Panamint Springs, CA to Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley National Park, CA
We start the day with a behemoth of a climb our topography maps let us know is coming. We've got to summit Towne Pass to get into the Valley. It's long and it's steep, no surprises there, but we haven't sweat as hard (even though it's not hot out, yet) and we haven't felt as though we were really stamping on the pedals as we did this morning.
Roughly 10% grade for 30km's. It's pretty comparable to the Tioga Pass road in all honesty. An absolute beast. But we conquer it. And do so feeling surpisingly good and upbeat. At the summit we meet Kyle, a cycle tourist from Houston, Texas, who we end up riding with for the next 5 days or so. He's a great bloke with a few quirky cycling traits (he rides wearing a ski mask, backpack and vibrams). The descent is enormous, a 5,000ft drop spread nicely over 30km's, a descent which takes us into the Valley and to sea-level! Later, as night approaches, it becomes very windy (Kyle's tent blows away to be rescued by Luke), there is incredible lightning striking every mountain range on every horizon, making for a once in a lifetime skyline. It rains on and off all night, hard, (yes, Death Valley is the hottest driest place in the US) the wind blowing a gale then ceasing then up-ing the ante again, and during the course of the night we find out the hard way that our cheap tent isn't waterproof! Everything is damp, once a welcome, calm morning arrives. What a night.
Roughly 10% grade for 30km's. It's pretty comparable to the Tioga Pass road in all honesty. An absolute beast. But we conquer it. And do so feeling surpisingly good and upbeat. At the summit we meet Kyle, a cycle tourist from Houston, Texas, who we end up riding with for the next 5 days or so. He's a great bloke with a few quirky cycling traits (he rides wearing a ski mask, backpack and vibrams). The descent is enormous, a 5,000ft drop spread nicely over 30km's, a descent which takes us into the Valley and to sea-level! Later, as night approaches, it becomes very windy (Kyle's tent blows away to be rescued by Luke), there is incredible lightning striking every mountain range on every horizon, making for a once in a lifetime skyline. It rains on and off all night, hard, (yes, Death Valley is the hottest driest place in the US) the wind blowing a gale then ceasing then up-ing the ante again, and during the course of the night we find out the hard way that our cheap tent isn't waterproof! Everything is damp, once a welcome, calm morning arrives. What a night.
Sidenote: we meet a park ranger with one of the greatest names of all time, befitting his grey ponytail and manicured beard: Sardius Stalker.
Another sidenote: Luke has beaten the distance he rode in New Zealand.
Never been called a bloke before. I kind of like it. Hope y'all made it to the Grand Canyon. I'm in Flagstaff now and will be heading up there soon.
ReplyDeleteYou big bloke you!! We are in Zion- heading the the grand Canyon tomorrow- it is still open hooray!
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