Our trip from Boise, ID to Death Valley included nights in Winnemucca and Tonopah, Nevada. These are not exciting towns, but they certainly have casinos!! In Tonopah we stayed at the Tonopah Station Casino & RV park. The RV park was a blacktop parking lot behind a small casino – about 12 RV spaces.
We arrived in Death Valley Nov 6 for the 49ers Encampment – an annual event that concentrates on the History of Death Valley and includes cowboy music and poetry, craft exhibits and awards, a large juried art show, contests, etc. We arrived the day before it officially started and figured we’d have no trouble getting a camp site, considering most sites are boon-docking (meaning no power or water). WELL…………..we were told at the entrance gate that the main Encampment area and overflow at Furnace Creek area were completely full. We would have to stay at Stovepipe Wells – 23 miles north of Furnace Creek. There were plenty of camping spots – somewhere around 200. During our time there, we decided we really were glad to be there instead of at Furnace Creek campgrounds where there were over 800 rigs – all with no power or water. There were many folks who have been attending this event for over 20-30 years – the event was having its 58th anniversary. We found out that most people arrive for ‘pre-encampment’ which for some begins two weeks before the official event………….that’s why the campgrounds were so full.
We did enjoy the entertainment, but after four days we were getting a bit weary of the old time western stuff. We spent time on our own - hiking in Mosaic Canyon, driving to see the charcoal kilns, and driving through a beautiful drive called Artist’s Palette. There are so many beautiful colors and textures in the valley – it’s quite a place.
We decided to leave on Saturday afternoon before the event was officially over. That way we could be on our way before hundreds of rigs took off Sunday. We drove 1.5 hours to Pahrump, NV – about an hour north of Las Vegas – more casinos!!! We spent one day while there driving through the Amargosa National Wildlife Refuge. It is an area in this large arid desert landscape where there are many active springs – We visited several of them – they are clear and hot (87 degrees) and one of the signs stated that 10,000 gallons of water flows out of these springs EVERY MINUTE every day all year. There is algae fed on by native Pup Fish that were nearly extinct until the park service stepped in to prevent the water being run through concrete casings for use by farmers. It was a very interesting place.
On Tuesday we took off early and headed for our next adventure – a two week stay in Desert Hot Spring, CA. That’s the NEXT blog installment.
Pictures: The top picture is of the charcoal kilns. Gordie is shorter than the doorways of the kilns, so you can imagine how tall they are. The next picture is of Artist's Palette - a lovely drive in the park. And this last picture is a late afternoon shot of as sand dune near Stovepipe Wells.
And that's where we leave you for now!!!
