Prebs and Goose Wander Loose: Flamingo’s escape from Death Valley

Time for some serenity. We’d had enough of ritz, bits, glitz and glamour so we were heading for the mountains.

After restocking supplies we took a scenic drive through Red Rock Canyon, which overlooked the lights of Las Vegas. We were, however, in the middle of an “extreme heat wave” with temperatures soaring to 45 degrees during the day and only getting to 36 degrees at night. So we hit the road and stayed the night in a quaint little town called Blue Diamond.

Our little Flamingo van is a sensitive soul so we didn’t want to make her ordeal of Death Valley harder than it could be. So up at the crack of dawn (5am here) we cruised on in to the infamous Death Valley National Park, while the sun rose over the hazy Las Vegas horizon.

We had Neil Young and Bob Dylan blearing in the speakers as we took in the incredible desert that is one of the harshest places on earth. How anyone could live there, let alone play golf, I don’t know. But at least they have a sense of humour with rest stops called Furnace Creek, Stovepipe Wells and Funeral Mountains.

At 190 feet below sea level we had two 4000 feet climbs ahead. We were pretty stoked Flamingo had a new set of brakes to bed in.

Having successfully negotiated Death Valley we decided to let Flamingo loose in the mountains where we hoped it would be cooler. We climbed to 9200 feet where we camped the night and celebrated with salmon steaks around the campfire.

With 3 weeks and only 1500 miles left on our rental agreement we hit cruise mode. Not only were the mountains cooler, we found green trees and running rivers which slowed us down to a snails pace as we took full advantage. It took us three days to drive 120 miles…

With our paper map getting more and more torn, the roads getting narrower and the signs mossed over we had to stop and ask for directions at every junction with a general store. This entailed a good half an hour chinwag with the locals who were extremely helpful and gave us the lowdown on the local hangouts. This was a stark contrast to the gas station attendants on the main highways who didn’t know what was around the next corner let alone over the county line.

Camp Nelson in the Southern Sierra Nevada ranges had a fantastic wee swimming hole, and Kirk at the general store happily planned our route for the next 10 days. So with his direction we headed for Seqouia and Kings Canyon National Parks. The worlds largest tree resides here as do black bears and deer of which we saw both. The trees were pretty damn big to say the least and it was hard to comprehend what these trees have witnessed in their 2000+ year rein over the forest. The evening was spent huddled in the van as a tremendous thunderstorm reverberated around the valley. It returned again with a vengeance the following afternoon while we were making our way down from some high mountain lakes but it cleared spectacularly for our evening fire and bottles of $3 wine.

Travelling was beginning to take its toll and we have both lost about 5kgs even with the fatty, sugary over processed American food. I think it is safe to put it down to the stress of waking up each morning and deciding what to do for the day and what we will eat and generally not having to think about working! Not to mention all our walking which far exceeds anything the majority of the locals would consider. The number of people we have seen running or jogging we could count on one hand…..

Dropping down from the high altitudes of the Sierra Nevada’s we hit the sweltering heat once again. Pulling into a campground chocker with 4th July holiday makers on a very drought riddled man made lake we were dying for a dip. Nick wasn't too fond of this hot dry barren place but we swam and sunbathed away the morning before we headed North towards Yosemite and a place to celebrate the Highlanders famous Super Rugby victory (not that we saw any of it). Chatting with some locals in Oakhurst (population 13 000) we found out there was a local brewery where we sampled the beer however the vibe was very low key to say the least.

Pika

So it was off to experience true small town America. We stumbled upon the Dirty Donkey dive bar, entering brought the attention of all 6 guests not that we could really see as our eyes hadn't adjusted to the darkness yet. Enquiring about a beer we were promptly told that a 22 ounce (about 600mls) beer was on special for $2.50 not only was it at least 5% but damn good too. The bar lady hadn't even finished pouring the beers before we were deep in conversation with the very friendly locals who were enthralled at our adventure. Let's just say it was a long night with many a free round and a splitting headache to accompany the drive to Yosemite the next morning.

The splendid scenery and the nice warm river in the Yosemite Valley meant we didn't have to venture too far or do anything too adventurous although we did think a little evening stroll would make us feel better. Whipping up a tastie potato salad for a picnic dinner we set off just before sunset to check out the famed waterfalls hopefully with a few less people around. The uphill slog was worth the effort as we sat in peace watching the sunset at the top of the grand Nevada falls. The descent in the dark was also entertaining.

Feeling nearly back to full health we embarked on a peak bagging adventure which involved walking 28km with a 1200m+ gain in elevation. We swam in the top of Bridal Falls despite the signs saying we would die, then had lunch at Eagle Point which looked directly down to where we had started. A further couple of miles on saw us sitting on top of El Capitan the notorious rock climbing face.

An easy couple of days were spent driving through splendid mountain passes, lakes and meadows where the temperatures were almost chilly. Descending from the mountains we passed the briney Mono Lake before popping in to Bodie, an old ghosts mining town from the 1880’s. The buildings were still in great condition and it was bizarre to look through the windows of the homes and see that they had running water, electricity and themed rooms complete with matching wallpaper.