20070421 Weekend Ride to Manzanar and Death Valley
I had been working on some ride plans for a little while. One of my co-workers wanted to go to Manzanar which is located on Highway 395 near Independence, California. I figured since we were up that far it would be a good time to drop over to Death Valley and visit Scotty’s Castle and a few other sights. Marshal Mercer contacted me about the need to take an extended ride, over nighter and was thinking about San Simeon. When I mentioned my idea he said let’s do it.
The basic plan was to take back roads as much as possible and avoid long highway runs. We started in Azusa and took the 210 Fwy West to NB Hwy 2; across Angeles Forest Hwy to the 14 Fwy North; West on the 58 Fwy to NB Caliente/Bodfish to Lake Isabella; back over to the 14 Fwy NB to Hwy 395 to Manzanar then Bishop were we spent the night. At the Manzanar National Historic Site you are able to take a peak into the past and wonder what it would have been like to be an American and be forcibly relocated to a holding facility in the middle of nowhere. After a good steak dinner at the Whiskey Creek Restaurant in Bishop and a good nights rest we were ready for day two of the ride. Before calling it a night I needed to enter the next days route since I had only created the route for the first day in my GPS. For some reason unknown to us at the time it kept wanting to route us North of the park and enter on the East side to go to Scotty’s Castle. I finally figured that I needed to reset the preferences to avoid highways and bingo it ran the route I had mapped using Microsoft Streets & Trips.
We started day two with a short ride back to Big Pine for a full tank of gas for the bikes and ourselves. After breakfast and the top-off we headed East on Hwy 168. At Death Valley Rd we made a right and into the park. What neither of us were aware of was that Death Valley Rd would turn from lovely asphalt to dirt. About 60 miles worth of dirt road on the way to the castle. The road was graded flat but like a lot of dirt roads it had the dozer dips left by the tracks. Dirt, loose rocks and sand were the order for the morning commute. The thing that made this worth it was the incredible scenery. It started out with snow among the pines and dropped to Joshua trees and then desert shrubs. The sky was blue with scattered clouds and moderate temperatures. Did I mention that the dirt road seemed to go on forever. Death Valley Rd became Racetrack Valley Rd and was still dirt. We hit an area or two where the roadway was low and sand started to settle. It made for a few uncomfortable handling characteristics. Because of his dirt riding background Marshal was better at navigating the dirt and was running about 30 MPH where I was not as comfortable and ran between 15 & 25 MPH. This was a good shakedown cruise for the new Hyper Pro front springs. Without going into detail let’s just say I’m glad they were in. When Racetrack Valley Rd finally met the North Hwy (aka 190) we were back on good old asphalt and Scotty’s Castle was a short stones throw away to the West.
To think that Scotty’s Castle existed in the middle of the desert was amazing. While we had a light lunch in the cafeteria we learned that we were 27 miles from the nearest railway. To bring all the necessary building materials this far in the late 1800 was simply amazing. Our timing was off so we missed the tours of the castle itself but we were able to wonder the grounds and stable and take a few more pictures to remember our adventure to this point. We also learned that 190 was paved as it wound its way SB through the park which made both our days. There was a weather front moving in but it was only supposed to be a low (20 - 30%) chance of rain.
We headed South down Hwy 190 (North Hwy) through some of the most scenic desert settings you could imagine. On our way to Furnace Creek we encountered some of that wonderful liquid California sun shine. It was a little strange to be doing 40 to 50 MPH and have rain fall vertically onto you. What was strange is that the clounds seemed to go clear across the desert floor but it looked like it was only raining next to the hills on the West and East sides of the valley. Sort of like a cloud suspension bridge. The roads began to get standing water and puddles and thoughts of possible flash flood began to flash through my mind at least. However in a relatively short time we were out of the rain and back on dry roads again. We were completely dry by the time we rolled into Furnace Creek and 86 degree temperatures.
After a tank top-off ($4.14 per gallon), brief rest and snack at the Furnace Creek Ranch we continued our journey. It was South on Hwy 190 and then South on Badwater Rd before turning West on Hwy 178. We rode past places such as Artists Drive, Badwater (salt flats) and the Devil’s Golf Course. I guess the weather that was going through the area was really responsible for kicking up the winds, or was it Marshal’s comments to someone about surviving desert heat, dirt roads and swarms of locusts. Anyway, before getting to Jubilee Pass we experienced more of what the desert has to offer. According to Marshal he estimated the winds blowing sand across the highway at up to 50 MPH. After getting out of the blowing sand we took a short break after cresting the pass.
We took another short break in Shoshone on Hwy 127 before proceeding into Baker where 127 meet Hwy 15. Since it had taken us longer than expected to make it this far we decided to have dinner at the Bob’s Big Boy in Baker before slabbing it home. After dinner it was South on the 15 toward home. We stopped one more time for gas and to add clothing and plug in the Gerbing gear for a toastie rest of the ride.
What started in Azusa on Saturday morning at 7:00 AM ended for me when I pulled into the back yard in Azusa at 11:30 PM on Sunday. Did I forget to mention that we got rained on again in the last few miles of our ride.
Death Valley is a beautiful place and one that you should try and see for yourself. If you don’t feel like dealing with the dirt roads you can either go North along the route we used to leave the park or come in from Hwy 95 in Nevada near Nellis Air Force Base on Hwy 72/267.
Until you are able to see the sights for yourself I have posted my pictures of the trip in my photo gallery.
I had been working on some ride plans for a little while. One of my co-workers wanted to go to Manzanar which is located on Highway 395 near Independence, California. I figured since we were up that far it would be a good time to drop over to Death Valley and visit Scotty’s Castle and a few other sights. Marshal Mercer contacted me about the need to take an extended ride, over nighter and was thinking about San Simeon. When I mentioned my idea he said let’s do it.
The basic plan was to take back roads as much as possible and avoid long highway runs. We started in Azusa and took the 210 Fwy West to NB Hwy 2; across Angeles Forest Hwy to the 14 Fwy North; West on the 58 Fwy to NB Caliente/Bodfish to Lake Isabella; back over to the 14 Fwy NB to Hwy 395 to Manzanar then Bishop were we spent the night. At the Manzanar National Historic Site you are able to take a peak into the past and wonder what it would have been like to be an American and be forcibly relocated to a holding facility in the middle of nowhere. After a good steak dinner at the Whiskey Creek Restaurant in Bishop and a good nights rest we were ready for day two of the ride. Before calling it a night I needed to enter the next days route since I had only created the route for the first day in my GPS. For some reason unknown to us at the time it kept wanting to route us North of the park and enter on the East side to go to Scotty’s Castle. I finally figured that I needed to reset the preferences to avoid highways and bingo it ran the route I had mapped using Microsoft Streets & Trips.
We started day two with a short ride back to Big Pine for a full tank of gas for the bikes and ourselves. After breakfast and the top-off we headed East on Hwy 168. At Death Valley Rd we made a right and into the park. What neither of us were aware of was that Death Valley Rd would turn from lovely asphalt to dirt. About 60 miles worth of dirt road on the way to the castle. The road was graded flat but like a lot of dirt roads it had the dozer dips left by the tracks. Dirt, loose rocks and sand were the order for the morning commute. The thing that made this worth it was the incredible scenery. It started out with snow among the pines and dropped to Joshua trees and then desert shrubs. The sky was blue with scattered clouds and moderate temperatures. Did I mention that the dirt road seemed to go on forever. Death Valley Rd became Racetrack Valley Rd and was still dirt. We hit an area or two where the roadway was low and sand started to settle. It made for a few uncomfortable handling characteristics. Because of his dirt riding background Marshal was better at navigating the dirt and was running about 30 MPH where I was not as comfortable and ran between 15 & 25 MPH. This was a good shakedown cruise for the new Hyper Pro front springs. Without going into detail let’s just say I’m glad they were in. When Racetrack Valley Rd finally met the North Hwy (aka 190) we were back on good old asphalt and Scotty’s Castle was a short stones throw away to the West.
To think that Scotty’s Castle existed in the middle of the desert was amazing. While we had a light lunch in the cafeteria we learned that we were 27 miles from the nearest railway. To bring all the necessary building materials this far in the late 1800 was simply amazing. Our timing was off so we missed the tours of the castle itself but we were able to wonder the grounds and stable and take a few more pictures to remember our adventure to this point. We also learned that 190 was paved as it wound its way SB through the park which made both our days. There was a weather front moving in but it was only supposed to be a low (20 - 30%) chance of rain.
We headed South down Hwy 190 (North Hwy) through some of the most scenic desert settings you could imagine. On our way to Furnace Creek we encountered some of that wonderful liquid California sun shine. It was a little strange to be doing 40 to 50 MPH and have rain fall vertically onto you. What was strange is that the clounds seemed to go clear across the desert floor but it looked like it was only raining next to the hills on the West and East sides of the valley. Sort of like a cloud suspension bridge. The roads began to get standing water and puddles and thoughts of possible flash flood began to flash through my mind at least. However in a relatively short time we were out of the rain and back on dry roads again. We were completely dry by the time we rolled into Furnace Creek and 86 degree temperatures.
After a tank top-off ($4.14 per gallon), brief rest and snack at the Furnace Creek Ranch we continued our journey. It was South on Hwy 190 and then South on Badwater Rd before turning West on Hwy 178. We rode past places such as Artists Drive, Badwater (salt flats) and the Devil’s Golf Course. I guess the weather that was going through the area was really responsible for kicking up the winds, or was it Marshal’s comments to someone about surviving desert heat, dirt roads and swarms of locusts. Anyway, before getting to Jubilee Pass we experienced more of what the desert has to offer. According to Marshal he estimated the winds blowing sand across the highway at up to 50 MPH. After getting out of the blowing sand we took a short break after cresting the pass.
We took another short break in Shoshone on Hwy 127 before proceeding into Baker where 127 meet Hwy 15. Since it had taken us longer than expected to make it this far we decided to have dinner at the Bob’s Big Boy in Baker before slabbing it home. After dinner it was South on the 15 toward home. We stopped one more time for gas and to add clothing and plug in the Gerbing gear for a toastie rest of the ride.
What started in Azusa on Saturday morning at 7:00 AM ended for me when I pulled into the back yard in Azusa at 11:30 PM on Sunday. Did I forget to mention that we got rained on again in the last few miles of our ride.
Death Valley is a beautiful place and one that you should try and see for yourself. If you don’t feel like dealing with the dirt roads you can either go North along the route we used to leave the park or come in from Hwy 95 in Nevada near Nellis Air Force Base on Hwy 72/267.
Until you are able to see the sights for yourself I have posted my pictures of the trip in my photo gallery.
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