Death Valley and environs

I'm considering a solo ride from the Bay Area to Death Valley and
thereabouts over the Thanksgiving holiday. I seem to be drawn to the
desert again, and will probably take the Bakersfield route to avoid
mountain passes. I am not averse to turning south for a brief jaunt
into Mexico territory, if feasible. I would appreciate
route/sight/comfort/survival suggestions.

Khaled

 

Seems to me, the passes are 'closed' this time of year. Have a nice trip.

--
muddy

Testing the limits of gravity since 1947.

icq - 219328929

 

a real nice route (for me, anyways) is to go down to Hollister, down 25 to
198 to coalinga, then down 33 to 46 through Wasco to Famoso Rd and up and
over Greenhorn Summit (155) if its open. it often is unless its recently
snowed. 155 takes you to Lake Isabella, go around the north side of the
lake, then take 178 over Walker Pass (almost always open) to Ridgecrest
and on through Trona to Emigrant Gap and into Death Valley...

its a nice day ride, we're going in January...

-jrp

 

And by the way, Pashnit.com, which is usually a good resource for these
things, doesn't seem to have anything on this destination.

Khaled

 

Bakersfield to Death Valley - Highway 155-178

From Bakersfield Highway 178 all the way through the Panamint Mountain range
to Death Valley. Be sure to take in the unbelievable views at the passes as
before you head down into the valleys. The road between Bakersfield and
Ridgecrestis a total blast if love huge wide sweeping turns. These are the
acme! .....Alternate route is from Visilia via the town of Woody on route
155. Either way you can't go wrong. Be sure to go in the Winter or Spring as
the summer is way too hot ( I am not kidding!) Bring water and make sure you
top off with gas when you can.

 

Regarding places to stay enroute, there is a fairly new (couple of years
old) small motel called the "Bunk House" a mile south of Glennville with a
cool biker type pizza/steakhouse (Hussano's) about 50 yards away. Located
in rolling hills and oaks along Hwy. 155 before going over the thick
pine-tree forested summit and down to Lake Isabella. Hwy. 155 can be a
nightmare on a bike if Cal-Trans sands the road. They do it heaviest on the
west side before the summit (think of a school sandbox). I spun a car out
there, nice 360 at about 5-10 mph) and helped pick up a flopped a bike once
on it. Be careful! Down the west side it isn't sanded so bad but it is
steep and I watched some lady in a van run off the road and hit a parked car
due to brake fade.
Kernville at the north end of Lake Isabella is a favorite biker hangout.
Many bikes can be seen in front of all the motels in the area and the BMW
crowd from LA hangs out there. All kinds of restaurants and pizza places.
Ridgecrest is priced a little high and is a big town for a desert community.
Trona is a pit. Gas, food, and that's about it. You can get gas at
Stovepipe Wells and Furnace Creek in Death Valley. There are two places to
stay at Furnace Creek if you don't camp. One is high, maybe $300-400 a
night, other is more moderate at around $100 or so. I find Park lodging to
be a bit pricey overall.
Death Valley is nice this time of year, but it can get cold once the sun
sets. Mountain passes are also cold (esp. Hwy 155) with night-time temps
running around 20's now. Hwy. 155 is open but mildly sanded now due to ice,
not snow.
There is a neat (very clean too!) bed and breakfast in Randsburg that is
south of Ridgecrest. I stayed there once enroute to Death Valley (about
$75) and it is a neat ghost town to wander around in. Nice place to spend
some time shooting and looking at the old mining junk all around the place.
Owner's spin some historical stories too over evening bottle of wine. No
gas in town though.
Enjoy your ride.
Bent~

 

That's a given. My trusty Kamelback will serve me well again. Thanks
for the suggestions.
Question is, will I freeze my butt through the mountains before breaking
through to the desert....

Khaled

 

go the highway 25>etc>lake isabella route, stay in kernville, kernville
lodge. right downtown. walk to everything. get gas in trona
yes, it will be cold places, and warmer, if you are lucky, places.

still a nice ride. prez weekend to dv for me.

mendo

 

Days are pleasant enough, but it gets cold when the sun goes down.
I'm writing this from Phoenix, where it is 46F as I type.



Rich, Urban Biker

 

looks like it's a little chilly at night (and will be in the mtns. as well)

general report (looks like it's updated every morning) available at:
http://www.nps.gov/deva/Morning.pdf

Nat'l Weather Srvc forecast linked from http://www.nps.gov/deva/

TONIGHT...CLEAR IN THE EVENING THEN BECOMING PARTLY CLOUDY AFTER MIDNIGHT.
LOWS IN THE MID 30S. NORTH WIND AROUND 10 MPH.
MONDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY... HIGHS IN THE MID 60S... LIGHT WIND
MONDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY... LOWS IN THE UPPER 30S... NORTHWEST WIND
AROUND 10 MPH.
TUESDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY... HIGHS AROUND 70... NORTHWEST WIND AROUND 10 MPH IN
THE MORNING SHIFTING TO THE SOUTHWEST IN THE AFTERNOON.
TUESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR... LOWS IN THE UPPER 30S... NORTHWEST WIND
AROUND 10 MPH.
WEDNESDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY... HIGHS IN THE UPPER 60S
WEDNESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR... LOWS IN THE UPPER 30S
THANKSGIVING DAY...MOSTLY SUNNY... HIGHS IN THE UPPER 60S
THURSDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY... LOWS IN THE UPPER 30S

 

last january, it was cool, but not cold. At sunrise, I passed through
some frosty valleys on 198 near Coalinga. the worst part of the ride was
hitting heavy nasty tule fog from Coalinga all the way to partway up
Famoso Rd. Easy one day ride on my beemer. I left my house in Santa
Cruz around 6am, and rolled into Furnace Creek around 3pm.

Obviously, its winter here, so you should be prepared for rain, fog, and
possibly even a bit of near freezing. I was wearing polyweave thermal
undies, sweatpants and sweatshirt, and firstgear hypertext pants and
jacket, with gortex alpinestar boots and held gloves.

Going home, we took a different route to avoid the central valley tule
fog... We went up US395 past Mammoth Lakes and Mono Lake to Minden, NV,
then came back over carson(?) pass past Kirkwood... It was bitterly cold
past Mammoth... I had to buy some cheap snow gloves from a gas station
minimart at Lone Pine or I wouldn't have made it. my companions were
toasty, they had Gerbling electric liners and gloves on (

 

yeah, it was real sandy last january near the top... I took it easy,
cornered gingerly, and had no problems on my beemer with metzler z4 street
tires... YMMV. Even in the summer, there can be sand on some of the
turns around woody and glenville at the lower elevations, on an october
ride I watched the K1200RS infront of me lowside on this stuff.

 

I slid the front of my cycle on that road too coming down from the top
towards Glennville. I tried to pull over and turn around but it is
pointless as the stuff is like ball bearings on hard Dunlaps. Once
committed, you're pretty much stuck.
I stopped along this road to take some pictures in early spring a couple of
years ago. It was really green and the wildflowers were out. I promptly
fell on my butt before I knew what happened. I was wearing leather-bottomed
cruiser boots without much in the way of lugs but they were oil-resistant
(big wow!). Seems like CalTrans spreads all the sand they can find from the
summit down under the shadiest trees. It'll get your attention real quick
in some of the sharper turns on a bike.
I noticed that on the Lake Isabella side the sand piles up along the center
line and some diesel truck adds to the problem spilling diesel as he winds
his way up the hill to fill propane tanks at the mountain cabins on top.
Caution is more than advised. May want to call the CalTrans yard in
Glennville and see what damage they've done to the road before crossing it
in winter.

Mack

 

Yikes! That's my ride too. But since my low-side incident, and helpful
advice from this NG, I've learned to drop tire pressure to below the
manufacturer's recommendations. I now keep the rear at about 36 PSI (42
is recommended). That seems to have helped, although all bets are off
in sand and gravel.
Khaled

 

huh. I keep my tires set quite hard on my R1100RS, 42 rear and 38-39
front... my tires wear much more evenly, and the BMW 3-spoke rims are
notoriously soft, higher pressure helps protect from a rim bender. I've
had no trouble with traction as long as I approach sand with a bit of
caution, OTOH, the R1100 is lighter and has a lower center of gravity than
the K12, this may help with stability, I dunno.

 

I drove Phoenix-San Diego today, with a scenic detour: CA 78 from
Westmoreland to Ramona. Granted I was on 4 wheels, but the route felt
like it would have been great fun on two. I'd been as far as the
Scissors Crossing before, but was really blown away by the hilly
desert that runs between there and the Imperial County line as well as
the sandy flats that allow one to go quite fast (posted limit was 65
on a two-lane road, but I encountered only one vehicle going westbound
in the whole 10 mile stretch) from there to the junction with 86.

It's a great road whether you want to test your limits or sightsee.



R, UB