Day 4, part one. Wildrose.

So, rumor has it that no one actually reads what I write. So I'll keep the words on this one to a minimum.

Ya wanna Television? Telephone? AND watah ya can drink? Ya ain't from around here, is ya?

Headquarters at Stovepipe Wells. Basic. I like it that way.

I woke up early in the morning; the plan being to go from below sea level, up to Wildrose, where the climb stops just above 8100 feet. Round trip: 80 miles.

Route

Start of the day, in what is loosely referred to as the 'town' of Stovepipe Wells.


I rode down the hill until I was at least three feet (minimum!) below sea level, and turned around to make it back up.

Unlike... well pretty much every climb I'd ever been on, this one really didn't have any switchbacks - it just, slowly and steadily, went up a lumbering mountainside.

2000 Feet

Fortunately the state of California put up signs indicating altitude every 1000 feet; Sea Level, 1000 feet, 2000 feet... what comes next? Oh wait, nothing. Man, I thought I'd have a great montage of pictures indicating altitude, but they stopped.


Some rocks. There were a lot of them.


Oh, so *now* you give me the elevation?

Random peak along the way.

At about 6000 feet, the road turned to gravel.

Charcoal Kilns, at about 7500 feet above sea level.

These charcoal kilns are considered some of the best preserved anywhere, having been only used for a year or two before being abandoned. Gee, who wouldn't walk 100 miles across several mountains and a desert for a good deal on a bag of Charbroil? Who the hell is tailgating in the middle of a desert, anyway? What are they grilling? Who's bringing the beer?

Questions that, perhaps, the owners of the kilns should have considered before construction.

Keeping track of where we've been.

Unfortunately, I didn't get all the way to the top; at about 8000 feet, the mud road turned to ice. Contrary to my usual lack-of-decision-making-ability, I did the intelligent thing, and turned around.

The long and winding road...


Looking down...

And started the godawful descent.