DV Road Conditions - and Wildflowers

[Shadyapex]

The Biscuit and I are headed to DV on Monday afternoon for 3 days and nights. Probably camp at Hole in the Wall and go wherever the bloom is best, likely southern end of the valley. See you there if you're lucky enough to come, too. 2014 Taco/Eagle combo, come say hi.

 

[Advmoto18]

Allow is can say is....

WOW!

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

The Biscuit and I are headed to DV on Monday afternoon for 3 days and nights. Probably camp at Hole in the Wall and go wherever the bloom is best, likely southern end of the valley. See you there if you're lucky enough to come, too. 2014 Taco/Eagle combo, come say hi.

Steve, we have the hard side with us, so not much back country. We will probably be at Sunset CG. Red F350 crew cab, with a Northern Lite camper. Stop by and say howdy. We are typically towards the north end when there. Maybe next to friends in an Airstream.

 

[Shadyapex]

Steve, we have the hard side with us, so not much back country. We will probably be at Sunset CG. Red F350 crew cab, with a Northern Lite camper. Stop by and say howdy. We are typically towards the north end when there. Maybe next to friends in an Airstream.

We will indeed if we get off to a good enough start. Catherine gets off work at 11:30 am so that usually means we're out of town by noon or noon:30. Three hours to furnace creek is the usual time so look forward to saying hi.

 

[gaylon]

We are headed up this coming weekend - leaving Boulder Creek early Thursday and driving back Monday. If you see a dark grey Tundra with a Silver Spur Hawk, say hi

 

[Bseek]

Wandering Sagebrush wandered past and introduced themselves tonight as I was cooking dinner. Nice to belong to such a welcoming mini community. The flowers are amazing but you better come quick. They are moving up in elevation and fading at lower ones.

 

[Potts208]

Spent the night in the Alabama hills on 2/19 and met a climbing couple that reminded me the megabloom was happening. Decided to make a Death Valley detour before going to Joshua Tree and glad we did. We spent the night (2/20) up Warm Springs and this picture is taken off Warm Springs Rd south of the West Side Rd intersection in the many seas of yellow.

 

[Missing Link]

We are heading to DV this afternoon and will stay through Wed. Hope to bump into some of you that are already there. We are in a silver Tacoma double cab with a white ATC bobcat camper. Not sure yet where we will camp. Since we are entering the Park from the southwest, tonight will likely be Wild Rose Cyn. After that, we will follow the bloom.

 

[ski3pin]

Another update on the Park's wildflower report -

Wildflower Update 2016

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Bloom is excellent, but way too many people unless you're in the back country. Had great visits with BSeek and the Missing Links. Bailed Wednesday morning for a swim at Shoshone, then to Mojave Preserve. Much cooler here. No crowds. Happy wandering!!

 

[Shadyapex]

Bloom is excellent, but way too many people unless you're in the back country. Had great visits with BSeek and the Missing Links. Bailed Wednesday morning for a swim at Shoshone, then to Mojave Preserve. Much cooler here. No crowds. Happy wandering!!

Yup, it was indeed excellent. We, too, tired of lolly gaggers driving down the road at 6 mph with the ipad hanging out the driver's window. The situation was better up on the Beaty Cutoff though, and there was more diversity on display if not as dense as that down south. We stopped by Sunset to say hi but didn't find your rig, hope you were out seeing the show.

 

[Missing Link]

Spent several days in DV earlier in the week.. Bloom is waning, but still worth the trip. Had a great time talking with the Sagebrushes. In the two days that we were there, we counted eight FWC or ATC campers (not counting ours or pop-ups such as Palaminos, Skampers., etc.). Far and away the most I've ever seen in one place at one time, other than at a rally. These things are really catching on!

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Yup, it was indeed excellent. We, too, tired of lolly gaggers driving down the road at 6 mph with the ipad hanging out the driver's window. The situation was better up on the Beaty Cutoff though, and there was more diversity on display if not as dense as that down south. We stopped by Sunset to say hi but didn't find your rig, hope you were out seeing the show.

Steve, sorry we missed you!!! We bailed out Wednesday morning. One night of a 45' Monsterhome diesel generator resonating in the camper was enough! At Mojave Preserve (Hole in the Wall) now. Temps are great, not crowded, a couple of good hikes. Waiting for a great sunset!

Edit: The bottom end of Daylight Pass was where I just about added a woman to the nose of the truck. She took a photo on her smart phone, then casually strolled out on the highway while reviewing her art. Not even a glance up. I am glad I was going slow!!!

 

[ski3pin]

The Park updated the wildflower report yesterday -

Wildflower Update 2016

The bloom is moving up in elevation. As Wandering Sagebrush and others have reported, the visitor numbers have climbed in response to the flowers.

Friends of ours, a couple, went to DVNP last week and through the weekend - subaru and car camping. Their tent was destroyed by the winds at Mesquite Springs. The bottom line on their trip report to us -

"So, flowers incredible, light frequently awesome, people, wind and dust not bearable."

 

[Tuff Guy 62]

Thanks for the update Ski.

Ms. Tuff Chick and one of her friends from work are heading out to DV tomorrow to check out the super bloom.

Taking the camper for a ladies weekend and leaving the "old man" at home!

 

[SunMan]

Sounds like the flowers got nuked by the winds this week but we won't let it deter us either, we're going for another quick strike mission

Report from Desert USA:

"Mar 10, 2016 Death Valley National Park Reports:
First the bad news – the hot weather and lack of rain had already stressed our lower elevation flowers to the limits. Then the wind came. A vicious windstorm tore through the valley over the weekend, and devastated many of the lower elevation flowers. The Badwater Road is only a shadow of its former glory, and the fields along Highway 190 were hit hard, also.

Now the good news. Although the lower elevation flowers are past their peak, there are still large fields of Desert Gold (Geraea canescens) in some locations on the southern section of the Badwater Road. Best spots are the alluvial fan near Mile Marker 25 or the area just before the road closure. The Beatty Cutoff and the Daylight Pass Road still have a nice variety of blooms. Try getting out of your car and walking to see the most diversity.

One way to see more flowers at lower elevations is to hike into the canyons. With the additional shade and wind protection, blooms may last a bit longer there. Although they are far from their peak, we are also seeing more color in the mid-elevations. Try driving to Dante’s View or along the Daylight Pass Road to Rhyolite to see a few different flowers. The numbers are few but the variety is great! Echo Canyon and Hole in the Wall are still good backcountry roads to view flowers. The first Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia) blossoms are starting to come out in Lee Flat. Happy flower hunting!"

 

[park]

Flowers were good but couldn't handle the crowds so drove up to Butte Valley and was lucky enough to score the Geologists Cabin. Spent four nights back in Butte Valley and another 3 in different parts of the park. Butte Valley is one of my favorite areas in Death Valley.

 

[SunMan]

Flowers were good but couldn't handle the crowds so drove up to Butte Valley and was lucky enough to score the Geologists Cabin. Spent four nights back in Butte Valley and another 3 in different parts of the park. Butte Valley is one of my favorite areas in Death Valley.

Great pic. One of our favorites too.

 

[Lighthawk]

Trippy photo, what with long exposure and different white balance.
Love that cabin. Where did you park? We found the best level spot was right in front.

 

[takesiteasy]

Cool photo!