DEATH VALLEY - 3

Devil's Golf Course

We had breakfast  in our room Wednesday and were on the road by 7:15.  We made the short ride to the Scottie’s Castle (Hwy 178) road intersection and turned southeast.  Our first stop was at the Devil’s Golf Course.  It was on a gravel road about a mile from the highway. It was a large flat area with small jagged rocks encrusted with salt.  We were the only ones there although we met one car leaving and one entering.

After spending a little time there we rode back to the highway and proceeded to Badwater Basin, the lowest (-282’)and hottest  place (134 F) in North America.  There were a lot of people here and we walked out on the basin a ways.  It was still early and it wasn’t particularly hot but shirt sleeve weather nonetheless.

 From here we backtracked up to Artists Drive, a nine mile loop to the east of the highway.  There were a lot of colorful rock formations and the last few miles of the loop were twisty and fun riding.

Next we backtracked back to Furnace Creek to top off our gas tanks at $8.75/gal.  It was a beautiful place with palms and other trees reminiscent of a desert oasis.  From there we took Highway 190 to the east  for about 10 miles before turning on the road to Dante’s View.  

Dante’s View

This road parallels the Badwater Basin road only about 7,000 feet higher.  The last few miles were steep and curvy.  At the end of the road (about 27 miles from Furnace Creek) is an outstanding  view.  However, it was very cold and windy.  There were a lot of tourists there and while we were there about 20 more arrived on tricycles.

Zabrinski Point

20 Mule Team Canyon

After taking in the view we rode back down to lower and warmer elevation and took the 20 Mule Team Canyon  loop which is an unpaved road just to the west of the highway. We stopped for a picnic lunch on the loop and I believe only one vehicle went by.  Upon finishing lunch we rode the rest of the 2.7 mile loop and went back to Zabrinski Point which we had passed on the way up. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot and we had to hike a ways up to the point.  Here again were fantastic views on three sides.

Keane Wonder Mine

It was getting warmer now as we turned north riding up to the Beatty Cutoff road and down  it about 6 miles before turning east on a rough gravel road out to the Keane Wonder Mine.  This was a very innovative mine in its day having set up a tramway over a mountain allowing  horizontal  and much shorter shafts to be dug to access the ore.  We saw only one person here who was hiking around.  This was our last attraction of the long day as we make it back to the Village and took a refreshing swim in the pool.  After another delicious dinner we sat around the fire pit and visited with a couple with homes in Indiana and Las Vegas.  It had been another interesting day having traveled 165 miles. [To be continued] M/W