The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

Death Valley - Hike, Bike, and Explore

February 25th to March 4th

Ride Director: Warner Griswold
Ride Co-Director: Garry Clifton
Report by: Charlie Schultz

Twenty-six hearty BACer’s braved snow, ice, and rain to travel to Death Valley to participate in a fixed-base tour of the National Park. (If we need a little extra income, we are well qualified to work as USPS mail deliverers. 😊)

This tour was led by Warner Griswold and Garry Clifton. They did a great job of planning, but the series of “atmospheric rivers” that slammed the California Sierras messed with us too. We arrived at the Ranch at Furnace Creek , our base for the week, to find that the electrical power was out throughout the whole Park, and that the lower entrance to our lodging building was sandbagged to prevent water intrusion.

We moved into our rooms, had our first outdoor happy hour of the tour, and postponed our group dinner due to the restaurants being closed because of the power outage. The Store at the complex had a generator going, so we loaded up on pre-made salads and sandwiches, and had romantic, headlamp lighted, dinners in our respective rooms.

Sunday morning the power was still out. But the sun was shining, so we did our first ride to Badwater (the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level) and back via Artist’s Palette. Power had been restored by the time we returned, so we were able to have our group dinner at The Saloon.

The rest of the week didn’t go as planned. Snow and cold temps curtailed our Panamint Springs and Dante’s Point rides, and washed-out roads forced a cancellation of our Titus Canyon jeep excursion.

But BACer’s are a resourceful bunch. Groups and couples started doing their own activities. We’d share what we had done at our happy hours, which collectively gave us ideas for other things to do.

 We had a fun, beautiful group hike through Golden Canyon, Zabriskie Point, and Gower Canyon followed by a windy happy hour set up on the lee side of our lodging building.

Another day some of us drove south of Badwater and hiked Sidewinder Canyon. But someone pissed off Mother Nature that day. As we neared the head of the canyon, the temperature dropped and the wind picked up. We hiked out of the canyon with a 20-25 mph steady headwind! (The middle word is Adventure, you know.) It rained again in Furnace Creek that day, and, yes, the sandbags were back in place.

We had another power outage on Thursday. This time it was a planned shutdown for power system repairs, which took longer than planned. We got the power back at 7:00 pm, after the thoughtful hotel staff had lit our hallways with green glow-stick lights.

After Friday’s hikes and bike outings, we had our final group dinner at The Inn.

Once again, BAC members gathered to be active, meet with old friends and make new ones.

A big Thank You to Warner and Garry for leading this trip. Weather and road conditions didn’t work out as planned, but it was a trip that will be remembered as fun and exciting.