We had just finished our stay in Death Valley and were leaving the place on our way home on the Christmas day. It was extremely windy and quite a bit of dust was getting blown around.
We were going to drive from Furnace Creek to Rhyolite, the largest “ghost town” still standing in the Death Valley area on the Nevada side of the border. The winds were quite strong – the note I read in the visitor center said gusts up to 50 mph! On top of it, lot of sand and dust was getting blown around. As if driving the straight roads below sea level for miles together wasn’t good enough, the dust storm produced a haze around us that was surreal… You notice that I am refraining from using the term sand storm – as interesting the dust storm was, it was no where close to the sand storms I had experienced in Pilani during my school days in 1980s. It was bright, sunny and a warm 68 ºF when we left Furnace Creek.
The road to Rhyolite took us over the Daylight Pass, about 4000 sq. ft. above the sea level. It was a short 45 minute ride, but by the time we reached Rhyolite, it was 42 ºF, cold and the winds that were blowing up the dust in Death Valley was making us shiver! On top of it, there were stretches of road where we were the only vehicle as long as our eyes could see.
On a whim, we decided to drive by Las Vegas, even if only for couple of hours before heading for our night stay at Barstow, CA. The moment we entered Las Vegas, it was like a slap in the face… from miles and miles of solitude, we had to crawl in the strip amidst bumper to bumper traffic! When Jaya & I hiked the Golden Canyon earlier in the day, we were the only two people in the canyon for couple of hours with absolute peace and quiet. In contrast, making our way through the crowded gaming area in Circus Circus, we had to avoid a human every step of the way!
Our early night drive from Las Vegas to Barstow took us over the Mountain Pass. It was raining from the time we left Las Vegas. By the time we had reached the top of the pass, the precipitation had turned into freezing rain with occasional flurries and the outside temperature was reading 33 ºF.
From the solitude of Golden Canyon to the crowds of Las Vegas… from the dust storm in Death Valley to the freezing rain later in the night… 25th December 2008 was a day like no other.
We were going to drive from Furnace Creek to Rhyolite, the largest “ghost town” still standing in the Death Valley area on the Nevada side of the border. The winds were quite strong – the note I read in the visitor center said gusts up to 50 mph! On top of it, lot of sand and dust was getting blown around. As if driving the straight roads below sea level for miles together wasn’t good enough, the dust storm produced a haze around us that was surreal… You notice that I am refraining from using the term sand storm – as interesting the dust storm was, it was no where close to the sand storms I had experienced in Pilani during my school days in 1980s. It was bright, sunny and a warm 68 ºF when we left Furnace Creek.
The road to Rhyolite took us over the Daylight Pass, about 4000 sq. ft. above the sea level. It was a short 45 minute ride, but by the time we reached Rhyolite, it was 42 ºF, cold and the winds that were blowing up the dust in Death Valley was making us shiver! On top of it, there were stretches of road where we were the only vehicle as long as our eyes could see.
On a whim, we decided to drive by Las Vegas, even if only for couple of hours before heading for our night stay at Barstow, CA. The moment we entered Las Vegas, it was like a slap in the face… from miles and miles of solitude, we had to crawl in the strip amidst bumper to bumper traffic! When Jaya & I hiked the Golden Canyon earlier in the day, we were the only two people in the canyon for couple of hours with absolute peace and quiet. In contrast, making our way through the crowded gaming area in Circus Circus, we had to avoid a human every step of the way!
Our early night drive from Las Vegas to Barstow took us over the Mountain Pass. It was raining from the time we left Las Vegas. By the time we had reached the top of the pass, the precipitation had turned into freezing rain with occasional flurries and the outside temperature was reading 33 ºF.
From the solitude of Golden Canyon to the crowds of Las Vegas… from the dust storm in Death Valley to the freezing rain later in the night… 25th December 2008 was a day like no other.
