Skip to main content

Day 9 and 10 - Red Rock Canyon to Death Valley

I awoke of Day 10 at 5am to the sound of a car pulling up next to my van.  I had just finished phase 2 of the van camper conversion and parked on the side of the main road going by red rock canyon, just outside vegas. Vegas had been fun, highlighted by the compelling Cirque O show-- imagine circus with pool. Page and Roman had left Sunday at noon on Day 9 and I had spent the remainder of the day "working".

The 2.5 inch thick air mattress and random array of bags and bins wasn't going to work for this phase of the journey-- a four week road trip around desert California, Arizona and New Mexico. I also needed food-- lots of food-- lots of food that doesn't go bad in 100 degree weather. Pic 1 shows my cart from Costco-- I stumbled upon three critical items at Costco that would begin to make this van a camper-- a package of 8 foam flooring cut in two by two foot blocks, a 3ft wide by 18 inch deep 5 level plastic shelving unit, and a 3 inch thick full size memory foam mattress topper. 

After hours shopping I drove to red rock canyon with a van full of disorganized stuff.  I did a driving tour of the canyon but didn't get out.. I had no where to sleep until I got organized. I found a turnoff off the main road that was isolated and flat. I literally took everything out of the van and placed them on the ground. First step was to use the foam flooring blocks to make a level sleeping surface. The van floor is 4x8 but tilts back to front and has uneven surfaces. I cut the foam and duct taped the pieces to fill gaps and create a 2x6 foot level platform. The shelving unit with only three levels built fit perfectly on the non-bed 2ft wide side of the van and filled all the vertical space. I saved the other two level section for the mid section. Then I unrolled the full size mattress topper, doubled it over to fit the 2ftby 6ft space perfectly. I had six inches of mattress heaven. Some more plastic bins for organization, some sheets and bungee cord to keep everything in place and viola-- a livable space(pic2). 

After being awoken on day 10 I staid awoke, watched the sunrise over Las Vegas and red rocks (pic3) and the drove to get my seat fixed on the van (one middle seat would not fold into the floor).  I then drove to Death Valley, arriving by 430pm. I immediately went for a hike through the badlands of golden canyon, having been a bit jittery after three days of no exercise!!  

The Death Valley scenery at dusk was stunning(pic 4 and 5). My five mile hike wove in and out of the badland hills and revealed sensational sunset vistas and concluded with a walk along the valley just above Badwater, the lowest place in North America. I pulled up to the campsite as the sun was going down and finished my van organization and fell asleep. 




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 104 - Glacier to Vancouver

The hike up Balu Pass was supposed to be fairly easy, beautiful and dotted with waterfalls, but when I talked to the park ranger and learned that Vancouver was an eight hour drive away, I decided to skip Balu and drive west.  I left behind this pretty view.  And drove many hours through pristine mountains, fewer and fewer snow-capped ones the further west I drove. Some of the valleys were flooded to make reservoirs, leaving scenic sights.  I eventually made it to Vancouver and drove right on through to Point Roberts USA, a five mile by five mile coastal land just below the 49th parallel and thus in the USA. The park ranger had suggested this as a good place to camp but being late of the Thursday night before the Fourth of July there were no spots available. I drove around instead and stopped at a forested coastal park. After ten minutes of walking I came to my first grand Pacific view with Mount Baker 60 miles east.  The San Juan Islands and Orca Islands could also b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Day 62 - Colorado National Monument

Established as a national monument early in 1911, Colorado NM is known for its high canyon "rim road" and sandstone spires of Monument Canyon.  The canyons of west Colorado are pretty--as they have more green trees and shrubs than the more famous Utah canyons. This gives them a more alive feeling, although the sandstone spires were formed many thousands of years ago by erosion.  Rim Rock road curves up the the top of the canyon cliff, goes through several round tunnels and is lined with scenic viewpoints. The best views were in he Monument Canyon section, and included in sequence, the Coke Ovens, The Kissing Couple (behind my head), and the most famous of all: Independence Monument, the tall spire in pic 3 and viewed from the side in pic 4.  The original promoter and caretaker of the park, John Otto, was the first person to climb Independence Monument and now it's a climbing right of passage. Every July 4 climbers ascend and mount an American flag at the summit. Fun! ...
2 comments
Read more

Day 82 - Yellowstone to Montana

My alarm sounded at 5:30am, a time early enough for me to arise before someone found me secretly camping. The geyser prediction said Grand at 6:15am so I set out toward it.  I ran into geyser gazer Jim there and he said it likely erupted at 4:30-- missed it. Early morning eruptions are hard to predict as someone needed to have seen the previous overnight eruption in order to make a prediction. I walked on toward Artemesia, an unpredictable geyser at the far corner of the basin. I had seen her erupt from a mile away and wanted a closer inspection. The early morning setting was momentous, yet I didn't see a geyser erupt up close until Grand at 10:30.  Then Sawmill erupted with its twirling thirty foot action (pic).   The only remaining geyser left to experience on my mental list was Beehive up close. With a predicted window of 810 to 1210, I arrived at 1030 and waited until 1pm, before giving up. The sun was hot, I had read the geyser book cover to cover, and while seeing e...
Post a Comment
Read more