Towne Pass to Stovepipe Wells Village

April 1st:  Here are a couple of pictures of the grounds of Stovepipe Wells Village:

Saloon

Today is our last ride, which is relatively short (17 miles) and downhill from Towne Pass (4953’) to sea level.  We started riding at 8:45 am from the pass after taking a single and group picture at the elevation sign.  

It is 54 degrees at the Towne Pass

Larry, Bill, Gregg, Kendall, Janice, Nancy, Rob, Tim, Kelli

Fortunately, the road was quite smooth, and the wind was a headwind, which made for great riding.  The views of the mountain range and then the valley below were great, 

Valley in the Distance

but there wasn’t much picture taking; just great downhill biking.  After 15 miles, the terrain became the valley floor with a slight downhill slope and that made for easy biking back to the village.  There was plenty of time to shower and pack up for the shuttle back to Las Vegas, which departed at 11:00 am.  These few days in Death Valley have been outstanding with ample opportunity to bike an area that has been on my “to do” list for some time.  Goal accomplished!

We departed for Las Vegas at 11:20 am and drove to Puhrump 

Approaching Puhrump, NV with Snow in the Mountains

for lunch at a Thai restaurant, ChatThai, where I had a very large Thai salad.  Service was slow and we didn't arrive in Las Vegas until 4:00 pm.  We dropped off several people at the airport for their flights and arrived at the hotel at 5:15 pm for my overnight stay in Vegas.  I spent the first hour after check-in posting all the blogs and pictures from the last few days.  I have reservations for airport transportation at 11:00 am.  My Southwest flight is at 12:55 pm with an arrival in Birmingham at 6:20 pm tomorrow.  

Ubehebe Crater to Mesquite Flat Dunes and Mosaic Canyon

March 31^st:  Today is a 46-mile ride, our longest, and our last full day of biking.  We shuttled to Ubehebe Crater, which was formed about 2,000 years ago by hot magma rising to the earth’s surface and encountering a large reservoir of underground water, which was turned into superheated steam. This caused an explosion that created a crater 500’ deep and ½ mile in diameter and spewed shattered rock over 6 square miles.  It is the largest of such explosion craters in the area.

 

From the overview, 

we biked downhill for 5.6 miles 

Bush in Bloom with Yellow Flowers

to the intersection with Scotty’s Castle Rd, which we followed and experience a couple of modest uphill climbs for a total elevation increase of 975 ft.  Then we had about 27 miles of initially step downhill (12 miles) followed by sloping downhill (10 miles) and then 3 miles of gentle uphill to our lunch stop, which was the same spot we used yesterday.  

After lunch, we had the 8-mile gentle downhill ride to Stovepipe Wells Village.  To the right we passed the Mesquite Flat sand dunes. 

At 3:00 pm we met our guides for a short drive to Mosaic Canyon, where we had a 1-mile hike in this slot canyon with great views of the geological makeup of the canyon walls.  

Mosaic Canyon Road from my Room

Entrance to Mosaic Canyon

Clinging to Life

Here is the General Store on the Stovepipe Wells grounds.

Our final group dinner was at 6:00 pm in the Toll Road Restaurant.  

Just after sunset.

Tomorrow we have our last ride; 17 mile from Towne Pass (4953’) where the temperature is to be 25 degrees cooler than the valley floor.  Then we depart for Las Vegas.

Rhyolite Ghost Town to Stovepipe Wells Village (45 miles)

March 30^th:  Rhyolite Ghost Town to Stovepipe Wells Village (45 miles).  All posts from this one onward will not be posted until I arrive in Las Vegas on April 1^st.  The internet is of insufficient quality to permit posting.  

This morning we departed The Ranch at Death Valley for a day of riding and then staying at Stovepipe Wells for two nights.  We shuttled to Rhyolite, NV, a ghost town that was a thriving mining town in the first decade of the 1900’s, to start our day of cycling.  Here is a little history on the town.  Gold was discovered in 1904 and Rhyolite was established in 1905.  At its peak in 1908 the population was close to 8,000, but then mine production fell and by 1910 the population went into rapid decline.  The post office closed in 1919 and by 1920 the population was 14.  The remains of a few of the buildings – bank, school, railroad/casino station, Tom Kelly’s Bottle House, and a general store – can be seen.  Here are a few pictures of Rhyolite and its location in far southwestern Nevada.  

Old Railroad Station & Casino for 3 Railroad Lines

Bank

General Store

Looking back at Ryolite

Initially we had a nice, but short, downhill to Beatty Rd where we turned right (3,345’) toward Daylight Pass (11.1 mi) which is the highest point (4,313’) on today’s right.  We had about 3 miles of gentle uphill biking and then 8 miles of steeper climbing and then the steepest from 7.5 mi to the pass.  It wasn’t as steep of a climb as yesterday, but nice to make it to the top where there was a water stop.  At 10.7 mi, we left Nevada and crossed into California.  

The Climb Begins

After a short break at Daylight Pass, the 15 mi downhill began.  

Downhill Ahead from Daylite Pass

Although this sounds to be great, it is hard controlling the speed and the bumps for such a steep and long downhill that takes the route to sea level.  There were great views all along the way and the stops for pictures helped to break up the downhill into “bite-sized” chunks.  The geological changes would make this a geologist’s dream.

At 37 mi, I took a right turn onto Scotty’s Castle Road where after ½ mi we had a lunch stop.  After lunch, the ride was mostly downhill for about 8 mi to Stovepipe Wells Village where we will be staying for two nights.  Here are a couple of view of the grounds.

 Dinner was at 6 pm in the Toll Road Restaurant.  Most of the riders are in these pictures from the dinner.

Tom (guide), Rob, Lucy, Wendy, Greg (guide), Janice, Tim

Diedra and Karen

Kelli and Traci