After our helicopter tour in the Grand Canyon we drove for a few hours towards the Hoover dam and stayed at the Willow Springs campground on the Colorado River, about 12 miles below the dam. During our drive, we witnessed an amazing fireball meteor! We submitted our observation to the American Meteor Society along with 94 other witnesses. A couple cameras caught the event as well.
The crowd sourced details can be viewed here: https://fireball.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2018/2009
The crowd sourced details can be viewed here: https://fireball.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2018/2009
This route shows about 24 hours of travel. Leaving the Grand Canyon, camping below the hoover dam, making a stop at Death Valley National Park, and then heading into Yosemite National Park by the evening.
The weather (heat) at Willow Beach was awful, it was night time but only got down to 95°F or something ridiculous. We were thankful for the RV electric hookups because the AC was crucial! It was still hot when we got up in the morning but we took a brief look at the scenic river. Looks pretty good in the photos!
Our next quick stop was at the Hoover Dam! As sad as it is to see the river and environment severely strangled and manipulated it's still breathtaking and inspiring to witness the engineering achievements of the post-depression public works programs.
First stop at Death Valley NP was Zabriskie Point. I won't pretend to know the geology or history of this area because we didn't spend much time at each stop but it is a really cool landscape to see.
117°F is so hot. We checked in at the visitor center and then made our way to the Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America at 282 Ft. below sea level. Everywhere in the park basically felt like someone blasting a giant hair dryer at you. It's like you can feel all of the moisture evaporate from your body. I guess this is where we can go to practice and prepare for a global warming climate catastrophe. With all that heat, water is that last thing you're expecting to see at the lowest point in the basin but sure enough it's there. This planet is wild.
We turned around after checking out the Badwater Basin and swung through the Artist's Pallet loop on the way back. There were so many beautiful colors. It's amazing how beautiful, yet barren, Death Valley is.
Death Valley really solidified its name on the way out. We didn't know what lied ahead of us on our route to leave Death Valley to the West (we came in on the East). Thankfully the Travato RV was still as new as can be because the main 17 mile ascent out of the valley was incredibly demanding on the vehicle. It was so consistently sloped that it had an illusion that we were driving on a flat road. The engine and RPM said otherwise. I drove slow but the combination of the heat and slope made for a brutal slog. It made me wonder what would happen if we broke down and became stranded in such an unforgiving environment. Fortunately those fears never came to fruition and we survived Death Valley.
From there we made it to the Owens Valley, the infamous region of the California Water Wars, and drove into Yosemite National Park on Tioga Rd in the evening. We captured a late afternoon view of Half Dome from Olmstead Point.
From there we made it to the Owens Valley, the infamous region of the California Water Wars, and drove into Yosemite National Park on Tioga Rd in the evening. We captured a late afternoon view of Half Dome from Olmstead Point.