Motorcycle Road Trip, Day 7: Not Dying in Death Valley 

"Decay buys too many beaters" (decay) 09/12/2018 at 14:05 • Filed to: Decay mototrip, Two Wheels Good

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Originally, I’d planned to cross the valley at night and watch the sun rise from the Western side, but that seemed like a waste. Every other national park I’d been through had been impressive enough that it seemed a shame to mostly skip this one for fear of discomfort. I left Beatty around 6, just as the sun was coming up and headed in to the valley.

Overnight low in the area was 93, and it started heating up as soon as the sun came up. When you first cross into the park, you come though an opening in the eastern mountains and start diving down 4000 feet into the desolate landscape.

I’d decided, since I was close by, that it would be be stupid not to at least head to Badwater Basin (the lowest elevation in North America). It was about a 75 mile detour, but I figured I’d still be able to get out of the valley before dangerous heat set in.

The landscapes in the area are unlike anywhere else I’ve been, it’s surrounded by mountains in all directions. The earth is dead and barren, there is barely any vegetation. There aren’t many people either, considering that the morning is the only time one can really explore the park in the summer, I was surprised to only see about a dozen or so other people the entire time.

I made it to Badwater around 8am, it was already over 100 and the sun wasn’t even at a high enough angle to shine directly yet.

There’s actually water at Badwater, a small heavily salinated (hence “bad”water) spring at the area most shielded from the sun’s rays. All the area around it is a sand and salt mix on the ground.

There is a small salt flat at the low point that extends out for miles.

Technically, if you follow this for about 5 miles, you’ll get to the REAL lowest point in North America, but it was only a few feet lower than the sign, and walking out presented some issues...

Yeah, those signs were everywhere in the park...

I only spent about 20 minutes of so at Badwater before booking it back North towards the cooler areas of the park. I stopped briefly at Golden Canyons.

This area is supposed to be one of the more beautiful sights in the park, but getting there is a 4 mile one way hike. That would have put me right in the danger time of day, so I only went up the trail about a half mile. The right time to visit this area is definitely winter. At this point it was 10am and past 105.

I stopped for gas in the aptly named Furnace Creek, this is the place than has recorded the hottest air temperature (134f) and the hottest ground temperature (201f) ever. I took a really quick walk around the visitor center, and one of the park rangers told me I was crazy to be there on a bike in the summer. When I left, the sun was fully out and the thermometer outside was showing 110. I got back on the road I’d intended to take from the beginning. Right away there was a sign “Avoid Overheating: Turn off AC Next 30 Miles”.

Speaking of overheating, for those that haven’t ridden, motorcycling is a constant object lesson in convective heat transfer. When ambient air temperature is below body temperature, the faster you ride, the more heat your body transfers to the environment. However, when air temperature approaches body temperature, the trend reverses. Here in the valley, the faster I rode, the more heat was transferred to me from the air.

Here’s a handy table. It doesn’t go up high enough, but you get the idea. The hottest temperature of the day I saw was 112 indicated in Stovepipe Wells.

There was a surprising amount of really good riding roads going through the Towne Pass area. They look arrow straight on my maps, but in real life that’s not true. There’s great scenery too (I rode through where they filmed Tatooine!), but for obvious reasons, I didn’t stop much for photos with the ever increasing heat.

A little after noon, I arrived at the Father Crowley Overlook on the Western edge of the park.

I’d initially planned to be here for sunrise to beat the heat, but I’m glad I diverted and explored the park a bit. From here, it was a quick jump to the other side of the mountains and out to 395 in California. This is where I saw the Sierra Nevada Mountains for the first time of the trip.

Refreshed by the 20 degree drop in temperatures, I pressed on North, trying to get as close as possible to Yosemite for the next day. I stopped for a coffee in Bishop (and mostly to access some wifi), where I planned out my overnight. I’d hoped I could camp in Yosemite, but it sounded like I wouldn’t have much chance of finding a late notice spot at one of the established campgrounds, so I decided to try a USFS site a little bit south of the park in Mammoth Lake. I got into the town around 4pm, grabbed a beer at the local brewery, and then set up camp for the night.

I was a little worried about the next day, I’d be crossing over Tioga pass. This would be the highest elevation of the whole trip, about 1000 feet higher than the Grand Canyon, and the bike had already been acting up quite a bit at 9000 feet.

Total Miles : 1992

Total Miles for the Day : 289

Highest Elevation : 8300

Lowest Elevation : -282

Killer Piece of Gear : Mesh Jacket, I actually wore gear all day

Best part of the day : Unexpectedly fun roads in the valley

Worst part of the day : Inescapable heat

AestheticsInMotion > Decay buys too many beaters 09/12/2018 at 14:31

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So how did you handle the heat? Any special gear to make it tolerable? Massive water tank on your bike hooked up to a bite valve? Harley-branded sun shade affixed to the Windshield and rear luggage rack? 

Decay buys too many beaters > AestheticsInMotion 09/12/2018 at 14:39

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Just hot weather moto gear. Had a jacket (in the one photo of me) that was basically two layers of nylon mesh on top of each other. It basically feels like riding in a short sleeve shirt. I stopped to put water on my T-shirt every hour or so for the evaporative cooling effect.

Besides that, some well vented shoes and gloves, and drank probably a gallon and a half of water (yes through a bite valve, had a camel back bladder in my duffel bag just behind me)

AestheticsInMotion > Decay buys too many beaters 09/12/2018 at 14:53

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I’m imagining that portion of the t rip in the Miata. Passing out from heat stroke just thinking about it.

Where to next? Taking the T riumph to the peak of Denali? 

Decay buys too many beaters > AestheticsInMotion 09/12/2018 at 14:58

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Hah! I was actually thinking of what I want to do next. Either  a small CC tour of Vietnam or pick up an ADV bike and ride as far south as P anama

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Decay buys too many beaters 09/12/2018 at 15:18

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Death valley on a bike in the summer takes some balls.

Elumerere > Decay buys too many beaters 09/12/2018 at 15:30

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A great read. I’m looking forward to the next chapter.

And yes, Death Valley in early spring is much easier. We walked out during the afternoon onto the salt flats.

Decay buys too many beaters > Elumerere 09/12/2018 at 16:33

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I’d love to go back there and camp near furnace creek, I hear it’s actually quite nice in the middle of winter. 

Decay buys too many beaters > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 09/12/2018 at 16:38

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It wasn’t THAT bad, I barely hallucinated at all. 

M.T. Blake > Decay buys too many beaters 09/12/2018 at 18:02

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Whoa looks epic! Thanks for sharing. Side note: how’d your first picture end up so big on the main page?! Pretty cool!

McMike > Decay buys too many beaters 09/12/2018 at 18:04

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I read that, the part about wearing a jacket when it’s over 100 degrees. I thought it was crazy until I read the science behind it.

Your body will take care of itself inside the jacket.

Decay buys too many beaters > M.T. Blake 09/12/2018 at 18:08

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I’ve been trying to crack that for a while! I have no idea, all of the lead images for posts in this series have had the same resolution, but only three have gone to “Big” mode. 

Decay buys too many beaters > McMike 09/12/2018 at 18:11

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Yep! The couple times on this trip I rode without a J acket actually felt hotter than with one. 

M.T. Blake > Decay buys too many beaters 09/12/2018 at 18:13

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Weird... did you put it at the top of your post before any text? I think it did big for me once when I did that. I usually type before adding any pictures. 

Decay buys too many beaters > M.T. Blake 09/12/2018 at 18:14

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All of the posts have had a little text before the first picture

M.T. Blake > Decay buys too many beaters 09/12/2018 at 18:19

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Interesting. Must be the moderators?

Decay buys too many beaters > M.T. Blake 09/12/2018 at 18:28

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Could be, but I do not think they take a very active role in formatting each post. 

M.T. Blake > Decay buys too many beaters 09/12/2018 at 18:54

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Did you crop the first image?

Decay buys too many beaters > M.T. Blake 09/12/2018 at 18:56

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Nope, all the lead images in my posts are the exact same native resolution 4048 x 3036

M.T. Blake > Decay buys too many beaters 09/12/2018 at 19:08

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Interesting... the one BIG photo I’ve had is native but it was buried inside one of my first posts. Another picture had appeared as the lead but was changed to the native picture by the mods... Next post I do I’ll keep it native and put it at the top and see what we get...

EXPERIMENTATION! ITS FUN KIDS!

M.T. Blake > Decay buys too many beaters 09/12/2018 at 19:23

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Just tried native and first picture... it doesn’t work. The post right above this one on the main page has a small image ~800x500 and it is LARGE.

Decay buys too many beaters > M.T. Blake 09/12/2018 at 19:27

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Yeah, I have no idea. My posts have lead images as first before text, after text, all different filesizes, all the same visible embed settings, and all the same resolution. Whether it comes in big or small seems arbitrary.

M.T. Blake > Decay buys too many beaters 09/12/2018 at 19:30

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I’ll just keep praying to the Mod Gods when I take a great photo that it will show up bigs. Your photo was well deserving of a big display!

McMike > Decay buys too many beaters 09/12/2018 at 21:59

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It’s a hard concept to grasp. I read it here.

https://www.amazon.com/Proficient-Motorcycling-Ultimate-Guide-Riding/dp/1620081199

I have not done any long stints in weather that hot. A few hours in the 90s, an hour or so around 100, etc.. Nothing that I had to worry about.

We’re planning a southern route from San Diego to  Florida next year in May.   Will probably be hot through those first few states.

Decay buys too many beaters > M.T. Blake 09/13/2018 at 00:17

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Thanks! I took a bunch of great photos on the trip, the pixel camera did a surprisingly good job

Decay buys too many beaters > McMike 09/13/2018 at 13:25

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Neat! I’ll grab a copy