Death Valley: Days 5 and 6

The eastern Sierra Range from the northern edge of Death Valley National Park (above and below)

The eastern Sierra Range from near Big Pine, CA (above and below)

We got all packed up, kind of early, because we didn't want to be exposed to the heat any longer than we had to and it warms up fast in Death Valley.  We got everything squared away and hit the road.  We didn't go back the way we came, however.  Instead we headed out the northwest side of Death Valley National Park and tied into Big Pine Road which was unexpectedly beautiful.

The eastern Sierra Range from near Bishop, CA

Big Pine Road starts (or ends) in Death Valley, but then we drove it up and up and up to the west, first through shrublands and then into Joshua Trees.  Eventually, we passed even them and it got chilly as we got our first glimpses of the distant, but huge eastern Sierra Range.  I hadn't even really thought about them as they weren't the reason we were there, but I had never been there before and seeing them with loads of fresh snow was quite impressive.  Also seeing, their peaks covered in moisture-laden clouds from the Pacific was neat.  Amazing how effective those mountains are of robbing the clouds of their precipitation and how little of it makes its way into Death Valley, which as the crow flies, isn't that far!

The eastern Sierra Range from near Mammoth, CA

Anyway, we finally dropped down, down, down and tied in with US-395 in Big Pine.  We drove north to Bishop where the kids were dying for some real food and Denny's provided.  We continued north from Bishop on US-395 and it got so cold and windy that we started getting snow on the side of the road near Mammoth which I really hadn't expected.  No issues though and we continued driving, gassing up in Carson City and then pressing on to our hotel in Susanville.

Mono Lake from US Hwy 395

That night, I started to get nervous about the next day's drive because it was supposed to be freezing and promised snow.  We slept in as late as we could before heading out and fortunately, even though the temperature was right at freezing, it didn't start snowing until La Pine.  And luckily, the snow didn't stick as we drove over Willamette Pass and home.

Back in the Willamette Valley and the first significant green we'd seen in a week!