Badwater before dawn 2015-01-24

Badwater Before Dawn 2015-01-24                       © 2015 Alan Schrank

Roots 2015-01-25

Roots 2015-01-25                                                                                                © 2015 Alan Schrank

Eureka Dunes at Dusk

Eureka Dunes at Dusk 2015-01-22                                                          © 2015 Alan Schrank

Mid afternoon of our first full day in the valley, we decided to head north. Eureka Dunes, here we come. Smooth driving past the turn off to Scotty's Castle, it's paved after all. Sign; Eureka Dunes thataway. Gravel/ dirt road no problem (right?) Wrong, serious washboard. At 15 miles per hour we're getting shaken, stirred, and poured. The sign said 45 miles; 3 hours!? No the solution is to go faster. 45 mph is much better the tires don't have time to come down between bumps. We were just zipping along, up over a rise and down ...  no-one told me about the gullies from the flash floods that cross the road. SUV bottom hits road. Don't seem to have permanent damage, so full speed ahead. Crank-shaft junction. Now we turn left and head up over a mountain, twisty turny, but not too bad.  We pass a mine, where did that come from?  Paved road, what's going on? Big Pine million miles ahead (or maybe 70),  10 miles further turn left for dunes. Washboard again, but we can see them, we are almost there, ... 10 miles further, they are really big. 700 ft tall it says.  There is a car and a motorcycle there, with tents set up.  The sun is setting, but Kathy and I have to climb.  We are lucky enough to see the Eureka Dune Evening Primrose (sans-flowers, come back in a few months) found only on/in the eureka dunes. Finally at the top of the beging of the dunes we stop to look around. 

Panamint Playa 2015-01-26

Panamint Playa 2015-01-26                                                                          © 2015 Alan Schrank

On our last day in Death Valley we drove over the mountains to Panamint. We didn't get over to the dunes, but did park along 190 and hike onto the playa, before visiting Father Crawley (but more on that later).

Mesquite Sand Dune Sunrise 2015-01-25

Mesquite Dunes Sunrise 2015-02-25                                                                 © Alan Schrank

This morning Kathy and I trecked out into the dunes for the 3rd sunrise.