Alarm went off at 7; we got up and packed our stuff up early, not before half the crowded campground had also woken up. We left only ten minutes after 8, possibly a record for us on a pack up day!
It had been windy all night, and the mountain pass towards Panamint was freezing cold, with clouds whizzing by. In the valley floor we passed a car pulled over which what looked like their unruly pets wandering around. I slowed right down to notice there were several coyotes on/by the road. They were curious and trotted up fairly close to the bike, showing no fear. Hope people haven’t been feeding them! Our next stop was Panamint Springs resort for their buffet breakfast. Again it was pretty basic but got the job done feeding us. Couldn’t check the weather due to no wifi, so we’ll have to cross the next mountain range and see.
Burro crossing! You’d think we were in Mexico!
We rode down the deserted Panamint Valley, passed an extremely poor/half abandoned town of Trona, before stopping in Ridgecrest to use McD’s free wifi. We found out bad news; Sherman Pass which we had hoped to ride, had had a fresh dump of snow there the last few days, so that was out! We continued riding a couple of hours around the southern end of the range to Lake Isabella. Along the way we passed beautifully yellow coloured valleys, and far more Joshua Trees and I had seen in their National Park! Was very scenic riding, and fairly quiet.
Lush tuft of Joshua Trees
In Isabella, we had a late lunch at a quaint coffee shop with a friendly Canadian Server, who gave us all the info on the local hot springs/camping. We chatted to Belgian rider we had crossed paths with in Yosemite, also at the cafe.
Albatross flying laps over lake Isabella
We finally got going to the springs. The campground was shut for the winter, but I asked around and apparently you could camp at the basic patches near the river. We quickly pitched our tent and then headed to the Pools to soak for a rest of the afternoon. There we chatted to everyone else who was also soaking for the afternoon. Really friendly atmosphere. One guy (John) was interested in what we did on the yachts, and well after the sun had disappeared, he offered us a lift into town to pick up groceries, so we didn’t have to face the deer/cows at night.
After he’d dropped us off, we cooked a nice stir fry and called it a night.
-Zoe
I bet you have seen every M2 of Dead Valley and the rest of the region.
Getting closer and closer to cities of men. You had a well filled trip of 8 months and a bit soon.
Maybe a little stop over here and there and soon we will meet…
Time for dinner,
xxx Mum
Zoë, you have a distinct style and very recognizable since interspersed with references to food! 😉
At last some more hot springs, long time since last.
Mountain pass closed due to snow, even in California, climate’s definitely changing!
Baci