Day 6: To Shoshone

March 30, 2011

The temperature was a pleasant 55F (13C) at dawn. It was windy all night but blowing sand wasn't an issue.

After breakfast I left the campsite and went a mile away to see the Tecopa "Desert Pond" hot spring which is in the middle of the desert on unfenced government-owned land. The hot water source is a well, with hot water flowing out of a 1 inch diameter hose. That's a small flow for an 8x8 foot tub. Consequently the tub was only 98F (37C) on a windy 80F (27C) morning. It would be a bit warmer on a calmer day. I was impressed that local caretakers keep the tub very clean. It was a nice soak, but not quite hot enough.

Tecopa Desert Pond was 98F (37C) on a windy 80F (27C) morning.

My next stop is a couple miles away at Tecopa hot creek. The 103.5F (40C) source spring is 200 yards from highway 127. The hot creek is 10 feet wide, 2 feet deep, and flows 300 yards into a marsh on the other side of the road where the water evaporates. It's interesting to look at, but silt in the bottom of the creek is very deep. When walking in the creek I sometimes sunk knee-deep in the muck. The water is clear and odorless. I soaked 50 feet downstream from the source where the temperature was 102F. With sand dunes nearby it was no surprise that the wind stirred up a bit of sand.

Tecopa Hot Creek. The source is 103.5F (40C).

After visiting the hot creek I went back to the campground and packed up my stuff to head back to Shoshone. I had a very strong headwind backtracking to Shoshone. It took more than an hour to go 9 gently uphill miles.

Lake Tecopa has been dry since the last ice age ended.

Highway 127 crossing an alkali flat near Tecopa.

In Shoshone I got a campsite at the campground/trailer park. My site was in the shade of two cottonwood trees, the only grassy campsite on this tour. $18.

Shoshone was the only place on this tour where I camped on grass.

I had lunch at the cafe and used the Wi-Fi from the museum next door. I intended to ride to Furnace Creek tomorrow, but the weather forecast predicts that Furnace Creek will have 100F (38C) temperatures the next two days. Even worse, I would have a 30 mph headwind if I go to Furnace Creek tomorrow. I had no desire to bike through Death Valley in that heat and then camp on gravel that baked in the sun all day. So I reluctantly decided to wait 2 days in Shoshone. Here it will only be 90F (32C) and I have shade, grass, and a swimming pool.

The warm spring swimming pool is shared by the motel and campground.

Death Valley High School is 65 miles away from Death Valley in the Amargosa Valley. The school has 3 school buses. I suspect the only air-conditioned bus goes to Death Valley.

I didn't do much during the two days I waited in Shoshone. Mostly I just sat in the shade reading old National Geographic Traveler magazines from the campground's library. March 31 had a high of 90F (32C). April 1 had a high of 93F (34C), but it didn't seem hotter because I'm adapting to the heat. Furnace Creek had a high of 102F (39C) both days.

Only about 50 people live in Shoshone, so I could hardly describe it as a town. Oasis is a better term. It has a gas station, store, cafe, motel, and campground. All the businesses are owned by the granddaughter of Charles Brown who founded pretty much everything in town. The town exists because of a huge warm spring that once watered locomotives on the Tonopah and Tidewater railroad. Huge Tamarisk trees provide great shade but consume vast quantities of water. The high school and campground have large expanses of irrigated grass.

I swam several times at the warm spring swimming pool shared by the motel and campground. The water flowing in was 95F (35C) and the pool was 90F (32C). Pretty nice. But overall I had a very boring 2.5 days there. There is no Verizon cell phone service and the Wi-Fi at the museum is too slow for Internet phone calls. The store has a disappointing food selection considering its size. The cafe had extremely slow service, but it was a good way to kill time and get a bit of air conditioning.

I didn't bike at all on March 31 and April 1. I will be VERY well rested when I pedal to Furnace Creek tomorrow.

If I had known about the weather forecast when I was in Tecopa I would have stayed there a second night and detoured 5 miles further south to tour the China Ranch Date Farm. Instead, I just bought a loaf of their date nut bread at the store in Shoshone.

Distance: 13.8 mi. (22 km)
Climbing: 522 ft. (158 m)
Average Speed: 7.3 mph (11.7 km/h)
Maximum Speed: 19 mph (30 km/h)

Today's ride: 14 miles (23 km)
Total: 259 miles (417 km)

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