Death Valley Wildflower Ride - Saturday 3/7

[CaffeineMan]

OK, I've had a possible response from an out-of-town contingent, so I'm going to put a stake in the ground for the date:  Saturday 3/7.

Long range forecast still looks like low 70's in Pahrump, which means 80-90 in Death Valley.  With DV getting rain this weekend and temps staying cool, the blooms I saw yesterday on my recon ride should survive.  Plus, as Mark OMoaC mentioned in another thread, this ride is a really good intro to Death Valley (or a get-reacquainted with Death Valley ;D).

I'm thinking of this route:

From Pahrump
- NV-372 to Shoshone
- CA-178 (Badwater Rd) over Jubilee Pass into Death Valley National Park (flowers will be along this road)
- Up Badwater Rd through Badwater
- Loop on Artists Drive and back onto Badwater Rd.
- Badwater Rd to CA-190 into Furnace Creek.
- CA-190 to the Beatty Cutoff and Daylight Pass Rd, over Daylight Pass, on NV-374 into Beatty.

At that point, most of the early-season wildflower areas (accessible via Connies  ;D) have been hit.  Anyone living/staying the Vegas area could head back down US-95.

However, there is more awesome scenery to be seen on the way back to Pahrump:

- Back to Furnace Creek
- East on CA-190 to Dante's View Rd.
- Up to Dante's view, for a really AWESOME view of Death Valley (3000+ feet above the valley).
- Back down to CA-190
- CA-190 to Death Valley Junction, then Stateline Rd. back to Pahrump

274 meandering miles, taking all day, basically.  Google map here:

https://goo.gl/maps/udlMA

 

[CaffeineMan]

Regarding possible places to stay:

Alas, I have never stayed in a motel in the area, nor do I get many visitors, so I don't have a strong recommendation.

I live in Pahrump (hence the start from Pahrump  ;D) and it's basically a small town.  I think the best option here is the Best Western Pahrump Station.  I like the sports bar attached to it, but have never stayed at the motel.  There is also the Pahrump Nugget casino/hotel, but I haven't necessarily heard great things about the hotel there.  There is also Saddle West Hotel and Casino but that's pretty low end.

There are also apparently "cottages" at the Wine Ridge RV Resort.  It is up next to an actual winery.  More on the winery later.  The cottages look like little modular homes, and I don't know anything about them, but the prices look OK:

http://www.wineridgervresort.com/Cottage_Rentals.php

Additionally there are a couple of weird little B&B's somewhere in town, supposedly, but I know nothing about them, except they are mentioned on the Jimmy Lewis Offroad Riding School website.  Yes, that Jimmy Lewis.  The former Baja/Dakar off-road racer runs a school here in Pahrump.  I just found out a year ago myself.  ;D

People stay in Pahrump for a handful of different things:  the Spring Mountain Motorsports racetrack, where they run various driving schools, Front Site (the firearms training school) and Death Valley.  If you know people that do any of those things, they may have recommendations.

Another option is Vegas, and although I work there, I've never stayed in a hotel there.  It's 65 miles or so from Pahrump.  Vegas is Vegas, anyone from SoCal probably knows it better than I do.  The Strip can be fun, but expensive, and not truly convenient.

I don't know what it costs, but the Red Rock Station hotel/casino is in a nice location, out by Red Rock Canyon on the west side of Vegas (Summerlin).  You could ride through the canyon on your way to Pahrump in the morning.

Staying in DV itself is probably out of the question, as it's the primary season there.  Furnace Creek Inn is ridiculously expensive (AAA 4-diamonds, $550/night  :-\) and Furnace Creek Ranch cabins are full.

So, it's either the fun/glitz/better hotels of Vegas or the convenience of Pahrump, that's how I look at it.  If it's Pahrump, I'd call Best Western first.  This is prime season for DV and this is coming together quickly, so I'd get on it fast.

 

[CaffeineMan]

Regarding eating:

Not lots of places to fuel the bike or yourself in Death Valley, so there are limited options with respect to the timing of stops.  I'm thinking Beatty for lunch (about 150 miles into the trip).  It would be a slightly late lunch, but food and fuel are cheaper than in Furnace Creek.

There's this place in Beatty, which gets good reviews from the dirt bike crowd:

http://www.kcsoutpost.com

Back in Pahrump for dinner, there's Draft Picks sports bar, which is part of the Best Western.  Decent pizza, burgers, wings, etc.  I have watched many a football game there.

There's also the restaurant at the Winery.  They really make wine in Pahrump.  Some with their own grapes and some with grapes they buy.  They bill themselves as "upscale casual":

http://www.pahrumpwinery.com/Symphonys-Restaurant

And hey, if only a small contingent shows up (or only I show up ) and we wanna get cheap, there's grocery stores and burgers on the grill on my back patio.  Canvas chairs, tiki torches, and a little metal fireplace too, with a view of Mt. Charleston (11,000-plus feet of altitude).  ;D

 

[OMoaC]

Theres here http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/US/NV/Pahrump-hotels/BEST-WESTERN-Pahrump-Station/Hotel-Overview.do?propertyCode=29078&cm_mmc=PTI-_-local-_-feed-_-29078

 

[CaffeineMan]

Theres here http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/US/NV/Pahrump-hotels/BEST-WESTERN-Pahrump-Station/Hotel-Overview.do?propertyCode=29078&cm_mmc=PTI-_-local-_-feed-_-29078

Yep, that's the Best Western I was mentioning above.  I've been gradually editing my posts above to add or correct information in them, so if you're checking them out, please read them again.

I am gonna ride this no matter what and I do know it's last minute, but DV wildflowers (and DV in the spring in general) is weather-sensitive.  So come ride!

 

[CaffeineMan]

OK, so I've spoken with Rusty and we are tentatively planning to meet at Shoshone Saturday morning around 10am.  Stay tuned…

 

[CaffeineMan]

The DV wildflower report...  ;D

http://www.desertusa.com/wildflo/ca_dv.html

 

[CaffeineMan]

Bump for wildflowers.  ;D

The report at the link is updated as of today and the bloom is looking better as a result of the rain last weekend!

http://www.desertusa.com/wildflo/ca_dv.html

 

[Motomaniac]

Hi Brian,

I will be calling you tomorrow. Our group will not be able to make it this weekend. I have some work issues and Attlia thinks it may be wise to go another week, make reservations in advance and get more persons from our group. Would you be up for another Death Valley run in a few weeks? I can truly say I would have loved to come up this weekend. I know it would have been perfect!  Talk to you tomorrow.

Russ

 

[CaffeineMan]

Hi Brian,

I will be calling you tomorrow. Our group will not be able to make it this weekend. I have some work issues and Attlia thinks it may be wise to go another week, make reservations in advance and get more persons from our group. Would you be up for another Death Valley run in a few weeks? I can truly say I would have loved to come up this weekend. I know it would have been perfect!  Talk to you tomorrow.

Russ

No problem, I threw this ride up at the last minute, based on maximizing the flowers.

I'm usually up for a Death Valley ride, though, so if we want to maximize people ;D we can pick another weekend.  :great:

Mar 28-29 and Apr 11-12 I think would work for me, but if you guys want to propose a date we can work it from there.

 

[CaffeineMan]

A week and a half ago (Mar 1st), Death Valley looked like this:

 

[CaffeineMan]

When it looks like the above, off and on during the fall, winter, and spring, then, in a place that can get up to 120+ degrees, these little guys grow for a short while, as seen on the ride on Mar. 7th:

 

[CaffeineMan]

On the ride - the view from Jubilee Pass on Badwater Rd, heading down into Death Valley.

 

[Motomaniac]

Great pictures Brian! Thank you for sharing!

Sometimes it is hard to believe in the desert there can be so much beauty!

Russ

:motonoises:  :great:

 

[OMoaC]

Nice. The diversity of the SW.  :great:

 

[CaffeineMan]

Another view driving into Death Valley, farther down Badwater Rd from Jubilee Pass, just before you get to the valley floor, looking northwest.  This is the location where I took the flower pictures.  Note this part of the valley is covered in Desert Gold wildflowers.

 

[CaffeineMan]

This is possibly my favorite pic of the trip.  Taken just north of Badwater.  I was standing in a dry lakebed just off the side of the road, below road level, shooting across the road.  This is Telescope Peak, 11k+ in altitude, with purple phacelia in the foreground.

 

[CaffeineMan]

Death Valley from Daylight Pass Rd (on the way to Beatty), looking south.

 

[CaffeineMan]

Back at Ashford Mill, on the way home.  The afternoon light really showed off this field of Desert Gold.  This is the biggest bloom since 2005, which was a "hundred year bloom".

 

[CaffeineMan]

The End.

;D

 

[CaffeineMan]

Generally we had great weather, did about 290 miles and took around 8 hours, with long photo stops.  We had lunch in Beatty and tried KC's Outpost for lunch, so I can now recommend it.  Good food at a decent price.

 

[Motomaniac]

Glad you guys had a great time! Again thanks for posting all the pictures!  Hope to be up there with friends last weekend of March! You can give us the grand tour!

Russ

:motonoises:  :great:

 

[CaffeineMan]

Looking forward to it!