March 29, 2011
Day 5: To Tecopa via Death Valley Junction
65F (18C) at dawn. MUCH warmer than the previous night. Fortunately the Texas Spring campground has good early morning shade, so the sun didn't start beating down until just before I left camp at 8:15.
Today I go around the the north end of the Black mountains and then cross a gap between the Greenwater range and the Funeral mountains. The summit is 3050 feet (925 m) elevation. Not extremely high, but I start below sea level.
My first tourist stop was at Zabriskie Point, 5 miles from Furnace Creek. The parking lot is close to the road and a paved trail goes 1/4 mile up a hill to a view of alluvial fans, Panamint mountains, and Death Valley 1000 feet (300 m) below. The view is best in the morning, the earlier the better.
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Two miles farther up the road I turned right onto the unpaved "20 Mule Team road". This awesome 2.9 mile scenic loop winds among the alluvial fans. Mostly in the borax-rich yellow zone. With only one lane and no shoulder it is very intimate. Almost like being on a hiking trail. The dirt road is smooth and not too steep. Highly recommended.
Back on highway 190 I continued the monotonous straight climb to an unmarked summit. There were some nice flowers along the roadside. It wasn't super hot, gaining elevation as the day warmed up.
Near the summit is the turnoff to Dante's view which is a popular day ride destination for advanced road cyclists. It's quite an accomplishment to pedal from Furnace Creek to Dante's View and look down on Death Valley from 5700 feet elevation.
After the summit is a gradual descent to Death Valley Junction in the Amargosa Valley. It's a surreal place. There's no town, not even a gas station. But there is a very large courtyard motel with an opera house at one end and a cafe at the other end. I had a late lunch in the cafe, glad that it was open. It was closed when I passed through several years ago.
At Death Valley Junction I turned south on highway 127 towards Shoshone. Traffic was light. It's a road to nowhere. Mostly flat, parallel to the dry Amargosa river. Into the wind.
After 25 miles (40 km) I passed through the oasis of Shoshone. This is where most Death Valley loop cyclists spend the night, but I stocked up at the store and continued another 9 miles (14 km) south to see several hot springs near Tecopa. I had a very strong headwind for the last few miles.
The landscape changes dramatically near Tecopa. Many strange hill formations, and the flat valley is mostly alkali flats which have white mineral deposits like salt flats, but the minerals are alkaline instead of acidic. Nothing grows in salt flats, but plants do grow in alkali flats.
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At sunset I arrived at the county-owned Tecopa Hot Springs campground. I got a $7 tent site with shade but no grass. The water is unsafe to drink (arsenic), so I bought a gallon of bottled water for $2. If I had known that I could have filled my water jugs for free in Shoshone.
Across the street from my campsite is the county-owned hot spring bath house which has the only showers. Runoff from the hot spring irrigates the trees in the campground. I had a hot spring shower and soaked for a short time in the bath house. Both soaking pools are too hot for my taste, and the enclosed concrete soaking area has no charm or view whatsoever. The bath house is run like a Japanese Onsen with gender segregated bath houses, communal baths (shower first!), and clothing prohibited in the hot pools. Most customers were elderly Japanese-American men.
I had planned to stay 2 nights at Tecopa to spend time exploring the hot springs in the area. But the lack of free drinking water and the general ugliness of the area convinced me to stay only one night.
Today was a long strenuous travel day. There were great views at Zabriskie Point and the 20 Mule Team road, but most of the day's route was kind of boring. The sudden change in scenery near Tecopa was interesting.
Distance: 71.1 mi. (114 km)
Climbing: 3664 ft. (1110 m)
Average Speed: 9.5 mph (15.2 km/h)
Maximum Speed: 26.5 mph (42.4 km/h)
Today's ride: 71 miles (114 km)
Total: 245 miles (394 km)
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