menu that we had ten years ago as it both sounded and tasted the same: A
one pound piece of excellent meat with garlic and onions. Of course after
eating the whole thing and having a beer I felt more like taking a nap than
getting back in the car, but a relatively short drive to the other side of the
valley and over the mountain-pass would take us to Stovepipe Wells, our base
for the next two nights.
We
got down there around 5pm and were greeted by a temperature of about 41C, i.e.
fairly cool for the time of year… As the sand dunes of
Back
at the motel the kids got in the pool, while I and my wife hung out with a cold
beer before calling it a day.
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