Death Valley Daze Revisited

We first visited Death Valley National Park in 2014, our first full year of full-time RVing.  We fell in love with the place--the vast distances, the stark mountains, the colorful and weird rock formations, the remote dirt roads, the dark skies and the sense of an indifference to human beings and their comfort. Last year was a so-called super-bloom of wildflowers in Death Valley, an event that happens about once a decade. We were hoping to get a repeat of that in this wet year, but in that we were disappointed. Secondarily I was hoping to photograph the full moon on the Mesquite Springs sand dunes, and that did happen as planned.
Camping in Death Valley is rough, with most campgrounds being exposed gravel parking lots without any amenities.  There is a real sense of peace, though, being in the middle of the desert with dunes and sun-baked sand and sparse vegetation as far as the eye can see.  'Course, we also had access to swimming polls at both Stovepipe Wells and Furnace Creek, so there was an aspect of a mini-vacation while camping here.  We'd hike or explore by truck in the morning, come home to eat lunch and head to the pool in the heat of the day. And it did reach 95 degrees most days we were in the valley, so the pools were welcome relief.
We repeated some favorite hikes like Mosaic Canyon and the Mesquite Dunes, and explored some new areas like the Chloride City mine site and Desolation Canyon. We also visited the Devil's Golf Course and the Badwater salt flats by the full moon for some amazing views.  Enjoy some highlight photos below and check out the Outdoor Project adventures I published while there.

https://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/california/special-destinations/chloride-city
https://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/california/hikes/desolation-canyon-hike
https://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/california/special-destinations/20-mule-team-canyon
https://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/california/hikes/badlands-loop-hike

Huge dune in Death Valley

Late day sun on the dunes

Mesquite dunes at sunset

The day before the actual full moon is the best time to photograph it at sunset

Full moon rising at sunset

Full moon rising over the dunes

Dunes at sunrise

The lonely path of a landscape photographer

The full moon setting at sunrise, Mesquite Dunes

The Devil's Golf Course by moonlight

Desolation Canyon

Badwater salt flats by the full moon light

The Devil's Golf Course by the light of the full moon

20 Mule Team Canyon

20 Mule Team Canyon

20 Mule Team Canyon

Sunrise on on Zabriskie Point

Sunrise from Zabriskie Point

Zabriskie Point badlands

Gower Gulch from the Badlands Trail

Joshua Tree, Our Favorite Desert Park

Well I guess we've been having too much fun to update in the blog :-/

We HAVE been having fun since we reached the desert and started drying out from the months spent between the Oregon coast and San Francisco this past rainy winter.  After spending a couple nights in Bakersfield and seeing Buck Owens' club ...

Buck Owens' custom convertible behind the bar at the Chrystal Palace

 ... we headed for Joshua Tree National Park.

We visited Joshua Tree for the first time back in 2014 and really loved the park. We had a favorite campground and really hoped we could find a spot there this year.  Unfortunately we had to spend a night in an overflow camping area because Belle Campground was full, but the next morning we got a great spot there.

Joshua Tree is a unique place and a photographer's dream.  Everywhere you look there are huge vistas, weird-shaped Joshua Trees and piles of boulders looking as though a giant child had just dumped them out on the floor. The lighting is magical and the park is so huge the other visitors are not in the way.

We did some great hikes, including one to an abandoned mine site that has a stone shelter built in the 1890s that still has original artifacts in it. We hiked through the most beautiful desert scenery and scrambled up ravines full of boulders. There are also dirt roads to explore that lead far out in the desert where the solitude is incredible. Check out these Outdoor Project adventures that I published from here:

https://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/california/hikes/split-rock-loop-hike

https://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/california/hikes/eagle-cliff-mine-hike

https://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/california/special-destinations/geology-tour-road

https://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/california/special-destinations/keys-ranch

Here are some photo highlights:

Joshua Tree with rocks

Joshua Tree with sunset

The geology tour road at Joshua Tree NP

Historic Keys Ranch--a homesteading family lived here for decades

Original artifacts at the Eagle Cliff mine site

View from Eureka Peak (second-highest in the park) across to Mt. San Jacinto (second-highest in So. Calif.

A Quick Review of 2016

Click here for more 2016 photo highlights!

Greetings friends and family!

The second most frequent question we get asked is “Where the heck are you guys now?” As 2017 starts, we are nestled on a bluff above the Pacific just 10 miles south of San Francisco, “camped” in what is essentially an RV parking lot, which is marvelously situated to visit our sons in SF and other friends and family in the Bay Area. We have another month here before we take off for 2017 adventures, so we thought we’d update folks on the highlights of 2016 and plans for 2017.

First, the bad. We lost my brother Ron this year at 81 and spent a few days in Utah in June for the funeral. We also lost our dear neice Julie to cancer several decades before her time. They will be sorely missed.

Top ten 2016 travel highlights (in no particular order):

1. The Watershed Music Festival on the Columbia Gorge in Washington. Keith Urban and many other country acts in one of the most spectacular music venues in the country. Also lots of drunk 20-somethings partying all night.

View of the stage at the Watershed Festival, Columbia River Gorge in the background

2. The many waterfalls of the Columbia Gorge in Oregon.

Multnoma Falls in the Columbia Gorge

3. Mt. Ranier National Park. We only had a day to tour this beautiful park, but we will definitely return.

Mt Ranier from Ledge Lake

Christine Falls in Mt Ranier National Park

4. Crater Lake National Park. A scenic wonder! Denis did a night photography workshop here and we camped on beautiful Diamond Lake.

Ancient white pine on the shore of Crater Lake...and a galaxy

5. Lava Beds National Monument near Mt. Lassen. Exploring lava caves and hiking through the rugged flows.

Exploring a lava cave at Lava Beds National Monument

6. Bend, Oregon and the eastern Cascades. Wonderful alpine lakes and snow-covered peaks. Lynnae made good use of her Oregon fishing license here.

South Sister from Sparks Lake

7. Mt. St. Helens. We spent a week exploring this amazing place and seeing exhibits of first-hand accounts from the time of the eruption.

Mt. St. Helens

8. The Lakes Basin area of the northern Sierras. This wonderful mountain area lacks the crowds of Lake Tahoe and Yosemite and feels like the Sierras of 50 years ago.

Sardine Lake

9. Jalama Beach and Morro Bay. Two of our favorite places on the central California coast. Jeff came down to visit us at Jalama.

Morro Bay Harbor by kayak

The campground at Jalama Beach

10. Last, but certainly not least, the Oregon coast. We dedicated two full months to wandering down the coast from Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River to the California border. It was a marvelous experience with lots of hiking on the scenic coast and exploring coastal towns and lighthouses. Tucker really learned to understand what "let's go to the beach" means! Andrew, our long lost nephew, spent a few days with us here.

The wreck of the Peter Iredale near Astoria

Crabbing on Winchester Bay

Cape Lookout

Solitude on the Oregon coast

For lots more photos from our 2016 travels, visit our 2016 Travel Highlights Album on Google Photos.

Oh, yeah. We also bought a condo in Scotts Valley, California, near Santa Cruz, with an eye to perhaps settling down there some year. In the meantime we are renting it out.

Jeff and Lucas both have significant others and live (for now) in San Francisco. One of the absolute highlights of the year was Jeff’s surprise proposal and engagement party for Katie. We are thrilled to have her as part of our family.  Lucas and his sweetie, Jenna, have big plans to travel internationally this year and then start a unique real estate and media company in Tampa, Florida. (Jenna's current website: Jenna Sue Design)

Our 2017 plan is to spend the spring in Death Valley, Joshua Tree National Park, Arizona and Utah, then summer and fall in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho exploring Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks as well as many lesser-traveled mountain areas. We plan to be back in the Bay Area by Thanksgiving.

We always love getting visitors, so check out our travel calendar and come stay with us: LeBlanc Itinerary

The Heart of San Francisco

The Barbary Coast Trail is an urban walking route that highlights some of the best of San Francisco and would be an excellent half-day immersion experience for visitors to “the City”. Lynnae lived in San Francisco for several years and even she saw places she had never seen before. The trail is about 4 miles long and hits many highlights of the city including Fisherman’s Wharf, the cable cars, Girardelli Square, Pier 39, Union Square, Chinatown, Coit Tower, North Beach, Jackson Square, views of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge, the Transamerica Pyramid, and the Old Mint. 

Barbary Coast Trail

On New Years Day we took BART up to the Powell St. station and grabbed a cable car to the end of the Powell/Hyde line near Girardelli Square. From here it was easy to follow the bronze markers in the sidewalk all the way back to where we started. Along the way we wandered the back alleys of Chinatown and the old landmarks of North Beach. The crowds around the waterfront made for great people-watching but we were glad to leave all that and head south to Telegraph Hill and the wonderful neighborhoods that form the heart of San Francisco. Some photo hightlights: