Death Valley
 

We are going on a Road Trip from New Orleans to Los Angeles in July. I have asked a lot of questions on this forum before and I did get a lot of good advices. <BR>There is one more thing I am wondering about: We were planning to drive from Las Vegas to Yosemite through Death Valley. Is this possible to do in July? I saw the temperatures this weekend is 113 degrees F! We are going to drive a rented car with air condition. Will we get troubles because of the intense heat? <BR>Kaja <BR>

It is POSSIBLE to do this drive in July, but it also possible you or your car will be overwhelmed by the heat. Try not to drive in the afternoon, watch your car's temperature, be prepared to turn OFF the air conditioner (I know this will be terrible, but NOT as bad as having a car breakdown!), wear long cotton clothes and sunscreen, and drink LOTS of water. And remember -- this place isn't called DEATH Valley in order to sound pleasant!

An old friend of mine was a geology professor at several schools in the San Francisco area for many years. He took many of his classes on field trips to Death Valley, but alway in March. He never went later in the summer because he did not want to put his students at risk. Over his lifetime he made 25 trips at least. I think this man knew the territory quite well. If you go to Death Valley in July, I suggest you go early in the morning, and be out of there by 10 AM. <BR>113 degrees is one thing in dry heat, but temperatures around 120 are approaching the danger point, particularly in a hot sun with absolutely no shade. I see no reason to take chances with the condition of your vehicle, your condition, and the condition of your companions. True, there are spectacular land forms in the Valley, but there are many, many alternatives in cooler areas. So if you go, do all of what Paul said, but also be in the area as the sun comes up so you can see, but get out before temperatures reach the danger point. And dehydration is a real threat, so plenty of liquids are in order. I would definitely lay off the caffeine because it is a mild diuretic -- it results in a net fluid loss if you are not drinking water in some other form. <BR> <BR>I live in the southeast and temperatures in our humid climate can reach 104 in the shade, but with a heat index of 114 to 115. Believe me, that sort of heat saps your strength and even leads to mental confusion if you are in the direct sun for long periods, such as on a roof. <BR>You would be in similar conditions in the Valley because there is not much to block the sun except your hat.

I would like to amend my previous post. <BR>Bear in mind that people drive around Phoenix and Las Vegas in automobiles with the A/C on during the summer in temperatures of 108 degrees. If you know that the temperature is going to be in the 100 -108 range you should be ok because most automobile A/C units can handle it. But temperatures over 115 can be dangerously hot, particularly if you are not conditioned for it and you have to exert in the sunshine. I would like to read the opinion of others who live out there. <BR>

Kaja- <BR>It is definitely possible. I used to drive back and forth to college from New Mexico to Oakland, CA. This meant going through the Mojave desert just south of Death Valley. <BR>I adopted the trick of going very early in the morning. If you go just at dawn it is very, very, very (can't emphasize this enough)very beautiful. It looks like DV might be about an hour to 90 minute drive from LV. I would guess that if you leave LV between 4:30-5:30 AM you would have a spectacular and cool drive through the desert and will arrive in Bishop, CA in time for breakfast. <BR>Hope that helps.

Hi, Kaya, <BR>The above advice is good - I know the US National Park Service used to discourage independent summer travel in Death Valley because they didn't want their people going out looking for missing tourists. There now appears to be a more tolerant attitude, see the Death Valley website at http://www.death.valley.national-park.com/visit.htm. <BR>New Orleans to LA in July means you must be heat lovers already, so by the time you get to Death Valley you will know well enough if you've had enough high heat. Las Vegas will be a good base from which to see about the weather in Death Valley and probably see about accommodations in the Park if you want to stay. Otherwise, you probably should drive in the night time to the Park from LV, and plan to be out by mid morning at the latest. (The average LOW temperature in DV in July is 88F/37C, so it won't be chilly exactly.) <BR>Good Luck!

As John said, your plans may change once you experience the heat. I too wanted to drive through Death Valley but once we got inland it was SO HOT (and I love heat) I quickly abandoned the idea. So maybe you should see how you feel when you get there but have an alternate route planned. <BR>

I remember driving from LA to Vegas in July - tons of cars on the side of the road. <BR>If you decide to do this, please make sure you have PLENTY of water, not just for the car but to drink too.

Skip Death Valley as it is not worth the risk. The Mojave desert is cool compared to Death Valley. I live in the area and would never consider driving through Death Valley in the summer months. <BR> <BR>Pick another route to get to 395 ( via Barstow ). This will take you to the East gate of Yosemite where you will cross the Tioga pass.

In 1996, I went in Death Valley.It was 130 degrees that day. We arrived by 3:00 PM and left at night. We were 4 in the car and we were towing a trailer ten. The temp gage for the motor never went to HOT. <BR> <BR>It is not so bad. We appreciated our tour and would go back anytime.

Daniel: <BR> <BR>Because you were able to pass through Death Vallet without incident does NOT make it a wise thing to do. I have seen many cars broken down along Hwy 40 where the temps were much lower than 130. If you live in the desert areas, you learn to respect the heat and don't tempt fate.

We used to go from Los Angles to Vegas and Yosemite (various routes) every single summer for vacation. Mom liked Vegas & dad liked Yosemite and they accomodated eachother's wishes by doing a week in each place. The secret? Dad was a milkman and got up at 3AM every workday to deliver milk....So we would go through the desert at...you guessed it....3AM. Riding through the desert in the wee hours is peaceful and very safe. Dad didn't get those Teamsters Safe Drivers Awards for nothing.

Ask yourself what you will do if the car fails.....cell phone? water? sun screen? Growing up in Wisconsin, we never had to worry about the real hot temps, but the opposite---sub zero, bone chilling, lung freezing cold. We always made sure we were prepared to survive the in cold. Please make sure you are prepared, too.

Avoid Death Valley except during the winter months. We live here. We are used to this climate. You do not live here. You are not accustomed to this heat. Our advice: stay away from Death Valley.

Please heed the above advice!! Unless you have experienced 120 degrees + you just can't understand how different it is, both for man and machine. I would seriously consider driving at night Las Vegas to L.A. and then from L.A. up to Yosemite. It's really no joke and the few people who have done the drive through Death Valley in Summer should be congratulated, but not necessarily listened to. Also, most hotels/ restaurants etc. are closed in Death Valley in the summer. Save yourself the headaches, at best.

Kam: <BR> <BR>As you can see I agree with you 100% on the foolishness of tempting fate. Most people do not realize just how hot it can be. <BR> <BR>However it is not necessary to drive all the way back to Los Angeles. You can drive across from Barstow and pick up either 395 north or go to hwy 99 at Bakersfield. You can take 395 up to the east entrance to Yosemite and go across the Tioga Pass. The other route would be to go to hwy 99 and then up to Fresno and then over to Yosemite. Either way is is far better than crossing through Death Valley.

Hi Everybody, <BR> <BR>Thank you for your advices. I think we are going to drive through Death Valley, but we will get up very early (4 - 5 am ) and drive through the desert before it gets to hot. <BR>I guess that we will drive via Barstow if we don't go from Las Vegas early. (Depends what the temperatures are.) <BR>Kaja

Larry, Of course, you are right that you don't need to go all the way to L.A. Sorry, that advice comes from when I lived in L.A. and that was our destination. From Barstow I-10 west to I-210 to I-5 and over the "grapevine" to 99 through Bakersfield?? Does that sound right? We were in Yosemite a month ago--gorgeous with lots of water in all the falls. Great weather. Only downside was lots of mosquitoes! Not too busy with tourists, but I'm sure that has changed. I hope Kaja makes it OK and I hope she enjoys a rather boring and very hot ride. As you and I know, there's that "wall of heat" at about 115-120--anything beyond that is really awful. If they have a rental car, make sure it's in good shape. I overheated one once up in Sonoma and it certainly wasn't as hot as DV. The Furnace Creek Inn in DV used to close during the summer--do you know if it still does?

I live in Central Valley and we try even to get past Bakersfield by 10 or 11 am....even Hwy 99 gets hot. I once had to do it in our old Lotus Elite while drinking lemonade from drive- throughs because our airconditioning went out. (Drats!English cars.) Get up early!!!!! (And remember its now $25.00 a car to get into Yosemite.)