2019 - Trip Report - Death Valley in July
Death Valley In July
By Jean Hansen
Trip Notes – Death Valley – July 2019
Tuesday, July 23: Sunny and I left home at about noon and drove out to Death Valley. On the way up Wildrose Canyon, we saw several burros. The tourists must feed them because they never moved – even when we pulled up next to them. We got lots of pictures. Then we continued on to:
• The Wildrose Charcoal Kilns: I never tire of seeing these. They are so unique and beautiful.
Then we drove on up to Mahogany Flat to camp. We had the campground all to ourselves at first. We had a nice happy hour with a great view looking out over Badwater. Then later, another car came in to camp. The temperature was perfect – about 83 degrees, but it was very buggy and we had to spray ourselves with insect repellent.
Wednesday, July 24: We left camp about 8:30 a.m. and drove back down the hill to the cutoff for:
• Flagstone foundation site: This was a very nice old site with beautifully done flagstone chimney, staircases and patio – all made of flagstones. Very nice. Then we crossed the canyon to see:
• Wildrose Canyon pictograph shelter: This is a small alcove about 100 feet above the road with about 10-12 small red pictographs in it, including several anthropomorphs. It was a nice little site. Then we drove further up the canyon and saw:
• Water tank: This was an old rock water tank built by the CCC in 1933. I got a picture of the inscription. Sunny and I walked about one half mile further up the canyon to see if we could find the mine, but found nothing. It was very humid and although not hot, it was wet and buggy. Once we got back to the truck, it started to rain a little. Then we drove out to:
• Emigrant Pass petroglyphs: On the way out we saw more burros. We stopped to check out the petroglyphs, which are quite nice and while we were there, it literally poured on us! What a treat, getting rained on in Death Valley.
Then we drove on out and down to Stovepipe Wells, where we went into the café and had lunch. After that we drove out of Death Valley via Highway 190. On the way to Ridgecrest, It rained a little. Then, we discovered that Caltrans had closed Highway 395 and we had to detour around on dirt roads to reach Ridgecrest, where we visited with Bill & Barbara Gossett. We left there about 8:30 and drove home, arriving around 10:30 pm. It was a great trip! ~ Jean
