Thursday, November 5, 2015
We are sad to pack up and say goodbye to Furnace Creek Ranch. We really
enjoyed our 3 day stay here. The room was great, right on the golf
course. We appreciated their environmental efforts, like a recycling
bin next to the regular garbage right in the room; the soap,
conditioner, shampoo and lotion dispensers in the shower and at the
sink to avoid using all those small plastic containers of stuff found
in motels that end up in the landfill, their solar panels, and spring
heated pool. If interested in staying here, look for their senior
discounts and discounts for certain dates. Although it is more
expensive than a lot of places we stay, it was so worth it to be
right in the park. We would definitely consider coming back. There
is also the Furnace Creek Inn which was built by the Borax company
and is a luxury resort. It is located right up the road from Furnace
Creek Ranch. Their are many campgrounds in the park as well but the
lack of trees make them not very attractive nor private. The ones up
in the mountains are probably nice but a little cold this time of
year at night. The days are so short now, that camping just didn't seem like a good option.
The golf course at Furnace Creek Ranch is the only
golf course in a US National Park and is 214 feet below see level.
It is considered one of the 50 hardest golf courses in America,
mostly due to the heat but some say also because of the low
elevation, the ball doesn't fly as well.
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| View of golf course outside our room |
We returned to the Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes to explore and decided
we might as well hike to the highest dune just to see what was over
on the other side. We found these adorable tiny tracks in the sand
and were surprised to see they were made by a beetle. It was
fascinating to see evidence of life out on the dunes and how the
dunes change each day with the wind and the shifting of sand. Jack
picked up a book at the Borax museum yesterday and we discovered that
part of the 1977 Star Wars movie was filmed on these dunes. Most of
Star Wars was filmed in North Africa but to finish if off on a
nearly-depleted budget, director George Lucas stayed closer to
Hollywood. When R2-D2 and C-3PO escape their attacked spaceship and
land on a sandy planet to search for Obi-wan Kenobi, they are on the
Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, at least for the final shot when R2-D2 and
C-3PO go their separate ways. For those interested I have updated my
last couple blog posts with other spots from Star Wars.
We headed west toward Panamint City (not much there except an
opportunity to buy $5.48 per gallon gas.) Gas at other places in the
park had been $3.40 at Stovepipe Wells and $3.79 at Furnace Creek.
Luckily we did not need gas in the park but it was almost as bad in
Big Pine. When we had gone to the Sourdough Saloon in Beatty, Jenna
(the bartender, hiker and retired bordello madam) had told us to go
to Darwin Falls to hike on our way out of the park. She said it was
really cool. Well, we will say that it was interesting how there is
this riparian zone and oasis in the middle of the desert. We will
also say it was interesting to see the pipe along the road and trail
that brings Panamint City their only source of water. However, being
from Washington and visiting Niagara Falls this summer and having an idea of what a waterfall should look
like, we would not recommend the very bumpy 2 ½ mile dirt road to
hike to this very tiny (maybe 5 foot) double waterfall. There is a
second waterfall that may have been better but we needed to hit the
road for the drive toward home.
A bit of Panamint Mountains and Death Valley creepy trivia. In the
1960's, Charles Manson and his “family” occupied the Barker Ranch
a few miles outside of the park boundaries. Manson believed there was
an underground paradise underneath Death Valley and was searching for
the secret entrance. After committing the murders of Sharon Tate and
others in Los Angeles he fled to the Barker Ranch where he was
arrested by police assisted by NPS Rangers. Super creepy.
When initially planning our trip, we had hoped to drive the 395 on
the east side of the Sierra Nevadas and take Tioga Pass into
Yosemite. That road was open when we left home but they had a big
snow storm in the Sierras and the road closed for the winter. That
is okay, though. We had such a great time in Death Valley, we can
hardly be disappointed. We felt fortunate that we were able to drive
the spectacular highway 395 back to Reno without having to put our
chains on. The roads required chains a few days ago and also the
forecast was calling for another big storm in 2 days.
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| In Lone Pine, California |
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| Beautiful Sierra Nevadas |
We spent the night again in Reno, finding a super low rate at the
Nugget (where we stayed on the way down) through booking.com at the
last minute. The next night we had a little more trouble. We were
too tired to make it all the way home and wanted to stop and see
daughter Leslie and the grandsons the next morning. It was Friday night and
U of Oregon and Oregon State both had home games Saturday. We
finally found a room in Salem that was adequate. After laughing until
we nearly cried watching the grand kids at soccer drills and scrimmage, we made
our way back to home sweet home. At least for the next few days,
haha.
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