Death Valley Ramblin'

[Tom Jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx>]

Well this has been a sloooow winter for project car work, but last
weekend we packed up the Rambler ('63 Classic wagon) with camping
gear and dogs and did a big loop through Death Valley from here in
Los Angeles.

The weather turned crappy Friday we left, cold and rainy, but
tired of getting plans cancelled all winter from weekend rain we
pressed onwards.

I5, 14, town of Mojave, then Randsburg Road after fuelling up
(LPG) at the Jawbone Canyon store. Great drive; after the
freeways, it's all 45 - 60 mph two lane roads. Rambler ran great
(as always) though the vacuum wiper motor crawled slower and
slower over the whole trip... no booster pump either.

Took 178 from Ridgecrest up through the Panamint Valley. The 232
and little air-cooled trans is a fine setup, but it reaches it's
limit on 9% grades (Panamint to Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley
proper) loaded with gear. No heat problems this time of year -- it
was in the 60's, late afternoon. The minivans and plague of pushy
SUVs had to wait as I crawled the grade in 2nd at 45, tough crap,
you're on vacation, slow down anyways!

Of course all of LA is doing what we're doing -- March/April is
"on-season" for Death Valley (it's 110 - 120F in July) -- checking
out the unbelievable flower situation, 6" of rain so far when the
average is 2" per year. It's pretty spectacular, seeds laying
there for decades waiting for a big soak. Ended up camping next to
$100K RVs, half of 'em running stupid generators (why don't they
use batteries and inverters?!)

Rambler sleeps two, plus dogs, just fine. Lots of comments and
walk-bys, it was the oldest vehicle in the place by a good 25
years.

Got pretty warm (70F) at sea-level, which is most of the valley,
but cold (50's) at a few K feet. Drove around Scotty's Castle, S.
through Badwater, and took the 40 mile dirt road to the W. of the
main valley road (178?). No crowds there!

Saturday night we stayed in Tecopa Hot Springs, the once-Municipal
hot springs on the side of the road are now managed by a
profit-making business, apparently to the dismay of the locals.
Pretty nice, though the surrounding salt lake (dry) is dusty and
windy, and the locals have tended to use the edges of it as a
dump.

Next, drove through Baker (route 127) after a 50-mile wrong-turn
down Old Spanish Trail Highway, I15 to Los Angeles.

Rambler ran perfectly, as always, other than the ninth life
of the much-massaged wiper motor slowly expiring.

A few photos here at

http://wps.com/about-WPS/personal/travelogue/Death-Valley-Mar2005/index.html