Hoover Dam & Death Valley

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12 & 13th October 2007
Hoover Dam to Death Valley

Vegas held its grip on us until the end; despite our best attempts we managed a sluggish start only after an injection of high fructose corn syrup in the form of a Starbucks ‘coffee’. Shortly afterwards, we were back into the Dodge Beast and heading west towards the state border with Arizona, and ever increasing desert-ness (is that possible when you are already in a desert?) After about an hours driving through somewhat less than desirable looking retirement subdivisions, we descended into Black Canyon and ditched the car to go have a walk around the Hoover Dam.
And wow…..it’s huge in all respects. Designed to last 10,000 years, hold back the mighty Colorado River and look all Art Deco cool. We wandered around the top of the Dam for about an hour (too stingy to take the tour to the generator room) admiring the engineering and shear massiveness of a project undertaken during the depression.
On our way back west we experienced a hundred thousand examples of suburban hell holes that we wouldn’t want to live in before heading out of sight of the desert oasis that is Vegas.
For most of the afternoon we drove through landscapes not unlike those around twenty-nine palms; wide shallow valleys dotted with a few lonely towns. Later on in the day the hills turned into mountain ranges and we crossed into Death Valley National Park, aptly named for the succession of pioneers who lost their lives trying to cross the dry lake beds. Our first experience of the park was from a viewpoint in the Badlands on the edge of Death Valley proper, I feel at this time it is necessary to explain what Badlands actually are, so here is the Wikipedia definition:
“Badlands are a type of arid terrain with clay-rich soil that has been extensively eroded by wind and water. Canyons, ravines, gullies, hoodoos and other such geological forms are common in badlands. They are often difficult to walk through. Badlands usually have a spectacular color display that alternates from dark black/blue coal stria to bright clays to red scoria.”
As you might well be able to imagine, at sundown, the badlands and Death Valley looked incredible. No further explanation necessary - please observe photos. Before the daylight disappeared completely, we managed to get to Badwater, a dry salty lake bed at 80m below sea level that’s supposedly the deepest point in the Americas. Wandering out onto the salt, again, we felt the eerie sensation of stillness and isolation that defines the Mojave.
With Rosie sleeping, we drove through complete darkness to stay a night at a lodge (the only lodge in fact) in Stovepipe Wells. We even managed a late swim in the pool just to confirm what night time temperatures are like in the Desert (refreshingly chilly).
Just as the Badlands looked beautiful at sunset, the sand dunes looked just as beautiful at sunrise. We explored around the dunes for an hour or so, and while they weren’t as high as the Te Paki dunes in Northland, they were none the less, an incredible sight. To avoid getting roasted by the rising temperatures, we retreated to the air conditioned Dodge and headed up to the canyons above Stovepipe. Like most of the geological features in the Mojave, water was responsible for the canyon’s shaping. Kinda ironic for a desert. We hid from the sun in the canyons for a while, exploring further upstream before retreating once more to the car due to the heat. We scored an eat in (and takeaway) breakfast from the lodge diner and rocketed off again across the saddles and basins of the desert, taking in one last view of the park from Panamint Springs, and no, we never tired of the landscape. Death Valley even gave us a parting gift in the form of a group of flyboys in Hercules flying low over the road in formation before circling down into Owens Valley.

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Photos

View downstream from Hoover Dam
Note the supports to the new bridge

View of the intake towers from the Arizona side of the dam
look at that idiot! he's so chuffed to be there!

Intake tower on the Arizona side.
See the high water line

Rosie at the Dunes
Look she's awake!

See! we really were there!
out on the salt flats