I headed north to Scotty's Castle on the Northeast border of Death Valley National Park. Here is a link to the description and history. It was closed as it was only 6 am there, but it made for some good photography in the early hours
I pushed on into Nevada and saw a sign for Vegas being only an hour away. I let go of thoughts of mountains of cash and showgirls as I remembered the nights of Ramen noodles and sleeping on the couch when the money ran out on trips to sin city in my youth. I pulled into a candy store for some reason and asked about the Titus Canyon Trail. They said that I could not go down into without 4 wheel drive and high clearance. I exited, overflowing with bags of banana chips and looked over my ride. She looked back, seeming to say, "Hey, we can do this." I responded with a quiet but confident, "yes we can…yes we can."
Our first stop was an old abandoned city heading back into the park called Rhyolite. It seemed a cross between some hippie commune and the old west town where they Bradys get locked up in an episode of the aforementioned Bunch.
This is a shot of a house that is made completely out of bottles
I absolutely was blown away by the next shot. Anyone that knows me knows that I am obsessed with penguins and believe I was a Rock Hopper in a former life. This I interpreted as a miner and his pet penguin hard at work. I wanted to steal it for my apartment but it was about 30ft tall.
I now came to the moment of truth. It was time to tackle Titus Canyon. The "road" was only wide enough for one car so I figured if I could get in front of some 4 wheel drives I would force them to help me if they wanted to complete the ride, assuming I got stuck. I shot along the gravel at 60mph to pass some guys and off I went. I was giggling the whole time because I knew this was stupid and each rock I bounced off I was anticipating the next blind corner where I would get stuck and have to be airlifted out. I was not concerned about my rental car because in my recent trips I have pretty much trashed them, running into anything I
could find and never hearing a peep after returning it. I did tell a friend I was talking to that if I do not call back by the next morning to call for help. Here are some of my favorite pics from along the way
The below picture was of a wall of the canyon. I thought it was pretty cool as it looks like some mosaic artwork with darker rock spread across the lighter rock
I came to the same wide open canyon floor where I slept last night. Happy both the car and me remained in one piece.
I headed west up and out of the park heading for the Sierra Range, more specifically Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park. I traveled south with the mountains to my right, through small towns, grabbing pictures along the way.
I have done a fair amount of rafting over the years but am itching to get involved in kayaking. For about 20 miles I paralleled a river that might have been the Kern, looking like it would test the most experienced guide. It reminded me of a book I just finished about a group that traveled the entire Amazon in kayaks, some 4K miles.
At around 5pm I rolled through Bakersfield. I was going to stop at one of my old rafting outfitters along the Kern River that I worked with in the Bachelor Party days but was short on time as usual. I made the Sequoia Park entrance and feverishly started shooting pics before I lost the light. This is some rock you used to drive underneath as you entered the park, but not anymore. Either it has become too fragile or too many people drive Hummers and cannot squeeze through.
I begin climbing in elevation and the fog enveloped me. Another, more disconcerting sight was the snow that began to rear its ugly head, measuring in inches, then quickly changing to feet.
Below is a picture of the largest Tree on Earth, General Sherman Tree. I promised a friend I would get a picture hugging it to show scale. I set the camera up and ran for the tree. I had to make a quick decision as I knew the timer was about to expire. I turned and stretched my arms out, looking like a jackass to all the Asian tourists. If you click on the picture and look near the base you might be able to see me.
It was getting dark and I was tired so I decided to sleep on the top of this mountain among the snow drifts. I was not going to leave the car, so fired up the stove ate, climbed into shotgun and passed out till about 4am.
Morning could not come soon enough. Let’s just say I had an empty Gatorade bottle on the trip and we became real intimate over the 5 day adventure.
Until Tomorrow
Darren
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