Death Valley really should be called something else in the springtime. I’ve driven through it before in the summertime and the heat is so oppressive that you can only think of getting out. However, Pam and I arrived this time to spring showers, cool air and a green desert that has to be one of the most beautiful places on the planet.

If you like dirt roads through beautiful areas, dispersed camping by yourself or with friends, hiking and taking in natural beauty then Death Valley is the place for you. We did a little pre-planning for the trip by checking the spots we needed to see and stopped into the ranger station when we arrived to pick up a back country map of where to drive and camp away from the gravel lots with painted lines and numbers there that are the designated campsites.

We drove from home through a winter storm of rain, sleet and snow to arrive at Death Valley in the afternoon. We fueled up in Pahrump, a little town halfway between Vegas and the park, which was a great idea seeing that we covered over 400 miles inside the park and gas was over $4 a gallon in the one or two stations within the park. Since our vehicle has a range of 900 miles on a full tank we didn’t have to pay those prices. We put a little more gas in Pahrump on our way home and drifted into town with 6 gallons left in our 90 gallon tank. Probably a little too close to empty but what’s life without a little adventure.

Death Valley is really several valleys separated by the mountains that run through it. We drove from below sea level to over 4000 feet in elevation at least once a day covering the park. The north end of the park was closed due to snow blocking the road, yeah snow in Death Valley!

We camped the first night in the foothills of Greenwater Valley and watched the remnants of the winter storm transition into a beautiful sunset.

We drove through Titus Canyon, which has a slot section the last mile or so, but the real beauty was the 20 miles through the mountains getting to the slot. The vehicle limit is 25 feet and at 25 feet there were a few switchbacks that took every inch of road to get around without backing up. It rained, sleeted and snowed on us during the drive and I had to put the roamer in 4 wheel low and first gear to keep the 6 tons of vehicle from sliding down a few of the steep muddy descents. We did fit through the canyon at the end, which was a good thing since it is a one way road due to its width.

We then made our way to the famous rack track, where the rocks mysteriously slide across the mud. Typically the lake bed is hard crusty mud, but we saw it with water over parts of it due to the rain.

We camped there the night and it did drop to near freezing giving possible proof that the rock slide on ice during parts of the year.

We stopped at Tea Kettle Junction on the way out from the rack track and added a new kettle to the collection. We’ll see if it’s still there when we go back sometime in the future.

There were many areas to explore in the park.

From Ubehebe crater, a series of 4 craters that blew only 2000 years ago…

To the Devils Golf Course, which looks like 1 to 2 foot tall coral reef of salt…

To beautiful sand dunes all over the park …

And the spectacular colors of the mountains ….

Since we have a National Park pass the only thing we paid for the entire trip was a tour of Scotty’s Castle, which is a must see and hear the story behind the place.

Driving around was fun even with the distances traveled due to the unique roads there, both paved and unpaved.

We camped one night in Panamint Valley that is now one of our top 5 places to camp.

Had a great happy hour and an awesome meal cooked on the weber ….

and a beautiful sunset.

There are many good hikes in the park, but none that I would want to do in the summer heat.

Natural bridge was very pretty….

Mosaic Canyon was another …

One that was not very Death Valley-ish due to the spring water, pools and trees up to Darwin Falls…

And Golden Canyon.

We camped the last night in another spot in Greenwater Valley.

Death Valley is definitely a place to visit in the winter.

Pam and I just returned home from what has become a yearly trek down to Phantom Ranch for an over night stay with friends. We took the Roamer this year and camped on the Rim the night before and after the hike. No trip to northern AZ would be complete without a stop at Beaver Street Brewery in Flagstaff.

We had lunch there on Friday and on our way home on Monday. We never get tired of that place.

Tom, our eldest son, is changing jobs that will take him initially back east and who knows after that so he made the trek with us this year.

It was the first time we had three in the Roamer. The bench seats make into another bed so it worked out pretty well for the night. The weather Friday and Saturday was perfect for hiking, and unseasonably warm.

The 10 of us headed down Bright Angel on Saturday.

And dropped down to the river past Indian Gardens.

It was beautiful down at Phantom Ranch for February. Some of us made it to happy hour at the Ranch but enjoyed a few drinks at a picnic table waiting for the dinner bell.

We also lucked out with some last-minute cancellations to score 3 cabins at the Ranch instead of sleeping in the bunk houses.

We hiked back out on South Kaibab trail that has a nasty switchback section right from the river up to the first plateau. Looks like there was a river boat trip also docked there for the night.

The weather was predicted to get wet and because the north rim is a 1000 feet higher than the south rim it hit there first and followed us out of the canyon. This was looking back towards the north rim on our way out.

The rest of the folks headed south after the hike, including Tom, but Pam and I stretched our legs on a walk, had a couple of glasses of wine, some homemade turkey soup and camped for the night as the snow started. We woke up to different world in white.

Drove over to the rim this morning and the canyon was covered in snow and clouds. The El Tovar hotel is on the Rim and covered in white. We had a great meal there Friday night before our trek down.

The drive home was very nice too. All snowy and not much traffic. The roamer in 4 wheel drive eats this up so I was a little bummed that we didn’t see someone off the road that would allow me to use its winches to pull them out.

There were a lot of folks coming north that slid off the interstate south of Flag once they hit the snow and ice, but there were just as many tow trucks busy at work getting them out of the ditch.

Safe and sound at home again in the sun. Wow, what a great state.

Pam and I just returned from a 600 mile, 5-day adventure down to southeast Arizona. We traveled with friends who knew the area well so we were just followers for most of the trip.

We first stopped in a old ghost mining town of Pearce, Arizona. With my jeep project nearly complete I spied a possible next project in the town.

Not sure Pam agrees with the choice, but you never know.

We then headed down to the Whitewater Draw to see the sandhill cranes. There were thousands of them in the marsh enjoying the Arizona winter.

It was hard to get close to them but they were flying all around us.

Cranes were not the only birds there. It was a bird watcher paradise. We saw great-horned owls, red-tailed hawks and an assortment of ducks.

We camped right at the Draw for a night and enjoyed the cranes and coyotes with the full moon.

The area is also historically significant as the place Cochise, Geronimo and a few hundred held off over 500,000 US and Mexican soldiers for many years. We went to the east stronghold, their winter place.

The campground there may be a good place to revisit.

We then traveled to their summer haven across the valley high in the Chiricahua mountains.

We’ll be going back there to do more hikes and exploring in the rocks.

We then traveled the old stagecoach route that was the main route from El Paso to Tucson in the 1860s.

To the old stagecoach stop and Ft Bowie.

It’s now a 1.5 mile hike from a dirt road to get the fort. It was the howitzer that changed the tide in the Apache wars.

We then headed north to the Colossal Cave near Vail, AZ.

The caves were made into a public place by the hard work of the CCC back in the 1930s. The buildings at the entrance are still standing and looking like they could last another century.

The caves were carved mostly by sulfuric acid so they made the rock like swisscheese on the inside.

The largest room in the caves was used for poker games when outside was blistering hot.

We visited the ranch nearby for a nice lunch break.

We then continued on to Saguaro National Park to view the cactus and update our US Parks annual pass. We hit 35 parks last year so it will probably be a good investment again this year.

We camped at Picacho Peak for the night.

Not a bad view from our campsite.

Hit another park on the way home as Casa Grande. The Indian settlement that dates back to the 1300s.

Home again for the weekend – maybe… but another great trip in the Roamer.

My Mom just left after a 5 week winter visit so Pam and I hit the road again in the Roamer for a short weekend trip to Orme. We helped to plant 150 trees in the new orchard with the students and other alums.

There was a good bluegrass band that entertained everyone in the evening followed by many stories of some of the more interesting folks that helped to shape central Arizona’s past and present.

A few of us hiked Big Mesa on a clear Arizona morning.

It was a pretty view from the top looking up Ash Creek.

Pam and I packed up the Roamer and headed to central AZ for an extended weekend. It’s one of the nice perks of being retired. We headed to Cottonwood to visit with Chuck and Lori and then to the Orme School for an alumni work weekend.

We stopped at Tuzigoot, an old Indian settlement in the Verde Valley that dates back to the 1300’s.

On our way out we ran into a rattlesnake getting the last of the fall sun along the Tuzigoot walk path.

We camped at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood and had a great view overlooking Cottonwood and the Verde Valley. It was a nice backdrop at night under the stars at our campfire with Chuck and Lori.

We visited the new copper museum in Clarkdale. It was very impressive and one room was full of art made from spent WWI artillery shells.

We hiked Fay Canyon in Sedona to see some interesting rocks.

At Orme I got to ride out to help round-up some cattle for branding. Hy horse was a tall mare, but used to caring smaller kids so it got a little tired of me as the day wore on. It decided to spin one time during my mount and I went right over the saddle and landed right where I started next to the horse. Luckily all that was hurt was my pride.

Pam helped to sort through the archives for the new Orme school museum and help plant the start of the new orchard that will be part of Orme’s growing sustainability program.

There was a campfire Saturday night at Orme with the students and Alumni that was really nice. Although it’s starting the get chilly at night so the fire felt good. The Mesas look good in the fall from Up-top.

Back home now and looking at another trip next weekend.

Since Pam and I arrived home, my time has been working the issues around the house. Some are recent issues, like our microwave decided to stop working after nearly a decade of use, and some are projects I’ve needed to get to for some time, but never had the time, cleaning out the garage.

The Roamer is now parked again in storage waiting to be driven. We brought it over to the house yesterday to replace some linens back into the rig since they are now washed and clean. I also had to replace the shower hose, which began leaking on our trip. The part was replaced at the plant while we were in Colorado, but it still leaked because it was not quite the right installation. The new part arrived the other day and I installed it. No more leak – nice.

Lou and Nancy told us a story on how their cook surface was cracked when they bought their used roamer, now named Gus. Turns out the part is expensive to replace so they got a cover for it from another roamer owner who Lou helped out. Cups and dishes can sometimes fly out of the storage shelves when on the back roads, and drop onto the cook surface – not a good situation. With all my free time now, I looked into making a nice wood cover, but it’s amazing how fast the price rockets up when you consider the wood, stain, clamps, etc…

So since I already had a router, I bought a nice wood cutting board and routed out the shape of the cooking glass surface.

This however created a mountain of wood chips in the garage, which lead to the start of the garage clean-out that is still in progress. There is a neighborhood garage sale coming up in a couple of weeks that is driving the finish date for this project. I must say that in cleaning out the garage, I may never have to buy anything again from Home Depot. There are parts, tools and hardware I bought that got squirreled away in the corners of the garage that I forget I had purchased. It’s kind of like Christmas – I didn’t know I owned one of these…..

Obviously, I still have a long way to go.

The jeep project is also in work. Taylor and I started the electrical work, but it was put on hold for the other projects. Once everything around the jeep is cleaned out it will be easier to work on it.

Even with these projects to keep us busy, we are both feeling like we need another Roamer trip soon. One or two trips in November seems very likely, probably into the hills and back country here in AZ. Stay tuned.

Pam and I are now back at home facing a mountain of mail to sort through. Peanut (our cat) and Pam have made up for the separation period and things are getting back to normal.

Here are the stats for the trip….

Total miles traveled: 12,681 miles
Total days on the road: 100 days

Due to the decision to pull the jeep home, we modified our travels on the return leg to arrive home on a more direct route, cutting out nearly 1,000 miles and a few weeks off the original plan. We’ll have to do another travel route to cover the southern US that we missed.

Total number of campsites: 52

35 of these were in National or State Park campsites, which I can say were very enjoyable and a lot less crowded (and less expensive) than the private campgrounds we passed along the way. We did stay at 4 private campgrounds, where the density of folks was greater in these locations. We also stayed with 9 different friends and family along the way, but typically slept in our Roamer since the inside is really comfortable. We only camped 2 nights in the wilderness, driven mostly by our inability to get to a good clearing because of the local tree density along the off-roads we traveled and the lack of local knowledge of good off-road sites. We also spent 2 nights on highway rest areas that were surprisingly restful. Not sure I would stay in a Walmart parking lot yet, but you never know.

We camped in 19 different states and 4 Canadian provinces. Maine and Colorado lead the way with 5 sites each, followed by Montana, South Dakota, Michigan and New York with 4 sites.

Total number of National Parks or National Monuments visited: 25

Total number of micro-breweries visited: 5

The sticker collection in the storage box will give you an idea of the places we visited. Pam’s favorite beer is still Tempe-based Four Peaks Kiltlifter. However, we both enjoyed the Atlantic Blueberry Ale in Maine. I still hold Denver’s Breckenridge Vanilla Porter as the beer for most occasions.

What’s next?

Our future trips are now taking shape, but will include:
1) Death Valley off-road adventures this winter
2) Southern Arizona and New Mexico trek this winter / spring
3) West coast trek up through the redwoods and sand dunes
4) Southern US route to cover the places we missed this trip
5) Alaska and western Canada this summer
6) Newfoundland and Labrador
7) Baja and Yucatan Peninsulas in Mexico

That should keep up busy of the next few years. Tomorrow is sorting the mountain of mail and taking care of household things. Monday, Taylor and I will start working on the ’46 Willy’s to get it street legal.

What a great trip. Stay tuned…….

The trip down through Colorado was very nice. We came down the 285 and 160 through central Colorado. It was some amazing country, most of it over 9,000 ft and plenty of fall colors. Kept thinking of the song as we came rolling down the hill towards Pagosa Springs. We didn’t have any chickens stacked up on top of the rig so I figured we were safe from a run-away truck condition – lol.

Stumbled upon a campsite (after 5 miles of dirt road) near the Arkansas River headwaters rec area that was beautiful with just 3 people camped there, including us. This site is now in the top 5.

Got a good shot of the eastern sky being lit up by the setting sun at the campsite.

We made our way to Mesa Verde NP to see the Pueblo cliff dwellings (and get another passport stamp).

Had to climb up and out of one of the dwellings, which was pretty neat.

The fall colors were out at the NP campground, as well as the deer that just appear out of the trees and the coyotes that were enjoying the full moon.

Drove back into Arizona right next to the four corners area so we had to stop and record our ability to stand in 4 states at the same time.

We’re now at The Orme School so Pam can attend some meetings here. Even though we’re still about 4,000 ft here, it’s warmer than in Colorado, and the trees are just starting to think about not being green. The barnyard got a new gate and the grounds look good.

We should be home later this week. I’ll probably do a wrap-up blog for this trip and discuss the 4 future trips that are in the planning stages right now. Oh-yeah.

We stopped into the Earthroamer shop for our 1 year check-up on the rig. Most of the things were fixed. but they need to finish the remaining items on Monday before we start heading south to Arizona.

The time here gave us an opportunity to stroll the Pearl Street mall in Boulder.

We headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park to camp for the weekend with some friends who also have an Earthroamer.

We did a couple of really good hikes, and the aspen are mostly golden now. Some have already dropped their leaves for the year.

Beautiful place, but it will soon be a lot colder and whiter in the park.

If things go as planned, we should be in Arizona again on Tuesday and home by the end of the week. The first of our 100-day adventures will be complete. What a blast.

We’ve been in the heartland of the US for the last few days, in Missouri and Kansas. Stopped to camp at a lake near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Nice spot, wide open campground and the trees in the lake gave it a swamp feel. The host warned us of the “skeeters” that would come visiting when the sun goes down.

We stopped at Big Springs, an underwater river that re-appears out of the rock wall with a few million gallons of clear, blue water every day.

We then stumbled upon the trout fishing capital of Missouri, Bennett Springs State Park. This campsite was nearly full with fishing folks. It’s right next to the hatchery and the water is clear enough that you can see the trout swimming in the stream. The park diner there will even prepare your freshly caught fish for dinner if you want.

Today we stopped in Greensburg, Kansas. This was the town leveled in 2007 by a 1.5 mile wide tornado. It is also the home of the largest hand dug water well – one of the top 8 wonders in Kansas according to the guide. You could climb down into it – so we did.

We’re stopped now for a laundry break and will be into Colorado tomorrow.