Another cloudless and calm day! My day started with a hike from Zabriskie Point, one of my all time favorite hikes! The first half mile is down through the "wash", then the trail turns up into the hills for some surreal views! You reach the top, a good turnaround spot, in about 30 minutes.
Our planned adventure for the day was to drive the 27 mile Titus Canyon Road. We'd done this many years ago in a rented Jeep. The road isn't that bad so we knew our Tiguan would be up to the task! To reach the beginning of this one way road, you have to leave the valley floor (at about 200 feet below sea level) and head up toward Rhiolite and Beatty. The first 5 miles is just a fair gravel road before you get into the good stuff. By the time we reached the "top" we'd be at about 5100 feet. The views are incredible and the variety of rock formations is amazing. And, we never saw another person! The road only mildly challenging, but I wouldn't do it in a regular car.
The last five miles go down through the Titus Canyon with towering cliffs on both sides, The brochure says at one point the cliffs sides are only 20 feet apart (I think that's a bit of an exaggeration!). The whole trip took nearly 4 hours to go the 27 miles! And so dusty! The car will be an embarrassment until we find a carwash.
On the way back, we stopped by Stovepipe Wells, past the sand dunes, and drove the short Mustard Canyon loop. The highest temperature we saw this afternoon was 103.
We got back to the hotel by 5:00 and enjoyed some time in the amazing swimming pool. The best pool ever! Dinner was a chicken sandwich from the take-out cafe. (also expensive!)
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