Change, Refocus, Adapt for the better

Day 3: Salt Lake City to Death Valley & on to Calico Ghost Town Campground; Calico, CA

The view this morning as I changed direction from north to south. I will now be collecting the following states: UT, WY, AZ, NV, CA, and OR. 

As it started snowing at 4pm yesterday, I started looking at alternate routes out of fear of road closures. Also, I'm not skilled at winter camping, so would prefer not to freeze. Much flipping through weather on my Google weather app showed that it was supposed to snow all week up north. To add to the hesitation of going north, my friend in Oregon (where I'm supposed to be for Easter) sent me photos of her kids playing in the snow. It had already hit and more was coming. So, south it was. 

My destination was Death Valley. I figured I could find a good camp site in the valley. It would be warm, so I wouldn't be worried about freezing to death. Also, it was only about 7-8hours away from SLC. My other thought was Las Vegas, until I Google searched the dog being Vegas, and found they are NOT allowed on the strip from noon to 5am. Well, what's the fun in that? Although, it would be cooler for him from 5am-noon anyway. Besides, Death Valley was only a little way from Vegas, and I could easily make it during daylight hours. 

The departure from SLC and my safety net of a second family, a friend I call my wife because we spend as much time together as possible and I'm godmother to her daughter and dog, was bitter sweet. My goddaughter got to sleep in because of the snow overnight and her dad's wipers not working. I really wanted a hug from the both before I left, but didn't want to disturb either of them. So, off I crept after getting up to see my friend off to work. 

The roads were sketchy in spots and totally dry in others. So, it ended up being stop and go out of pretty much Utah. Around St George is where I finally could keep my speed without having to slow for sketchy areas and traffic. At one point, I noticed out of my periphery a car attempting to pass me had spun out. He didn't flip or hit anything, and with the roads such as they were, I was not stopping or turning back  I'm pretty sure I saw him tear past me later. 

I was taken aback almost the entire drive. From the snow capped mountains in SLC

to the Virgin River Gorge

to the Vegas Strip skyline

(I forget the mountains that surround Vegas) to Death Valley!

Wow! I just kept getting excited for more.

We stopped to get gas at the Area51 gas station/cafe/bar/brothel/etc. Walked Jasper, and he headed straight for the brothel. 

We then left there to enter death valley.

The night before, I had found a list of spots to hit if you only have a day to do death valley from Vegas. So, I used that to guide my adventures. First stop...Rhyolite Ghost Town

Now, I'm a huge fan of ghost towns. So, of course, I had to visit this one. It was an old mining town as well, and I love my Colorado mining history, so why not learn about California's? It was a neat, hip, happening town in it's day, serviced by 3 rail lines! Jasper and I wandered the old streets, pooped, checked out an old mine entrance, 

peed every few feet to make sure those after him knew he had been there, and took plenty of photos. 

On the way back to hwy374 from Rhyolite, we stopped to check out the uniquely interesting free Museum with all its sculptures and art outside, 

as well as the cemetery.

After exploring there, I realized it was closing in on sunset. One place the Google search list I had found said was good for sunset viewing was Dante's point. So, I set my destination for Dante's Viewpoint, and took the long way there through the bottom of the valley...200ft below sea level. 

I got to Dante's Viewpoint about 6:45pm and sunset wasn't until about 7:30pm. So, we captured photos of Badwater and the surrounding mountains. We then waited for sunset, and we were not disappointed. 

The other thing the list mentioned was the dark sky designation of the national park, but also that Dante's viewpoint was also a great place to see the stars in their full glory. Unfortunately, I was getting cold, and still needed to figure out my sleeping for the night. So, down I went to travel back roads in the dark out to I-15 and on to Calico Ghost Town Campground. 

I pulled into the campground about 10:30pm Pacific time. Did a loop or 2 trying to figure out if I missed the office. When I wasn't able to find an office, I simply pulled into a spot, ran to the bathroom, pulled out my sleeping bag & pillow, and set myself up to sleep in the car again. The wind was so horrendous that I didn't even want to try putting up the tent. And the chill from that wind would have frozen me within minutes. So, I tucked in and slept off and on throughout the night.