VFR Discussion Group -> Santa Barbara to Death Valley

[image: Click for full size]

My girlfriend and I did a ride this weekend from our house in Santa Barbara to Death Valley and back. Turns out it was a bit of a haul for a two day trip. 936 miles total from 9 am Saturday until 10 pm Sunday night. An amazing ride though.

The scenery in California this time of year is amazing. The intense green is starting to turn to the normal golden brown in a lot of the state which makes for some great contrasting colors.
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4279.sized.jpg)
This is on Foxen Canyon Road north of Santa Barbara heading into the wine country.

We started by heading up CA 150 to Foxen Canyon and then Tepusquet Rd heading north toward CA 166. Normally, I would head down to Ojai and go up CA 33 over the pass there, but 33 is still closed due to storm damage. North Santa Barbara County is amazing right now though. Totally green, but lots of bugs.
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4297.sized.jpg)
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4283.sized.jpg)

I'm pretty sure it was johnalex who passed us while I was taking this picture:
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4291.sized.jpg)

Eventually, we headed across the Central Valley towards Bakersfield and headed up CA 178 through the Kern River Gorge. The Sierra foothills are just starting to turn golden with the higher elevations still green. The river looked really enticing as it was starting to get hot.
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4303.sized.jpg)

We headed over Walker Pass into the south end of the Owens Valley then headed through Ridgecrest and up CA 178 toward CA 190 and the entrance to Death Valley. The road was great with very little traffic. I even had enough time to take a nap in the middle of the road.
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4328.sized.jpg)
and this is what it looked like:
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4329.sized.jpg)

We dropped into the valley due west of Death Valley and had some nice twisties before we hit CA 190.
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4332.sized.jpg)

Stopped for gas and talked to some Germans from Stuttgart in a rented RV. They had the only windshield washer squeege for miles so i was glad i knew a bit of German. For these gas prices, you think the station could afford some new window washers.
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4338.sized.jpg)

Then we headed into the valley.
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4340.sized.jpg)
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4343.sized.jpg)

We rode farther down the valley and camped at Texas Springs. It was a nice, mostly tent camp ground.
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4359.sized.jpg)

In the morning, we got some breakfast and headed down the valley toward Badwater stopping at the Devil's Golf Course to check out the salt formations.
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4379.sized.jpg)

Andrea snapped this photo of my bug splattered helmet with a nice reflection.
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4383.sized.jpg)

Finally we got to Badwater. It's the lowest point in the US at -282 ft.
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4392.sized.jpg)

There's still lots of water on the flats from the winter storms. It makes for some really amazing sights and reflections. We took our shoes off and waded into the water. The feeling of walking on salt and mud is pretty unique.
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4403.sized.jpg)
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4407.sized.jpg)

Heading out of the park, we found another great deal on gas!
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4408.sized.jpg)

We stopped at the dunes and hiked around until my feet were burning through my riding boots. We saw a really cool white lizard and lots of tracks from unseen animals.
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4417.sized.jpg)
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4419.sized.jpg)

We headed out of Death Valley across CA 190 toward Olancha. The high mesas were amazingly green especially with the red volcanic rocks.
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4421.sized.jpg)

On the way back into the Owens Valley, it was clear enough to see up the Eastern Sierra. Mt. Whitney was even sticking its head out. After seeing Mt. Whitney, we had seen the lowest and highest point in the cont. US in one day.
(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4427.sized.jpg)
Mt. Whitney (14,494 ft) doesn't look like the highest here. It's actually the non-snow-covered peak to the right of the high one on the left (which is Lone Pine Peak). The high peak on the far right is Mt. Williamson (I think).

After that, we high-tailed it back to Santa Barbara. Had some good food in Santa Maria and made it home at about 10 pm.

(IMG:http://www.offhegoes.net/albums/deathvalleyMC/IMG_4281.sized.jpg)

If you want to see all the pics, they're up on my webpage.

Great pics! Thanks for sharing... :thumbsup: Sounds like you had a blast. :)

moved to feature

Nice trip and photos.

Those are great pics. What kind of camera are you using? :beer:

dude, Apr 18 2005, 01:42 PMThose are great pics. What kind of camera are you using?  :beer:

Thanks. I have a Canon S410 (4 megapixel). It's a great point and shoot camera, but it also has a lot of good manual settings for getting the light just right.

Very good. I haven't been in that area at this time of the year. Sure is nice with green added. You made alot of miles for 2 up. Your girlfriend is a trouper. Should be a keeper.

Wow. I wish we had scenery like that on the East Coast. Thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:

Wow, what a coincidence.

Here are some pics I took on Sunday:

(IMG:http://www.mrpheer.com/pheer/deathvalley/001.jpg)
(IMG:http://www.mrpheer.com/pheer/deathvalley/002.jpg)
(IMG:http://www.mrpheer.com/pheer/deathvalley/003.jpg)
(IMG:http://www.mrpheer.com/pheer/deathvalley/004.jpg)
(IMG:http://www.mrpheer.com/pheer/deathvalley/005.jpg)

Left Las Vegas at about 9am, rode to Beatty, then into Death valley, out to Shoshone, then to Pahrump... then back to Vegas. About 310 miles total, was a nice day trip.

Great pictures guys. Keep them coming.

Now if those pictures don't make you want to get on the Open Road I don't know what will!! :D

Thanks for sharing!!

Mr Pheer, Apr 18 2005, 08:02 PMWow, what a coincidence.

Here are some pics I took on Sunday:

Left Las Vegas at about 9am, rode to Beatty, then into Death valley, out to Shoshone, then to Pahrump... then back to Vegas. About 310 miles total, was a nice day trip.

Hey, nice pics :) Too bad we didn't meet. I saw a few other VFRs out there. Always try to say hi when I can.

How come there are none come Mid July?? LOL I thought Mexicali was hot!!

Great report!!!! :thumbsup: It's good to see a bike that really hauls.

Thanks for sharing the trip pics. Wouldn't want to break down there.

Great pics and report. Can I ask what kind of luggage you have on your bike?

OK, that's it. I'm moving to Cali, housing prices and dollar exchange rate be damned.

Beautiful country. :beer:

canucklhead, Apr 20 2005, 06:44 AMGreat pics and report. Can I ask what kind of luggage you have on your bike?

I've been getting a bunch of questions about my luggage so here's the lowdown:
I have a givi wingrack with the mid sized paniers (sorry, don't know the model) and the single helmet sized trunk box (don't know the model on that either). I bought my last bike with the luggage and rack. It was a 98 with a stock pipe. The racks worked great on that bike. When I got my new bike, also a 98, it came with a 2 brothers raised exhaust. I was kinda worried the rack wouldn't fit on it with that pipe but it did fit perfectly. The lower tube from the rack (the part that hooks to the bottom of the passenger foot peg) does touch the side of the pipe. I stuck a piece of rubber between them and it works fine. The carbon pipe doesn't really get hot so i'm not worried about getting the rack hot, but i didn't want the road vibration to wear on the side of the pipe.

The luggage holds an amazing amount of stuff. I like to pack light no matter whether i'm on my bike or not, so i've invested in very light, packable camping gear. In the trunk box I can fit 2 sleeping bags (in compression sacks), a thermarest, camp stove, tent with poles and stakes and my cooking set with fuel. I have to strap the bigger thermarest on the top (as you can see in the pics) as it's too wide, but I have a smaller one that fits great. Basically both paniers and the tank bag were left for non-camping items (food and clothes) which is really nice. When I travel on my bike alone, i just take the paniers and leave the trunk box at home since I can fit everything in there and I don't like to bring the big trunk box if I don't have to. It's pretty much required for two people though.

As an added bonus to just being able to carry stuff, my girlfriend really likes having the back rest on the trunk and the panier boxes make the back of the bike feel wider and more secure for her.

The only thing I don't like about the luggage is the locking system. You always have to use the keys to open or close the boxes. If I were to redesign them, i'd make it so you just turned the key to unlock, then had a button to push to open the box. Maybe givi has fixed this on a newer model, but i'm not sure. It's really annoying to always have to use the key. Other than that, they're great.

For those of you asking, the side cases are give e21's. I think the top is an e360.

Nice pics.

one question: what does the price of the gasoil mean? Does it mean 31cent per liter? In Austria one liter gasoil costs about EUR 1,- that's about $ 1,3

On the weekend I will go for a tour and make some pics, so that you can get an impression of how it looks like in Austria.

regards
:wheel: VFR-Commander
form a still cold Austria

VFR_Commander, Apr 22 2005, 03:00 AMNice pics.

one question: what does the price of the gasoil mean? Does it mean 31cent per liter? In Austria one liter gasoil costs about EUR 1,- that's about $ 1,3

On the weekend I will go for a tour and make some pics, so that you can get an impression of how it looks like in Austria.

regards
:wheel: VFR-Commander
form a still cold Austria

No, unfortunately, the pics I took were of gas over $3 per gallon (1 US gallon = 3.785412 liters). That's about $0.85/liter. Converted to Euros (at $1.30 per euro) that's about Euro1.09/liter....still a bit cheaper than what you're paying. In short, it's the highest price I've ever seen in the United States for gas (I was being sarcastic when I said it was a great deal). I've seen similar prices in the UK before, but never here.

I'd love to see your Austria pics. I lived in Vienna while I was in college. My favorite area is Tirol and Innsbrueck. I also love Bayern and the area along the Southern German border.

Schoene Reisse!

Great pics and write up! You have some really SCARY gas prices out west. Gotta love the midwest still hanging around $2 bucks a gallon.

Nice trip,

How did the hard bags accomodate. I like those smaller Givi side bags. They look sleek and integrated. Which top case is that?

Many years ago I lived in Fresno, CA and rode to Santa Barbara which is awesome. Enjoy!

Kevin