A Death Valley Tale - Day 2

In this post: Bicycling in Death Valley, Furnace Creek Ranch

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Weather

Today we thought we'd tackle a 40 mile round-trip bike ride to Badwater. Biking in the Valley was fabulous, but the road consistently alternated between uphill and downhill.  We were never on a level grade.  It wasn't long before we started thinking, if half of our planned ride was going to be low speed uphill riding, 40 miles might be a bit too much for us.

It looked easy from here.

A Death Valley Tale - Day 1

In this post: Running in Death Valley, Furnace Creek Ranch, Brooks Ghost 3 running shoes

Map/Directions
Weather

It was our first morning in Death Valley. We could see rays of sunshine lighting the highest peaks of the Panamint Mountains from our room at the Furnace Creek Ranch. Sipping coffee and tea, we watched the sunlight slowly descend from the peaks, down the parched mountain slopes and onto the Valley floor. It looked like the beginning of a hot day.


Hoping it was still early enough to beat the heat, we headed out for a morning run. About 1 ½ miles into our run, we spotted the ruins of the Harmony Borax Works just off the highway. We turned onto a trail that led us around the ruins and gave us a slightly elevated view of the valley floor.  From here, we spotted a dirt road wandering off into the desert.  We decided to follow the dirt road and see where it led to.

Harmony Borax Works

Swimming Pools, Dinosaurs and Bicycles – Day 3

In this post: Borrego Springs, bicycling, Peg Leg Smith Monument

Map/Directions

Weather

Questions: "When is a pile of rocks not a pile of rocks?"

Swimming Pools, Dinosaurs and Bicycles - Day 2

In this post: Bicycling, Borrego Springs, Ricardo Breceda sculptures, Pablitos 

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Weather 

The flower bloom this year, lacked the volume and intensity of some of the really spectacular years, but even in an ordinary year like this one, the road side flower displays are diverse and beautiful and so were the saber tooth tigers, elephants and horses.  What?  Saber tooth tigers, elephants and horses in the desert?   That's what we were wondering.

Swimming Pools, Dinosaurs and Bicycles - Day 1

In this post: Anza Borrego Desert State Park, Borrego Springs, Circle of Art, Stanlunds Resort Inn & Suites

Map/Directions
Borrego Springs Weather

The desert isn’t for everyone. To some the desert is a beautiful, mysterious, enchanting seductress; to others it’s just a bunch of dirt, rocks and weeds… or even less. My observation is, “There’s no learning to like the desert. You either like it or you don’t.” Janet and I happen to love the desert and the Anza-Borrego region of California’s low desert has long been our favorite desert destination.

Downtown Borrego Springs... it's a really small town!

Gear Report: Yakima Car Top Bike Rack

In this post: Yakima Car Top Bike Rack , Borrego Springs, CA, REI

We left Long Beach about 8:00 in the morning and arrived in Borrego Springs 3-hours later. Prior to this trip we had made a few local trips transporting our bicycles on top of the car, but this was our first out-of-town trip to put our Yakima rooftop bike rack to the test. The Yakima rack system is advertised to work on almost any vehicle and adapt to carry all kinds of fun outdoor toys. We bought ours on sale at our favorite outdoor adventure store, REI.

On the way to Borrego Springs - Montezuma Grade