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    2003 Death Valley Trip - Day 5
    (Tuesday, 21 October, 2003)

    See also my photo gallery from this day.

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    Alabama Hills:

    We had a long day of driving ahead of us, as Death Valley is far from convenient to the SF area, so we quickly ate bagels, broke camp, and hit the road. Descending Towne Pass into Panamint Valley was pretty cool, and increased my respect for the crazy bicyclists who climb it in the other direction on the Furnace Creek 508. We could see the infrequently-visited Panamint Dunes in the north end of Panamint Valley (they're rarely visited, as they're both small, and fairly far from any roads) as we drove past the Panamint Resort, climbing for the next bazillion miles on a twisty road with nice views back into Panamint Valley. A couple hours after leaving Death Valley, we pulled into Lone Pine and had a proper breakfast at the Mt. Whitney Restaurant.

    After gorging on unhealthy (but tasty!) diner food, we drove out to Alabama Hills a few miles behind Lone Pine on the Whitney Portal road. This area, the site of a great many sci-fi and western movie shoots consists of crazy rock formations and has the Sierra Crest as its backdrop. There are dirt roads criss-crossing it, but one has to be careful, as some of them require a high-clearance 4x4 (my Subaru, while a 4x4, is most decidedly not high-clearance!). We drove around, stopping often to poke around the weird rocks and enjoy the very clear view of Mt. Whitney far above us. After a while here, we made our way back out to Hwy. 395 and continued north.

    Inyo Craters:

    There was something labelled "Inyo Craters" on our map outside of Mammoth, and we decided to swing by. It turned out to be a good ways of off 395, a few miles up a dirt road, and a half mile or so hike to get to the craters. We arrived to see two modest pits in the ground, with mucky water puddling at their bottom. No signage explained what sort of craters they were, how they formed, or anything else. It was definitely not worth the side trip, but oh well, that's all part of the adventure.

    Yosemite:

    Continuing north we finally came to Lee Vining and took Hwy 120 towards Yosemite. Passing Tioga Pass, it was amazing how different Mt. Dana looked compared to when Sarah and I hike up it earlier in the year! We continued on to Tenaya Lake, then took a break to have cheese and crackers by the lake.

    From here, it was "only" about a 3.5hr drive back to the bay area, and we made no more stops of any length. We finally got back to my place after dark. This wound up being quite a lot of driving, 1,200 miles in total, but worth every one! I really enjoyed Death Valley and hope to return in the next couple of years (the spring wildflowers there sound pretty enticing!). It would have been nice to have spent another day or three there to explore the farther north region of the park - next time.

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    Last modified 08 February, 2011 MST
    Copyright © 2009 Adam R. Paul
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