CuRVWander

  Spring has sprung in Death Valley, such as it is.  We leapt from high 70's and low 80's to 105 degrees in less than a week, and it has stayed there.  And to add insult to injury the wind has been howling.  It's been blowing so much and so hard that a 30mph day is the new norm for a calm day.  My satellite dish is rated for up to 50mph wind.  It's been stowed more than it has been deployed for the last month. Despite repeatedly warning campers that their awnings and canopies were at risk, we have ended up with dozens of shredded canvases and bent awning arms and canopy legs piled up in front of our dumpsters.  Many tents have simply disappeared into the desert.  I'm sure there are salt cedars and mesquite trees with a variety of colored nylon in them somewhere, but with a geographic area the size of Connecticut it won't be soon seen. Absent this spring is a bloom.  There has been virtually no moisture in a year.  Normally a cloud burst ...

  The winter season is high season for Death Valley.  Temperatures are comfortable, great in fact for vigorous hiking.  The park is at peak attendance and the campground is sold out almost every night.  We are wearing jackets and light gloves when doing our 7:00am rounds.  But when the sun gets above the ridgeline of the Funeral Mountains it warms quickly to very comfortable temperatures. Cyndee and I have done a number of scenic drives together.  Her knees just won't let her do much walking on uneven ground.  She's averaging about 4 miles a day doing rounds in the campground but thankfully that is on dead flat surfaces.  My daily step count runs a little higher as I take on extra assignments and do camper assist requests (help change flat tires, jump dead batteries, pound in tent stakes in concrete-hard desert crust, etc). One day in December was a particularly busy day. Most days are just 6 or 7 miles. After our son took me on a couple of hikes ...