08/11 Drive to Death Valley

Today we have a really long stage ahead of us. 300 miles through Yosemite via Tioga Road and Route 395 to Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park.

Although we are on the road for more than 6 hours, the drive is anything but boring. First, we go over the Tioga Pass at over 3000 meters above sea level and then down towards Mono Lake. We pass through practically all vegetation types. First, we have the wooded Yosemite and the further we go through the straight roads into deeper areas, the more barren it becomes and we see nothing but vast land with just a few cacti and lots of prairie grass.

On the descent from Tioga Pass, we even encounter a short thunderstorm, which almost feels like hitting the jackpot, as only 3% of the annual precipitation falls here in the summer months.

On the 300-mile drive, there is hardly any civilization. We pass through 2 small towns (Bishop and Lone Pine), apparently not many people want to live here.

About 100 miles before Death Valley, we want to take a detour to Cerro Gordo Ghost Town, one of the numerous remnants from the 19th century gold rush. However, the approach turns out to be a true adventure. A wild gravel road leads to the town high up on the mountain. It meanders for 6 miles, sometimes over rugged rocks, with no possibility of passing or turning back along the mountain. We imagined it differently. Dani is already getting nervous, 'Just don't have a breakdown!' - admittedly, that would be a very unpleasant situation here. But finally an adventure away from the tourist masses! After half an hour of driving, we finally arrive at the top and meet a visibly delighted volunteer (he probably doesn't see people often), who explains a little bit about the dilapidated huts there. The Cerro Gordo mine was once the largest silver mine in California. We are allowed to look around and when we ask if it's free (so far, we have been charged for every small attraction), he says only 'The road is price enough,' of course, if the car breaks down later, it was an expensive tour. When saying goodbye, he tells us to definitely follow his YouTube channel. So please: GhostTownLiving

He calls after us 'Have a safe descent!' Dani can't watch (she covers her eyes). With the huge SUV (at least it has all-wheel drive), we go down more or less smoothly, but just to be safe, we make two intermediate stops to save the brakes. Everything goes well, we continue to drive down the straight roads into Death Valley. The temperature rises, when we arrive at the 'Ranch in Death Valley,' the thermometer shows 43°C. It is already relatively late (7:30 pm), but we still have to wait for our room. In the meantime, we eat at the buffet (by the way, bad food - and since we've been here, we haven't been accustomed to culinary delights).

At 9 pm, we finally check into our room and admire the night sky once again. It's amazing how many stars you can see when there is zero light pollution.