My trip from Alabama Hills to Death Valley. The weekend of 2/18/2022

I think a lot of it comes down to whats comfortable for you. That's what car camping is… right? I don’t have a roof top tent or a dometic fridge. What I do have is a truck that has 4x4. That for me is enough to go out and explore. I have been afforded the opportunity in life to explorer with what I have.


I routed a trip on gaia gps and went for it…


2/17/2022 - Thursday

Packed the truck up at 11pm. (those tie downs held down my food tub that I strapped above the yellow lid).


2/18/2022 - Friday

Went to my local grocery store and filled the ice chest up. Went back home put the food in the truck and then picked up my girlfriend.


10:30am and we were off to Alabama Hills.


We stopped at Red Rock Canyon State Park for a quick break. After that, we gassed up again in Mojave and then continued the journey.



We got to our campground in Alabama Hills around 3:30pm and the views of Mt. Whitney were spectacular. Covered in snow, with a glistening sun beating down on it. We set up camp and cooked salmon and rice.


2/19/2022 - Saturday

Woke up at 6:30am to a chilly 36 °F morning.

Great sunrise. We got up, took some photos at the iconic movie road area and then packed up camp. I can’t remember what we ate for breakfast other than granola bars.


After packing up camp, we were heading out of Alabama Hills, and spotted a couple of horses.


A stop at Manzanar's Relocation Camp.


Now, once back in the town of Lone Pine we filled up on gas. From there, we were off to Panamint Valley. Staying there off the side of the 190 was something special… at least for me. It was something new and different. It was considerably warmer there, with a cold of ~45 °F that night.


For dinner, I cooked us cheeseburgers and we had fruit as well. Finished up with a couple s’mores and off to bed.


2/20/2022 - Sunday

I woke up that morning and took some sunrise photos / photos of the moon setting in the distant horizon.


Around 10am, we packed up camp. Having purchased a waterport day tank and kickass shower tent, we hoped for a refreshing shower. After not having one since Friday morning, it was nice to feel clean again. I felt the tank of the waterport and it was warm. Being in Panamint Valley it was already around 60 °F and felt hotter with the sun. Much nicer than the chilly Alabama Hills area.


Unfortunately the water was not warm. Chilly would be the best description. But the sun felt nice and being clean was even nicer. It was refreshing.


Off to stovepipe wells…

We left around 11am and got there at about noon, after stopping at some viewpoints. I may find it more fascinating than some, but being below sea-level I find oddly “cool”. We ate at the restaurant they had there.


For the fun if of it, we went to Nevada for a short few minutes before returning to California.


It was getting closer to evening at around 3pm and we discussed where we wanted to go for the night. Back to Alabama Hills, back to Panamint Valley, or find a new place.


Ultimately we went back to Panamint Valley.


I had done my research and prepared properly for this trip, up to and including, checking the weather for all of the places we were going over the duration of the trip.


Things took a turn.


Around 2pm Sunday, we noticed stormy clouds moving in above us. Still no bad weather.


2/21/2022 - Monday


4am... A Short night sleep.


I woke up to gusting winds at ~ 30mph.

I looked over at my Amazon purchased changing tent that I had made into our portable bathroom… it was blown over. Now we had stakes in each of the corners and I had staked down the tie down strings…. It was no match for the wind. Our Coleman tent was also beginning to cave in. Unfortunately we set up the tent with the door facing the direction that the wind was coming from. That only made it worse with the fact that the rain fly was acting as a parachute and was catching all of the wind and guiding it straight into our tent. It was forcing the tent inwards and I was unsure if everything would hold. I talked with my girlfriend and we ultimately decided that we had no way of knowing if/when the wind would stop or even possibly get worse. I thought about positioning my truck in front if the tent with hopes that it would block the wind but we decided to pack up and head out.


I think it was Death Valley National Parks way of telling us to leave haha.


We left around 5am and were on our way home. We made it into lone pine and were gifted with a great sunrise. I filled up gas and we were on the way home. We got back at 11am and had the rest if the day to unpack clean our clothes and relax.


I hope to go back someday and finish my route planned on gaia. More time would have been nice.


It was a great trip overall with delicious food, great views, and an amazing person by my side.


Night Sky star photo 2/19/2022

 

Awesome read and cool pictures. Thanks for sharing

 

Good report. There's never enough time in death valley. Everything is so spread the park is huge. The desert wind can be unbearable at times. I've been in the same position as you and had to finish the night sleeping in the seats of my truck. Also... If you guys like tent camping, the gazelle T3 makes for a great upgrade to a Coleman. Sets up in a minute and is very durable. Doesn't hurt the wallet too much either. Happy camping!

 

you guys left at a good time on Monday. I was driving through panamint and even all the way to Bakersfield and the winds picked up like crazy. Blew sand and small rocks all over the place. Legit had to keep my wheel cocked one way just to track straight

 

Thank you for the report! The wind sure is unpredictable out there

 

Yeah from panamint I did the 190 to 395 to 14 to 5 and a couple more. Until the 5, the wind was over 30mph constantly. Did not like passing all the rvs that were blowing so I just stayed in the right lane going southbound so another vehicle wouldn’t blow into me since wind was west to east. Crazy but amazing. I guess it made for a good story.

 

I wish I had more time. I guess another trip is in order!

 

One more photo. Nice panorama of Panamint Valley. (Had to post to make it my signature)

 

Nice concise report and photos. The "W" (wind) in Owens Valley and Death Valley can be quite strong. Thanks for sharing.

 

Very good.

 

Thanks for sharing,love that panorama you shoot.

 

Thank you! Heres one from June lake this past weekend.

 

nice