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Death Valley, April 2018: Base Camp ::: Ride 1 ::: Ride 2 ::: Ride 3 ::: Ride 4 ::: Ride 5 ::: Laura from France


Death Valley, April 2018: Ride 3: Cottonwood Canyon
20 April 2018

Why do you ride for your money
Tell me why do you ride for short pay
You ain't a'gettin' nowhere
And you're losin' your share
Boy, you must have gone crazy out there
          --- Jerry Jeff
Many years ago, when our son, Ben, was a Boy Scout, his Troop undertook a multi-day backpacking expedition through Cottonwood Canyon in Death Valley. Unfortunately, most of the Scouts and adults were defeated by the combination of distance, terrain, heat, and lack of water, and couldn't hike out on the last day. Ben, his friend Garrett, and two adults conducted a successful forced march back to the vehicles, then drove in to rescue the stranded Troop. I've always been very proud that Ben had enough strength and determination to march out and help rescue the other Scouts.

Why do I bring that up? After yesterday's rides to Badwater and Mustard Canyon, today I plan to pedal the Ogre from Stovepipe Wells to Cottonwood Canyon and back. It's an ambitious plan with 1200 feet of climbing on a 24-mile round trip on rough, sandy roads, and I might need Ben—hundreds of miles away—to rescue me if it all falls apart.


View west from my camp chair.

The wind is still blowing, but the clouds have mostly departed this morning, finally revealing the summit of Telescope Peak. It towers more than 11,000 feet above the valley floor. Still too early in the season to hike to the top, because of deep snow up there.


After consuming my oatmeal and tea, I drove to Stovepipe Wells and unloaded the Ogre at the junction of the road to Cottonwood Canyon.

Not kidding about the wind. It's roaring out of the northwest again, which means I'll mostly have it up my nostrils and down my throat while heading toward Cottonwood.


Surprise! Fresh black pavement on the road to Cottonwood Canyon as I depart Stovepipe Wells!


The pavement only goes a couple hundred yards, ending at the Stovepipe Wells airstrip.

This is not the busiest runway in North America, so I feel fairly comfortable parking the Ogre here while I snap a photo.


Beyond the airstrip, no more pavement.

From here, it's about twelve miles to Cottonwood Canyon on a road designated "high-clearance four-wheel-drive." Note the jeep icon on the sign.

This would be a challenge for me and the Ogre under any circumstance, even more so in this wind. At least there will be no traffic to contend with.


Looking up the valley, the wind is blowing huge clouds of dust in this direction. It's not a sandstorm, but the fine dust particles get into everything and adhere to the thick layer of sunscreen on my face.

Yes, after having two porkchop-sized melanomas scooped out of my face last month, it's suddenly easier to remember to apply sunscreen. Maybe an extra coating of dust will help protect my tender epidermis from nasty solar radiation.


Looking west toward my destination in the mountains, the dust cloud doesn't seem as bad.


A slightly ambiguous sign.

It originally read "Deep sand 17 miles ahead." That wouldn't concern me, because I'm not going that far. However, the "17 miles" bit has been painted over.

So where does the deep sand begin?


It didn't take me long to find out. The sand immediately became deeper and deeper, with no solid crown or shoulders.


I had already let as much air out of the Ogre's wide tires as I dared. Even so, I kept bogging in the soft sand—the wind in my face didn't help matters—and sometimes ground to a complete halt. When that happened, I needed to push ahead, still straddling the top tube, until I found a spot firm enough to start pedaling again.

Here you can see my bootprints on each side of my tire tracks.


Ogre down!

Despite stalling repeatedly in deepening sand, I managed to avoid falling over. Eventually, however, I toppled.

No damage to Ogre or Old Grumble-Face. I brushed off as much sand as I could, pushed ahead a bit, and mounted up again.


The road didn't improve.

My forward progress slowed to a crawl, repeatedly stalling, pushing, remounting, and stalling again.

Note billowing dust in the distance.


Ultimately, I simply couldn't pedal the Ogre through the sand any farther. I didn't want to give up, so I decided to push the bike for at least a half mile to see if conditions would get any better. Nope. If anything, the sand became deeper.

About three miles up the road, I surrendered. There was no way I could make it to Cottonwood Canyon on such a sandy road. I turned around and made my way back toward Stovepipe Wells, somewhat aided by what suddenly became a tailwind. At least I didn't need Ben to come and rescue me.

Despite this defeat, I wasn't done for the day. I already had Plan B (and about two pounds of sand) in my hip pocket. My afternoon ride couldn't be more difficult than this, could it?



Summary

Date: 20 April 2018
Time: 9:00 - 10:30
Weather: 80-85° F, mostly sunny, very windy
Route: Stovepipe Wells toward Cottonwood Canyon and back
Distance: 6 miles
Bike: Surly Ogre
Riders: Solo

Death Valley, April 2018: Base Camp ::: Ride 1 ::: Ride 2 ::: Ride 3 ::: Ride 4 ::: Ride 5 ::: Laura from France



Comments? Questions? Suggestions? I'd like to hear from you.

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