Monday 4th October 2021: Death Valley to Lone Pine

Monday morning, and time for the 2021 V2VOL to commence. Everyone assembled at 8am prompt to leave the Ranch at Furnace Creek to explore Death Valley. At this time temperatures were pleasantly in the 70s, with a little high cloud:

About to leave the Ranch at Furnace Creek

Almost immediately we ran into road construction that resulted in a 20 minute delay:

Waiting for road construction to move forward

When we were finally allowed to proceed, we (leading the group) messed up and failed to take the required turning, and so detached ourselves from the rest of the group. Business as usual for an Oil Leak! In the end we all visited the same sites in Death Valley, just not in the same order. As it happens, the solitude that came with our detachment from the group made some of the sites all the more impressive to Debbie and myself...

Our first stop was at Zabriskie Point, which overlooks Death Valley. A short walk from the parking lot revealed amazing views of the eroded landscape as it descends to Death Valley. The solitude was overwhelming...

A short drive took us to the 20 Mule Team Road - a dirt road used by the mule teams hauling borax from the Harmony Borax Works near Furnace Creek to the railhead near Mojave. 

About to descend a steep incline on the 20 Mule Team Road

The next site we visited was the Dante Point Overlook of Death Valley. More than 2,000 feet above the valley, the overlook provided some magnificent vistas.

Death Valley from Dante's View

Joe and Deborah Harding climb for the best possible view

We were fortunate that high cloud kept temperatures just below triple digits today - something our cooling systems could manage (just...). From Dante's Point high above Death Valley we descended to Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America at 282ft below sea level.

The hottest place on Earth, though only around 100 degrees today... Our final site in Death Valley was Artist's Palette, where minerals in the rocks provide a wide range of colors to the desolate landscape.

Having explored Death Valley, we drove to Stovepipe Wells where we had lunch at the Toll Road Restaurant. 

From there our route to our overnight stop in Lone Pine involved traversing multiple mountain ranges with repeated climbs from sea level to 5000+ feet and then back down again. The California roads were in great shape (unlike our freeways!) and the drive was enjoyable. 

In the evening we congregated for pizza in the the gardens of our overnight stay at the Best Western at the end of a great starting day. We were joined by Norm and Deirdre Black, and Mark and Rhonda Hull for the rest of the trip. 

Michael Jenkins suffered a series of issues during the day with his new fuel injection system and an alternator bracket failure, but true to the Oil Leak way he was there in the gardens enjoying the company at the end of the day. More adventures tomorrow...

 

Introduction

Welcome to the blog for the 2021 Oil Leak, during which we will explore the Valleys and Volcanoes of eastern California to southern Oregon. We owe a great debt of gratitude to Kjell Nelin who originally planned the route for the 2020 Oil Leak which was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Kjell prepared all the daily drive routes, as well as suggesting hotels for our overnight stops, and restaurants for our evening group dinners which have become a key features of our annual trips. We also thank Geo Hahn who maintained and enhanced the on line planning spreadsheet that documents all the details of this year's trip.

As always, Debbie and I will be accompanied by one of the family bears. This year, Russ made the best case for inclusion, particularly because his tiny stature allows him to share the cockpit of our 1969 E-Type OTS.

Russ ready to head out on an adventure!

This year's Oil Leak will start at Death Valley National Park in California. Death Valley contains the lowest point in North America at 282ft below sea level, as well as the hottest place on Earth. An ideal place for the notorious E-Type cooling system....

Most of the participants congregated this afternoon at the Ranch at Furnace Creek - only 102 degrees today, where we had a group dinner at the 1849 Buffet (named after the birth year of the chicken served on the menu).  Two more cars will join us tomorrow.

Dinner at the 1849 Buffet at the Ranch at Furnace Creek

Michael Jenkins had a fuel filter issue that needed resolution on the trip from home, but that is the only problem reported on the drive to the start. Rick and Christine Kuschel win the award for the longest route to the start all the way from Missoula, Montana. After dinner we met besides the pool in the cooling evening where Michael Jenkins presented us with mementoes for this Oil Leak.

3D printed memento of the trip produced by Michael Jenkins. Can't wait to paint it when I we get home

Tomorrow morning we will start with a tour of Death Valley National Park before moving on to higher elevations and (hopefully) cooler weather.