Monday 23rd March: Las Vegas to Death Valley

Not such a long journey, 160 miles, and all through desert. The hectic outer limits of Vegas fall away after 30 minutes driving and the traffic reduces to occasional vehicles. It’s all scrub desert, with almost no buildings. We’re climbing very slowly on a vast plain flanked by distant mountains. An hour along the road, we pass an airbase with a pilotless drone manoeuvring over it. A photo shot fails to capture it, but maybe that’s just as well as we are now flying along the southern edge of what was the most secret aircraft testing area in the States. This was Area 51.

 The long, straight road seems to emphasise the empty isolation of the region; it’s the perfect place for secret testing. Most of the USA’s cutting edge aircraft were tested here, and were mistaken for UFO’s when glimpsed in the distance or at night moving at high speed. UFO spotters said that there really were UFO’s that were observing the test planes. It’s comforting to know that everybody seems to be keeping an eye on everybody else!

Pre-dating Area 51, atomic weapons testing took place here in the late 40’s/ early 50’s when picnickers from Las Vegas would drive out to get a better view of the mushroom clouds that were only just visible from the city itself. You can imagine those hordes of luminous returning daytrippers.

There’s just one small town 125 miles from Vegas where we tank up with fuel before turning away from the main highway towards Death Valley itself. The road first climbs to 4,300 feet and then descends quite steeply to the valley floor. The white shimmer is the salt flats evaporated from a huge lake that once filled the whole valley 10,000 years ago.

It’s worth seeing how the impression of Death Valley builds up as the road drops. It looks almost like a bubbling cauldron here; the descent into Hell’s kitchen. 

The rocks reveal a multi-coloured pattern from the minerals they contain, stark and jagged as there is no vegetation to soften the outlines. Just a few bushes at the roadside so you know you’re not actually on the moon.

As the road hits the bottom it all looks empty: nothing, as far as the eye can see. Not even a much-needed ice-cream van.

We have another 20 miles to go along the valley bottom to our campsite at Furnace Creek, the main visitor centre. There are three sites at Furnace Creek, only one of which has electricity. That's full, so we’re at Sunset, which is nearly empty. A bit bare, but remember this is Death Valley; it does have water, toilets and sewerage emptying, and a great view, so an excellent $12 per night’s worth (£8). Our motorhome is equipped with fresh water, waste water and sewerage tanks, and a generator. So we’ll be fine for a week. But there’s also no phone signal or wifi (anywhere in Death Valley)…. suddenly I CAN’T COPE.