I would be leaving home on January 1st, looks a bit cooler. Looking for personal experiences and tips. Bring plenty of water, lol. I would have dehydrated meals, sunscreen, longsleeves, tool kit...the usual things for a longer trip. Any special things that are important?
Thanks : )
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Death Valley is fabulous for cyclng, but services are a bit far apart. There are services at Furnace Creek, Stovepipe Wells and Panamint Springs. We met some folks who went from Vegas to San Diego via Death Valley and loved it. Check out their journal here: https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1mr&doc_id=20366&v=MX
Ah, cool. Thanks for the link. I should figure out which way to go, east to west or west to east. My whole trip is up in the air. The only things I really want are to go Georgia and through Death Valley.
It's not really any more remote or difficult than any of the other deserts in the US Southwest. Just plan for anything. We cycled it in March and were caught in a wind and snow storm on one of the surrounding passes. Getting hypothermia atop Nemo Crest was part of an adventure I will never forget...but has helped me plan better for all future trips.
Just know if it a popular tourist destination. Unless you go off road, there are many cars and RV's to stop if you need water or assistance.
Ken
Learning the hard way is the best, you can give advice from experience. You made it, hopefully without frostbite, lol. Hmm...I am thinking about starting in Georgia and heading west so I would be March-ish. Graphs say the weather average is 28. I guess you're at the lowest and highest elevations. How did you find the weather overall? Did it ever get wickedly hot?
We had some prety warm and dry days (end of March). Nights were cold.
We did a side trip over nemo Pass to Wild Rose Campground. Plan was an easy 5 miles up and out the next day to the top of the pass and all downhill to camp in the valley. It took hours to walk the bikes up the pass in the steep wind. The wind coming up from the valley defeated the downhill...and snow was horizontal. Just watch weather forcasts and you will be fine.
Ken
We usually just stay at the Furnace Creek motel (the Ranch) and bike around. We go in January or February and the weather is great at low elevations—60s-70s. March is definitely getting warmer, and November was too warm for us—80s. The higher elevations will be much dofferent, so I’m sure someone with experience there can tell you about that.
Often my plans have changed after I talk to the locals. Is it mostly desert between Georgia and Death Valley? I look at Google map images and try to get an idea. Things change. What would you say? Out of three months half would be trees and half desert? Weird question.
Take the ACA Southern Tier and branch off to Flagstaff, AZ, Kingman, Vegas, Red Rock Canyon, and then DV
Ken
Hi Annie and all others,
We ar hooking up to this thread, curious how your experiences are. We are planning a visit to death valley and area around Nov - Dec in future. And particular intrested what peoples experiences were at the higher altitude in this region. Thx's