Last December I went to Death Valley. This January I went skiing and took a few detours. In February I went to rallyschool and camped at Trona Pinnacles. Each of these trips left us planning the next time we would be in the area or partaking in the activity. While is now I managed to condense doing all three into one weekend.
The plan for this had been a bit more adventurous. It was supposed to be a real crossoverlanding adventure where my friend Derek would rent an AWD RAV4 and two crossovers would hit some trails before camping at Trona. Derek was coming from Northern California (along with another friend of mine) and I was coming from Southern California. Unfortunately, on the day we were supposed to depart, I got a telephone call from Derek. Due to Derek’s history of [redacted], he had apparently been banned from where he was trying to rent the RAV4. Logistical reasons made him reluctant to rent from elsewhere. He was coming in his Acura TL instead and so rather than doing some trails before Trona, the new plan was just to meet up at Ridgecrest.
I pulled into Ridgecrest as the sun was setting, tired from having to fight SoCal traffic all the way until Highway 395. They had already been waiting. They hurriedly transferred all their equipment into my Forester. Three men and camping equipment made for a tight squeeze, but we nonetheless were able to make it to Trona Pinnacles right as the last embers of daylight faded. Camp was hastily set up in the darkness.
The bright moon made astrophotography more difficult. Still, out here in Trona Pinnacles, despite the fact that we’re really only about 40 minutes from civilization, we could imagine being completely alone. A lot of times, your second trip back to a place isn’t as cool, but to me, Trona Pinnacles is still freaking awesome.
We spent the night in a typical arrangement: my friends in tents and myself sleeping in the Forester. For this trip, I brought along a thin Ikea mattress I had lying around the house. The results were spectacular. This was definitely the most comfortable I’ve ever slept in a car.
Morning brought exploration of the area around the pinnacles. First on foot.
And then by vehicle. Look. At. That. View.
While we would’ve liked to stick around further, and I would’ve definitely liked to have taken the trail south instead of backtracking, we were unfortunately on a tight schedule and so, around 10 am, it was time to leave to collect the TL that had been left at Ridgecrest. We were headed north, to Death Valley.
There had been a lot of press recently about Death Valley’s Super Bloom. While scheduling prevented us from visiting during the peak of the bloom, we were still hoping to see some flowers. A bit of research indicated that Hole in the Wall had some nice flower fields. Unfortunately, no flowers here.
Just past the bend though, and we found our flowers. In truth, while it was kind of amazing to see a previously desolate place like Death Valley suddenly have so much life, in terms of actual scale, the bloom was a bit underwhelming.
Exploration had taken longer than we had planned. So after the photo stop, once again we were on the move. We needed to get to Mammoth Mountain by a sane hour.
The next day it was time to hit the slopes. To those that say skiing/snowboarding shouldn’t be a part of an overland trip, I’d say sure, but this trip actually started with the skiing/snowboarding portion and the rest got added on later. Plus, since free time is limited, sometimes we just have to cram everything together.
Not to mention, it’s just great to hang out with friends. After being out on the slopes all day, we retired to our cabin and made ourselves a feast.
The next day, it was time to hit the road again. Highway 395 has very quickly become my favorite non-twisty highway due to views like this.
Another stop by Mono Lake. As you can see, it looks quite different from when I was last there, now that it’s no longer covered in snow.
Scenes like this just lower your blood pressure.
Mono Lake is only a few miles from Bodie. I had tried to get to Bodie two times before, but was thwarted each time. Would third time be the charm?
No. However, there’s a back way to Bodie through trails, but unfortunately we didn’t have the time to take that route. Next time then. “Next time.”
The plan for this had been a bit more adventurous. It was supposed to be a real crossoverlanding adventure where my friend Derek would rent an AWD RAV4 and two crossovers would hit some trails before camping at Trona. Derek was coming from Northern California (along with another friend of mine) and I was coming from Southern California. Unfortunately, on the day we were supposed to depart, I got a telephone call from Derek. Due to Derek’s history of [redacted], he had apparently been banned from where he was trying to rent the RAV4. Logistical reasons made him reluctant to rent from elsewhere. He was coming in his Acura TL instead and so rather than doing some trails before Trona, the new plan was just to meet up at Ridgecrest.
I pulled into Ridgecrest as the sun was setting, tired from having to fight SoCal traffic all the way until Highway 395. They had already been waiting. They hurriedly transferred all their equipment into my Forester. Three men and camping equipment made for a tight squeeze, but we nonetheless were able to make it to Trona Pinnacles right as the last embers of daylight faded. Camp was hastily set up in the darkness.
The bright moon made astrophotography more difficult. Still, out here in Trona Pinnacles, despite the fact that we’re really only about 40 minutes from civilization, we could imagine being completely alone. A lot of times, your second trip back to a place isn’t as cool, but to me, Trona Pinnacles is still freaking awesome.
We spent the night in a typical arrangement: my friends in tents and myself sleeping in the Forester. For this trip, I brought along a thin Ikea mattress I had lying around the house. The results were spectacular. This was definitely the most comfortable I’ve ever slept in a car.
Morning brought exploration of the area around the pinnacles. First on foot.
And then by vehicle. Look. At. That. View.
While we would’ve liked to stick around further, and I would’ve definitely liked to have taken the trail south instead of backtracking, we were unfortunately on a tight schedule and so, around 10 am, it was time to leave to collect the TL that had been left at Ridgecrest. We were headed north, to Death Valley.
There had been a lot of press recently about Death Valley’s Super Bloom. While scheduling prevented us from visiting during the peak of the bloom, we were still hoping to see some flowers. A bit of research indicated that Hole in the Wall had some nice flower fields. Unfortunately, no flowers here.
Just past the bend though, and we found our flowers. In truth, while it was kind of amazing to see a previously desolate place like Death Valley suddenly have so much life, in terms of actual scale, the bloom was a bit underwhelming.
Exploration had taken longer than we had planned. So after the photo stop, once again we were on the move. We needed to get to Mammoth Mountain by a sane hour.
The next day it was time to hit the slopes. To those that say skiing/snowboarding shouldn’t be a part of an overland trip, I’d say sure, but this trip actually started with the skiing/snowboarding portion and the rest got added on later. Plus, since free time is limited, sometimes we just have to cram everything together.
Not to mention, it’s just great to hang out with friends. After being out on the slopes all day, we retired to our cabin and made ourselves a feast.
The next day, it was time to hit the road again. Highway 395 has very quickly become my favorite non-twisty highway due to views like this.
Another stop by Mono Lake. As you can see, it looks quite different from when I was last there, now that it’s no longer covered in snow.
Scenes like this just lower your blood pressure.
Mono Lake is only a few miles from Bodie. I had tried to get to Bodie two times before, but was thwarted each time. Would third time be the charm?
No. However, there’s a back way to Bodie through trails, but unfortunately we didn’t have the time to take that route. Next time then. “Next time.”
