Sunday, July 31, 2005
The Hottest Place On Earth
Current location: Bakersfield, CA, N 35 22.845', W 119 01.375', elev 1036 ft.
On friday, I left Becky's apartment early in the morning. After a quick stop at a grocery store for some supplies, I drove west on California 60 and I-10, back to Hollywood. I parked and got out, and walked around and took photos of the things I had forgotten to photograph on saturday. I got a few photos of some of the stars on Hollywood Blvd. as well as the cement imprints outside of the Chinese Theater.
Here are the rest of my Hollywood photos, including a couple I took saturday. Walking down the Boulevard, I got a strong sense that the next song on the Jon Sheldon Across America soundtrack should be Celluloid Heroes by the Kinks.
After the boulevard, I wanted to find the Hollywood sign, so I drove north and found a place to view it. From there I found Mulholland Drive, a mountain road that has spectacular views of the city, and took that west in the hills towards Malibu. It was a neat drive, something definitely made to drive your imola red BMW M3 on at 50 mph. When I reached Bel Aire, I got off Mulholland Drive, onto I-405 north, all the while singing the Fresh Prince of Bel Aire theme song. I headed north through moderate traffic until I reached Santa Clarita, CA, where I veered northwest on California 14. I drove on the 14 until I reached Ridgecrest, CA at about 9:30 at night. Ridgecrest is about 70 miles south of Death Valley National Park, my destination for saturday.
On Saturday, I got up and got an oil change. I was due, plus I really wanted to make sure my fluids and coolant and tire pressure were in good shape before heading into Death valley, one of the hottest places on earth in the summer. After being in Death Valley, I really think it takes a supreme idiot to go there, in the middle of a huge desert, in the summer. Ladies and gentlemen, I am that supreme idiot. But I did it for you and took photos, so you don't have to!
I continued North on California 14 form Ridgecrest. The drive into Death Valley National Park was an interesting one. From the border of the park, it is about 14 miles, all uphill into the southern Sierra Nevadas, so there are several signs informing you to turn off your AC so your car doesn't overheat. Additionally, there are water tanks every few miles that you can use for your radiator if necessary.
In reality, being in Death valley was not that bad, despite the temperatures of upwards of 125 degrees Fahrenheit. I found that the roads held the heat, so walking on the road as opposed to the badlands off of the road was a lot hotter. I was in my car a lot, with the AC on, since the park is huge. National Parks are frequently described in terms of size relative to Delaware and Rhode Island. Death Valley is one of the largest, clocking in at two Delawares. Driving into the valley, the road was totally empty, but I think its because I entered the park from an infrequently used entrance. Coming up over the top of the ridge with a view of the valley was quite cool. The road had no guardrails, so when I stopped to take photos, I noticed there were at least 6 car wrecks on the ledge below me, about 100 to 200 feet down, where people had just plummeted off the edge. Kinda neat, but also scary.
Because the drive in was so devoid of people, I expected the park to be empty as well, but there was surprisingly a lot of people in the park. Unfortunately, when describing Big Bend National Park, I already blew my reference to walking the road to Jabba's Palace, but Death Valley looked even more like that than Big Bend. I came across a place called the Devil's Golf Course. Devil's Golf Course is a huge salt basin, just white crust salt across the ground. There are signs at the Devils Golf Course, advising you to be very careful when walking, because the salt is very jagged, very sharp and if you fall it is likely you could cut yourself open with huge gashes, or even break bones.
The park has very varied elevation. The highest point in the park is Telescope Mountain, at over 11,000 feet, and not 15 miles away, you frequently find areas below sea level, including Badwater (N 36 13.797', W 116 46.060', elev. -282 ft.), the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere, at 282 feet below sea level.
Badwater had a very shallow pond, with ugly little bugs and slugs floating around. Underneath the pond was more salt basin, but its pretty weird to see a dock floating on a pond in the middle of the desert. The whole area smelled like day old tuna fish, pretty gross. On the mountain in front of you, you can see a sign halfway up, marking sea level.
It was so hot in Death Valley, that I probably drank about 2 gallons of water. I had brought a lot in with me, and bought some in the general store in the park as well. It was so hot and I had sweated so much that my hair was actually crusty and standing straight out. Gross. On my way out of the park, I came across a vista point, and I walked uphill to get to it. Once up, I was kind of amazed that I even attempted the ascent in the heat. It was about 6 pm, but still ridiculously hot, and I was about a third of a mile from my car and about 200 feet above the level of my car.
Here, you can find the rest of my Death Valley pics. I left the park headed west on California 190. My aim for Sunday is Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, two naps directly next to each other. Looking at my atlas, Death Valley is next to Sequoia, a distance of no more than 30 miles from the park exit. Unfortunately, after closer scrutiny of my atlas, including a close up map of Sequoia, the only entrances to Sequoia are on the western side of the park. Crap! What I thought would be a quick drive would now be a long one, perhaps 300 miles out of my way. From Death Valley, I drove south on US 395, until I reached California 178, which I would take west to Bakersfield. The drive to Bakersfield was very long and winding in mountain roads, but it would cover about half of my drive to Sequoia. With about 30 miles left before reaching Bakersfield, I entered the very southern portion of Sequoia National Forest, a national recreation area. However, it was about 9:30 at night, and it was very dark, so I had no idea what I was driving through. All I knew was I was on a winding mountain road, and I had a steep mountain on my left, and what must have been a steep cliff on my right, because with my headlights, I could only see an occasional tree top, and couldn't see the other side of the valley I was in, whether it was mountains or plains or trees or what. There were tons and tons of turnouts, so I knew something cool must have been on my right. The temperature was very nice, about 70 degrees which was definitely a welcome change from the desert temperatures I had experienced during the day. I had the windows open obviously, and I started hearing this noise on the right, low at first, but soon, it was a loud roar, louder than my car and radio combo. Near the loudest point, I pulled over at a turnout, partly to let faster cars behind me go past, but also to see if I could see what was making the noise. When I get out of my car, I realized it must be a huge waterfall. The sound at night was amazing, especially with the almost total darkness of the area I was in. I got out my huge flashlight, but discovered the battery had died. Oh well. So far on the trip, I have made the hard decision that whatever I drive by at night, I don't get to see. For time's sake I just can't double back. But this place is only 25 to 30 miles outside of Bakersfield, so I am going to have to go back there tomorrow (sunday) to see what it was I drove through. Eventually I made my way out of the forest and got to Bakersfield, where I stopped for the night. Bakersfield has some really nice smells riding in. I would describe it actually as something a baker's field might smell like. The only way for me to describe it would be vanilla rain perhaps?
On friday, I left Becky's apartment early in the morning. After a quick stop at a grocery store for some supplies, I drove west on California 60 and I-10, back to Hollywood. I parked and got out, and walked around and took photos of the things I had forgotten to photograph on saturday. I got a few photos of some of the stars on Hollywood Blvd. as well as the cement imprints outside of the Chinese Theater.
Here are the rest of my Hollywood photos, including a couple I took saturday. Walking down the Boulevard, I got a strong sense that the next song on the Jon Sheldon Across America soundtrack should be Celluloid Heroes by the Kinks.
After the boulevard, I wanted to find the Hollywood sign, so I drove north and found a place to view it. From there I found Mulholland Drive, a mountain road that has spectacular views of the city, and took that west in the hills towards Malibu. It was a neat drive, something definitely made to drive your imola red BMW M3 on at 50 mph. When I reached Bel Aire, I got off Mulholland Drive, onto I-405 north, all the while singing the Fresh Prince of Bel Aire theme song. I headed north through moderate traffic until I reached Santa Clarita, CA, where I veered northwest on California 14. I drove on the 14 until I reached Ridgecrest, CA at about 9:30 at night. Ridgecrest is about 70 miles south of Death Valley National Park, my destination for saturday.
On Saturday, I got up and got an oil change. I was due, plus I really wanted to make sure my fluids and coolant and tire pressure were in good shape before heading into Death valley, one of the hottest places on earth in the summer. After being in Death Valley, I really think it takes a supreme idiot to go there, in the middle of a huge desert, in the summer. Ladies and gentlemen, I am that supreme idiot. But I did it for you and took photos, so you don't have to!
I continued North on California 14 form Ridgecrest. The drive into Death Valley National Park was an interesting one. From the border of the park, it is about 14 miles, all uphill into the southern Sierra Nevadas, so there are several signs informing you to turn off your AC so your car doesn't overheat. Additionally, there are water tanks every few miles that you can use for your radiator if necessary.
In reality, being in Death valley was not that bad, despite the temperatures of upwards of 125 degrees Fahrenheit. I found that the roads held the heat, so walking on the road as opposed to the badlands off of the road was a lot hotter. I was in my car a lot, with the AC on, since the park is huge. National Parks are frequently described in terms of size relative to Delaware and Rhode Island. Death Valley is one of the largest, clocking in at two Delawares. Driving into the valley, the road was totally empty, but I think its because I entered the park from an infrequently used entrance. Coming up over the top of the ridge with a view of the valley was quite cool. The road had no guardrails, so when I stopped to take photos, I noticed there were at least 6 car wrecks on the ledge below me, about 100 to 200 feet down, where people had just plummeted off the edge. Kinda neat, but also scary.
Because the drive in was so devoid of people, I expected the park to be empty as well, but there was surprisingly a lot of people in the park. Unfortunately, when describing Big Bend National Park, I already blew my reference to walking the road to Jabba's Palace, but Death Valley looked even more like that than Big Bend. I came across a place called the Devil's Golf Course. Devil's Golf Course is a huge salt basin, just white crust salt across the ground. There are signs at the Devils Golf Course, advising you to be very careful when walking, because the salt is very jagged, very sharp and if you fall it is likely you could cut yourself open with huge gashes, or even break bones.
The park has very varied elevation. The highest point in the park is Telescope Mountain, at over 11,000 feet, and not 15 miles away, you frequently find areas below sea level, including Badwater (N 36 13.797', W 116 46.060', elev. -282 ft.), the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere, at 282 feet below sea level.
Badwater had a very shallow pond, with ugly little bugs and slugs floating around. Underneath the pond was more salt basin, but its pretty weird to see a dock floating on a pond in the middle of the desert. The whole area smelled like day old tuna fish, pretty gross. On the mountain in front of you, you can see a sign halfway up, marking sea level.
It was so hot in Death Valley, that I probably drank about 2 gallons of water. I had brought a lot in with me, and bought some in the general store in the park as well. It was so hot and I had sweated so much that my hair was actually crusty and standing straight out. Gross. On my way out of the park, I came across a vista point, and I walked uphill to get to it. Once up, I was kind of amazed that I even attempted the ascent in the heat. It was about 6 pm, but still ridiculously hot, and I was about a third of a mile from my car and about 200 feet above the level of my car.
Here, you can find the rest of my Death Valley pics. I left the park headed west on California 190. My aim for Sunday is Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, two naps directly next to each other. Looking at my atlas, Death Valley is next to Sequoia, a distance of no more than 30 miles from the park exit. Unfortunately, after closer scrutiny of my atlas, including a close up map of Sequoia, the only entrances to Sequoia are on the western side of the park. Crap! What I thought would be a quick drive would now be a long one, perhaps 300 miles out of my way. From Death Valley, I drove south on US 395, until I reached California 178, which I would take west to Bakersfield. The drive to Bakersfield was very long and winding in mountain roads, but it would cover about half of my drive to Sequoia. With about 30 miles left before reaching Bakersfield, I entered the very southern portion of Sequoia National Forest, a national recreation area. However, it was about 9:30 at night, and it was very dark, so I had no idea what I was driving through. All I knew was I was on a winding mountain road, and I had a steep mountain on my left, and what must have been a steep cliff on my right, because with my headlights, I could only see an occasional tree top, and couldn't see the other side of the valley I was in, whether it was mountains or plains or trees or what. There were tons and tons of turnouts, so I knew something cool must have been on my right. The temperature was very nice, about 70 degrees which was definitely a welcome change from the desert temperatures I had experienced during the day. I had the windows open obviously, and I started hearing this noise on the right, low at first, but soon, it was a loud roar, louder than my car and radio combo. Near the loudest point, I pulled over at a turnout, partly to let faster cars behind me go past, but also to see if I could see what was making the noise. When I get out of my car, I realized it must be a huge waterfall. The sound at night was amazing, especially with the almost total darkness of the area I was in. I got out my huge flashlight, but discovered the battery had died. Oh well. So far on the trip, I have made the hard decision that whatever I drive by at night, I don't get to see. For time's sake I just can't double back. But this place is only 25 to 30 miles outside of Bakersfield, so I am going to have to go back there tomorrow (sunday) to see what it was I drove through. Eventually I made my way out of the forest and got to Bakersfield, where I stopped for the night. Bakersfield has some really nice smells riding in. I would describe it actually as something a baker's field might smell like. The only way for me to describe it would be vanilla rain perhaps?