Camera Committee Death Valley car camp

Note: This is a High Clearance Vehicle Only trip, see below.

Due to the severity of the flash flood that hit the park in the past few months,our plans will be changing. Some Roads will not be repaired by our trip and are still rough or closed. Check back for latest information.

I will camp Friday at the first come/no reservation campground at Tecopa Hot Springs County Park Campground. Saturday night, we have reservations at Furnace Creek Campground through Monday 1/31/05 noon checkout. There are also hotels and motels in the area, where you can stay at your own expense: The Furnace Creek Inn $$$ (760-786-2361) and the Furnace Creek Ranch $$ (760-786-2345) provide motel accommodations in Furnace Creek area. Stovepipe Wells Village $$ (760-786-2387) is 19 miles north of Furnace Creek has motel accommodations. Near Tecopa is the Ranch House Inn bed and breakfast ?? . All rooms fill up quickly. Please let the leader know if you are not camping with us.

We will be using FRS radios channel 7 for the caravans and walks; bring one if you can. There are camper stores and shops at both Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells. Showers are available at Furnace Creek Ranch for a fee.

Expenses:
In addition to the reservation/camping fee you already paid, there is a park entrance fee of $10.00 per vehicle, valid for seven days, which you must pay upon entering the National Park. We will have dinner at a restaurant one night, lunches on the road and fuel.

Directions (revised): Our meeting place Saturday is at Tecopa Hot Springs Park. We will meet at the hot spring parking lot. To get there follow the map directions here:

Start: Depart Los Angeles.

Map: Download a detailed map of the area (1,100 KB - requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
I also recommend SoCal AAA map for California, Death Valley, and
Eastern Sierra maps.

Agenda (subject to change because of road closures):

Friday: A travel day to get to Tecopa. I will be camping at Tecopa Hot Springs County Park on Friday night and using the wonderful hot springs there.

Saturday: Start in the parking at Tecopa Hot Springs at 8:00 A.M. From Tecopa, we will head north to Soshone and we will continue into the park from the south. We will head north on the Bad Water Rd. We will stop at the Ashford Mill ruins, Badwater, Artist Palette, Devils Golf Course, Salt Creek, Zabriskie Point, Golden Canyon (not in this order) working our way north. We will check into Furnace Creek campground in the afternoon.

Sunday: Race Track, High Clearance vehicles a must! If you are have a low clearance car, you can car pool. Sunset at Ubehebe Crater

Monday: We will get up at 6:00 AM before dawn (time below) and drive to a point south of the tall sand dunes, east of Stove Pipe Wells (we will spend about 2 hrs. there). We will have breakfast after sunrise. The rest of the trip is on the way home, we may stop in the Panamint Valley, Keeler, Cerro Gordo, Torona Pinacles or maybe Fossil Falls.

The timing on this trip is open depending on the quality of light and what we may see along the way.

My car is a Jeep Cherokee, dark red, license no. 4HLK569. Bring a FRS radio if you have one; I will monitor channel 7 on my radio. Some cell phones will work around Furnace Creek.

Equipment list: Camera, tripod, film, filters, flash (optional), extra batteries. For camping bring tent, etc., stove, cooking equipment, utensils, ice box, food for lunches and dinners. We will go out to dinner Sunday night. (Tire chains for snow are a good idea.)

Highway conditions: http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/

Sun and Moon Data

SUN
Begin civil twilight 06:25
Sunrise 06:53
Sun transit 12:02
Sunset 17:11
End civil twilight 17:38

MOON
Moonrise 19:28 on preceding day
Moon transit 02:15
Moonset 08:52
Moonrise 20:27 (Moon rise over the mountains?)
Moonset 09:16 on following day
Phase of the Moon on 28 January: waning gibbous with 90% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated.
Full Moon on 25 January 2005 at 02:32 (Universal Time - 8h).

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