14- Death Valley and Los Angeles
Pahrump quiet is really relaxing after 24 hours in Las Vegas and the house we had for the night was perfect for us. The sun is raising on the desert and we have our breakfast while the temperature is still bearable.
It is going to become hot very quickly so we might as well enjoy the coolness of the morning. We were even able to use the washing machine and the tumble dryer. The experience of this second AirBnB is much better than the one we had in Phoenix.
The plan for today is to go directly to the heart of Death Valley to take a walk in the sand dunes and then we will drive to Racetracks lake which is famous for its rocks that supposedly move on their own on the surface of the dry lake.
I really liked driving through Death Valley because although it is desert, it takes you through pretty much any kind of landscape you can think of. It starts with piles of rocks, then a few dry shrubs, then sand dunes, dry lakes and mountains again… the scenery changes while you drive through the valley.
We soon arrive to the sand dunes. I had only seen that in pictures before. The car park is pretty much full but as soon as we get off the car and start walking in the dunes, everybody seems to disappear and we can only see a few people here and there, that’s how big it is. This part of the valley which is covered in sand dunes may only be a few square miles but when you have to walk it, it seems to be endless. You want to climb up the next dune in front of you to take a couple of pictures and it takes you a good 10 minutes to get there when it only seemed to be a few meters away from you when you started.
Finally, the heat and the tiredness of walking in the soft sand gets us and we head back to the car after more than an hour of playing in the sand like young children.
We are now heading to Racetrack lake. On the map it seems to be pretty close. In reality though, it will take us a long time and more than 20 miles to only reach the start of the dirt road that leads to the lake. We quickly stop to take our lunch. I have always been curious about this phenomenon of the rocks moving across the surface of the dry lake. I am driving but after only a few minutes on the dirt road, I am starting to wonder if it really was a good idea. The road is covered in sharp rocks and in this part of Death Valley, there is no one around and I really mean no one. That means that if we get more than one flat tyre or if the car breaks down, we will be stuck, without phone coverage, with some water yes but not much food. We keep driving carefully for a few more miles up the mountain and I take advantage of another car driving down the same road we are (the only car we have seen in hours) to stop them and ask if it really is reasonable to keep driving in our direction with our car. These people are very nice to us and make a concerned face when they discover that our car is just a 2WD. They still tell us that it should “probably” be OK though. We thank them for the feedback and keep driving for another few miles before we finally decide on turning back. We still have another 20 miles to drive to get to the lake and another 25 back to come back to paved road at the speed we are going it means at least 3 to 4 hours and then after that we have another 5 hours to drive to Los Angeles and this is only if everything goes well. The closest car to us is probably 30 miles away and there is no phone coverage here so it seems like the wise decision to make. We will have to come back with two cars or with an all wheel drive. It is a shame but the risk is not worth taking.
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We still take a few pictures before turning back and heading back down the mountain. My brother takes the wheel and I keep an eye out for sharp rocks on our path for him to avoid.
Getting off the dirt track, we make a small detour to see a crater not far from there. It seems small from the car park but a sign tells us that it is 800 meters in diameter and 150 meters deep. Einstein was right: everything is relative.
We now just have to drive the 5 hours that separate us from LA. It is the largest portion of road we have to cover in one go during this trip. We pass by the sand dunes ones again but carry on up the mountains and the scenery changes once again. We go up in altitude and black clouds start accumulating above us. We will even get a few drops of rain on the windscreen (the only ones of the whole trip). The road goes up and down the mountains with no barrier to prevent cars from falling down the impressive cliffs that sometimes border the curvy road. After a few miles, the blue sky is back and the sun won’t go away until the day we leave the US.
We quickly stop in Lancaster to eat a pizza where the owner will come and talk to us about the time she was living in France. We will take the left overs away and get to Los Angeles around 11 pm. We will even have to call the hotel we booked in LA to negotiate that they wait for us to check in. They threatened to cancel our booking if we didn’t get there before 11 pm and luckily we will be right on time.
The arrival in Los Angeles is interesting though. Traffic is very dense even this late in the night and the contrast with roads we drove in Death Valley is impressive. You have to be quick if you want to insert in traffic. The way people drive is pretty fast and aggressive plus tiredness is starting to be obvious for us. I am glad my brother is driving his car. If we are to have an accident, I would rather have him driving his own car than me.
Eventually, we get to our motel and get in bed.
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Tomorrow, the girls will go and visit Warner Bros studios and my brother and I will go to Malibu beach and the day after tomorrow, we will head to downtown LA and Santa Barbara before driving south to San Diego.
To be continued… here: 15- Los Angeles – Warner Bros – Malibu beach – Santa Monica
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