Day 8

After the exertion of yesterday’s hike (and perhaps the previous week), our bodies clearly needed a good rest and we woke up a bit later than usual. We had breakfast, checked out and said sad goodbyes to Yosemite Valley.

As usual we didn’t hang around for too long as we had a six hour drive to Death Valley and the thing we’ve learnt so far is that everything takes loads longer than expected as we’re stopping off every five minutes to take photos of the scenic vistas.

The drive to Death Valley was no different, it was full of spectacular views. Our route took us over the Tioga Pass which peaks at an elevation of almost 10,000 feet. We passed pretty lakes and meadows, and were surrounded by huge sheets of granite and very tall trees for about an hour, after which we got to the park exit where the scenery started to change to something which resembled the Lake District.

View from Tioga Pass with Half Dome and Yosemite Valley in the distance

Tenaya lake with the clearest water ever

Soon after exiting the landscape changed quite drastically, we descended into a valley, saw Mono Lake; the lush green Yosemite scene was replaced with huge expanses of low-lying desert surrounded by mountains in the distance.

Scenery starts to change as we leave Yosemite. Note the ice on the mountains to the right.

Grazing cows

Along the way we drove through some nice little towns. Bishop and Lone Pines were exactly what I would picture if someone asked me to describe a small American town.

We came off the main highway and headed towards Death Valley, taking what seemed to be the road less travelled, we saw hardly any cars which made playing States Bingo more difficult and frustrating; the few cars we did see seemed to be tourists from California, just like us. Another problem we’re facing with the game is that not all cars have a front licence plate, why is that? Answers below please!

The road less travelled

We made sure we had plenty of food and water in the car for the journey, although I’m still not sure if Natalie’s choice of chicken and waffles crisps was a good thing or not! We stocked up with a gallon of water just in case we broke down; we didn’t want to end up drinking our own wee!

I got a little bit excited when I saw a lizard of some sort crossing the road; no photos of this little critter as it ran too fast!

We got some brilliant views from up high and drove some very straight roads.

View from yet another Scenic Vista point

View back down into the Panamint Valley as we climbed out and headed to Death Valley

We had planned to drive up to Aguereberry Point where we would get a fantastic view of the whole of Death Valley, however when we got to the road it was closed, apparently due to flooding.

As we couldn’t visit Aguereberry Point, we arrived at Stovepipe Wells a couple of hours earlier than expected, Natalie tried to talk me into driving to see something else, anything else. I put my foot down and convinced Natalie that it might be nice to actually relax on holiday for a few hours.

It was 107 degrees Fahrenheit when we checked in at 5.30 so we decided to spend some time cooling off in the pool. Once again the GoPro attracted attention, this time from a very friendly Yorkshire lass called Sarah, I enjoyed chatting away to her while Natalie had a splash around. For a few seconds after getting out of the pool it actually felt cold, then the water evaporated off and it was very warm again, the bottle of pop, which had been sitting in the shade, was now a not so fresh hot coke. Back at the room we watched the sun set.

We had dinner in the Toll Road Restaurant and then retired to the bar for a cocktail and to chill out. We headed back to the room and even though it was completely dark outside it was still really hot and windy, so it was a bit like being blasted with heat from a fan oven when you open the door.

Stovepipe Wells has minimal lighting to limit light pollution because it’s skies are a great place to look at the stars. We wandered over to a bit of disused road (that might have had scorpion nests) and lay on our backs and looked up at the stars. I’ve never seen so many stars before. We could see the Milky Way clearly all the way across the sky.

Natalie set up the camera and took some photos of the Milky Way and other stars. We also did some silly pictures and painted with light. Even at 11pm it was still really hot, so we retired to the comfort of our air conditioned room and went to bed.