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Thanksgiving in Death Valley

11/27/2015

15 Comments

 
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The sky was a brilliant blue when we started out on our adventure.
Thanksgiving in the desert, Death Valley National Park.   We expected a clear sky and warm days when we drove down a rutted four-wheel-drive-only road into the Panamint Basin. We planned to car camp in the desert, then hike in 4 miles to climb a set of five towering sand dunes at the foot of a mountain range.   Car camping means you can bring more stuff with you, so we had two sleeping bags EACH for the cold nights and salmon on ice to grill for dinner.
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Crossing the desert I thought of immigrants who had to cross the Sonora desert from Mexico.
After we set up our tent – a six-foot tall screen tent with a cover on all sides, pretty inappropriate for the terrain but nice and roomy – we set off for the two-hour hike to the dunes, hoping to see the sunset at 4:30 and return in the light of the rising full moon.

Even before we headed out at 3 pm, we could see two large clouds hanging dark and low in the sky, but we convinced ourselves that they could be gone before sunset. 

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The storm cloud blocked the moon rise.
We walked for two hours, then turned back in order to enjoy the pink afterglow reflected on the clouds.  But the big dark cloud hovered over the mountaintop where the moon was expected by 5 pm. 

As we walked, it became clearer that we would not have any moon to guide our way.  For two more hours  we walked and stumbled through the rock-strewn desert, the wind picking up as we went.  We had ridiculously small flashlights on a key chain that helped a bit.
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The tent was still standing when we got back to our campsite, and we set about making dinner.  We sliced zucchini, peppers and potatoes for grilling and Mark found a corner protected from the wind to light the charcoal grill. 
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This photo was taken the next day when we started cooking before dark.
As the food cooked, we sat in the car, warming up and listening to NPR.  When the wind began to spit rain (yes, in the desert!) we decided to skip the salmon and just eat the vegetables. They were delicious and we topped them off with a pair of peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches for the main course.
 
As the wind howled, we had to find rocks and more stakes to batten down the tent, which shook like a bowl of jelly. Sand was blowing into the screen house tent but by the time we crawled into our bags we just hoped that we would not be blown away.
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Snow on the mountaintops.
The desert was quiet when the sky lightened and we peered outside.  The moon had shown up after all and still hung low in the west over the mountains. But to our amazement, the mountain peaks around us were covered with snow!  A beautiful sight on Thanksgiving morning.

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After coffee and oatmeal at our campsite, we packed up more peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches and water, then headed back to the dunes, where we climbed the 200-foot peaks.  The brilliant blue skies were cloudless and we were filled with Thanksgiving gratitude.
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The Panamint Sand Dunes.
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15 Comments
Mattie
11/27/2015 02:28:16 pm

Wow! What an adventure, snow included!

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Nancy
11/27/2015 03:33:07 pm

Yes, we were lucky to see it!

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Gen
11/27/2015 04:43:51 pm

All is well that ends well. Beautiful Thanksgiving gift. Thank you

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Nancy
11/28/2015 10:31:21 am

Yes, it was a beautiful gift, Gen. Hope your day was happy, too.

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Jacqueline Murray
11/28/2015 06:27:35 am

What an amazing adventure. So enjoy following your journey!

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Nancy
11/28/2015 10:32:15 am

Thanks for keeping up with our adventures, Jacki!

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Robert J Nebel link
11/28/2015 08:30:33 am

Awesome beauty there - love it..... hope you all get to dine on more salmon soon.

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Nancy
11/28/2015 10:33:11 am

Bob,
I hope you get to experience Death Valley one day. It is amazing!

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bob callahan
11/28/2015 08:32:21 am

what an eclectic location pick. though I guess that shouldn't be a surprise.

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Nancy
11/28/2015 10:35:28 am

We picked Death Valley because it is one of the warmest places we could find out West -- and we can get wifi at the campground. Lots of interesting hikes as well, including in the remote desert.

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Lynn Peebles link
11/28/2015 08:46:27 am

Now I know what to get you for Christmas (Maglite flashlights :-) Seriously, do you have powerful headlamps for future expeditions of this nature?
Congrats on your latest ability to harmonize with nature...xoxo Lynn

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Nancy
11/28/2015 10:37:29 am

Yes, stumbling through the desert was a lowlight -- we had some stupid little lights on our keychains but they were woefully inadequate.

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Jean-Marie Simon
12/7/2015 04:44:58 am

Nancy: Belatedly, a happy Thanksgiving! I love your pictures and your log. Our Hertz rental died in Panamint Springs about 13 years ago, so I have some pretty salient memories of the place. Get yourselves some decent headlights, girl! (Every year the Inyo Register has some gruesome tale of a European tourist dying in Death Valley.....)

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Nancy
12/7/2015 12:36:13 pm

Jean-Marie - I had visions of breaking down on the road we traveled on that was meant for a 4-wheel drive car. We have headlights, just failed to bring them! Seasons Greetings and enjoy your baking!

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Janet
12/18/2015 05:53:30 pm

We had the same wind adventure camping there 26 years ago! David saved the dat in the middle if the night.

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