Thurs Dec 27 Flew to Las Vegas
Overnight in Desert Rose Resort
This is a converted apartment complex to a resort. It is right behind the MGM. $60 for a huge
2 bedroom suite with 2 baths and full kitchen. Good Value, Good Location, no gaming on site. Not your standard Las Vegas Hotel. It was good value, but I would not stay there again. We normally stay at one of the nicer hotels when in Vegas. I don't gamble, but it just didn't seem like I was in Vegas. The had a continental breakfast in a sack that they give you.

Day 2 Headed to Death Valley on Scenic Longer Route. Stopped by Red Rock Canyon and hiked to a Frozen Waterfall. The trail was called Childrens trail, but we were the only ones on it and really enjoyed it. It took about an hour. Red Rock has several nice places to hike. Drive to Death Valley didn't offer much to see until Badwater. This is a salt basin that is lowest, driest, hottest spot. We also checked out Devils Garden area which is interesting. We drove thru Borax 20 Mule Team Canyon. We then hiked Natural Bridge. This is a nice hike. We spent about an hour hiking Natural Bridge and canyon. We then continued on to Artist Palete and Artist Drive. This was prettiest place in the park and we spent about an hour exploring and short hike there. After that we headed to Zabriski Point and took in the Sunset. This is a pretty place as well. We did not make it to Dante's View.

Day 3 Headed to Scottys Castle and took the 1 hour tour there. It is worth doing and my wife liked it. I thought it was a little slow. We packed a picnic lunch and right outside Scotty's Castle there is a very nice picnic spot. We had packed fruit, drinks, veggies, and dip. We bought 2 sandwiches for the 3 of us (they were very big)at Scotty's Castle. All they have there is premade sandwich, and frozen burritos. The sandwichs were suprisingly good. They have signs everywhere warning you of coyotee's. Do not leave dogs tied to cars unattended. We did see one as we were exiting the parking lot. We continued on to Ubahebe Crater. This is another unusual spot. We hiked to the bottom there. The hike back up is 800 ft. It is a very difficult hike back up in extremely soft gravel. You take a 30 inch step and you slip back down half of that. It is very steep pitch. We continued on after that to another gueling hike at the sand dunes. The temperature was fantastic the entire time we were at Death Valley. Mostly 50s in the day. Morning were chilly 30's. The sand dunes are a great place to experience also. We had dinner that night at Furnace Creek Inn. Very nice. They start you out with assiago bread which was served with a garlic butter and another kind of butter. Also in the bread basket was Datebread along with a 3rd butter that was date butter. We had prickly pear cactus with 3 sauces for a starter. All 3 of our entrees were very good. We had a raspberry/lemon tart for desert that was good. They also make inhouse truffles that they give you one at the end of your meal, that were very good. Best truffles we have ever had. We stayed night 2 and night 3 in Furnace Creek Ranch. We found this place to be bigger than we expected, and maybe not as nice as I had hoped. It served us well for sleeping which is all anyone can ask. After the dunes we drove a very very scary Titus Canyon drive. Whoa!!! this is one for the record. You better have a high clearance vehicle and lots of guts for this one. It is a one way drive so once you start there is no turning back. We didn't see a soul the entire 27 miles.

Day 4 Headed to Sequoia National Park. Stopped and got some very good citrus at one of the fruit stands. Tons of citrus growing on this drive. We did a short hike at Potwisha upon arrival in the foothills. You must put all of your food from your car into a bear storage box, even for just a hike. They had warning signs up for "high bear danger", stating that the bears do not hibernate. There was no snow on the ground and the temp was about 50. We saw two deer after 3 minutes of walking that wouldn't get out of our way to let us continue on the trail. Finally they moved on. The trail winds over a creek on a suspended bridge and is a nice short hike. We continued on with our drive upward to higher altitude through very thick fog. There was a lot of snow at about 6000 feet. This is about where you start to see the big trees. We stopped at Beetle Rock which has an amazing view. Apparently, the valley is usually covered with clouds. It looks as if you were on an airplane. Very Very nice view. We saw another coyotee here. Had dinner that night at Wuksachi Lodge. We had 5 meals there and everything was very good. The only thing we didn't like there was their deserts. They just didn't stack up. Everything else was FANTASTIC. Good sevice, and very good food. We had the same waiter for 4 of our meals.
We stayed night 4 and 5 at Wuksachi Lodge. This is newer, nicer than I expected lodge. Do expect to tote your luggage a long way in the snow to get to your room.

Day 5
We headed straight for the General Sherman Tree and Congress Trail. These trees are just huge. Very hard to describe the size of them. Trail was very slick.
We checked out the museum for about 30 minutes. We then headed to Wolverton snow play area. We bought a saucer sled for $10 the night before at the lodge. The snow play area is one wild place. Lots of people with sleds and it is a wild somewhat dangerous ride down a long bumpy hill. We had a great time there. We finished the afternoon with a snowshoe hike behind Wuksachi. They rent snowshoes at the lodge. This hike is gorgeous and goes over a couple of bridges. This was our first time in snowshoes and we found it very easy to get around in. This was new years eve. They turned the dining room into a Dance Floor with DJ at 10:00. We were to tired to see the new year in, so we were sound asleep by 10:00.

Flew home the next morning out of Fresno.

Death Valley is one wierd place. Very unique. It is big and takes time to travel. There is plenty to see and do there along the way. We did not golf, swim, or see the moving rocks, but wanted to. We wanted to hike to Darwin Falls but didn't have the energy to. At Death Valley you will think you are on another planet. No trees or green anywhere except the couple of places where there is a spring. And where there is a spring it is an oasis of green and trees.

Check out Todd's Hiking Guide on the web. He has detailed info about many desert areas on hiking. Very good informative sight.

Sequoia- A lot of good hiking opportunities in the foothills in the winter. The big trees are a must see in ones lifetime. The only place to stay or eat there in the winter is Wuksachi Lodge.

We found both places to be only moderately busy. We never really had to wait for anything and were able to find solitude along the way at several places.

spirobulldog
Thanks for the detailed Death Valley report.
We plan to drive there from San Diego in January or February,dependent upon the weather, enroute to Vegas.
We intend to stay at the Amargosa opera house for two or three nights and see the Saturday evening performance. Don't know anything about the place except that they do not have a restaurant and we will have to drive 5 miles for meals.
Thanks for the tips on places to visit. I think we will skip Titus Canyon.

Nice report, thanks for the good info.

Awesome report on one of my favorite places in the world! Makes me want to go back.

I take it you stayed inside Death Valley at Furnace Creek?

<We stayed night 2 and night 3 in Furnace Creek Ranch.>
Two places to stay at Furnace Creek this time of the year, Furnace Creek Ranch and Furnace Creek Inn.

spirobulldog, it looks like you ate a lot. LOL!

Desert Rose Resort sounds appealing since it doesn't feel like you are in Las Vegas.

Did you have a high clearance vehicle for your Titus Canyon Drive? Isn't geology of the Narrows fascinated?

don76, Amargosa Hotel is very basic. Rooms offer less than any room at any hostel. We went inside to check out one room. I wouldn't pay more than $20.00 per night but maybe they have other rooms. If I had NO choice I would stay there for only one night. But 2 or 3? Why? Its location is not convenient for visiting Death Valley. If you have enough time, do not skip a drive through Titus Canyon. Go there in the morning, give yourself a plenty of time, drive slowly so you can appreacite this place and make many scenic stop. Really amazing place.

Thanks for the great report! We found Death Valley fascinating, even in the summer when it was 124 in the shade!

Surprised to hear about the luggage toting in Wuksachi Lodge; when we were there they had bellboys with golf carts, a first for us in any of the lodges within the parks. Maybe they're just used in the summer, but agree it's one of the newer, nicest lodges around.

The name escapes me but did you do the drive to the highest elevation where the bears are often seen? Again, we were there one july and among many who had the same idea. So no wildlife but the silence was deafening - and surprising - and way cool!

Way-North
Thanks for the advice on the Amargosa. I was using photos of the hotel and it's rooms from the internet in determining a place to stay.

I will probably stay the first night to see the Saturday night show and then obtain a room at the Furnace Creek Ranch for nights 2 and 3.
The Titus canyon road sounds inviting but with the low front overhang on todays cars,which scrape on driveway entrances,I would be concerned about damage.
Insurance for rental cars usually prohibits travel on anything but paved roads. Ditto Credit Card coverage.

Don, I absolutely agree with you about not driving through Titus Canyon. If you don't have a high clearance vehicle and driving a rental car don't even think about it. There are so many great places to see and admire in Death Valley without getting on tough dirt or gravel roads. You may consider staying at Stovepipe Wells. Very convenient to Sand Dunes, Scotty's Castle, Mosaic Canyon, Devil's Cornfield and not too long drive to Furnace Creek. I never stayed there but our knowledgeable expert on this borad, Frisco_Roadrunner, stays there and I would trust her/his judgement.

We had a jeep 4 wheel drive Cherokee. yes it was a rental and we were lucky. We wanted to chance it on Racetrack Playa. But thought we had better not risk it. The drive was scary enough on Titus. But the fact that it got dark on us, and I am sure we were the last ones through that night. The first part of the trail is on really really really narrow rough high BUTT CHEEK SQUEEZIN mountainous stuff. Very close to edge. I mean very close. The last part is in the narrows. That is the part where it started getting dark. The scariest part was thinkin what if we had a flat or car trouble. You would not want to take a normal car through this. High Clearance is a must. If you have a 4 wheel drive it is worth the effort. it is awesome and we've been on many nice drives. but man this one I will always remember. pictures and video we took don't even begin to do it justice. And I use to own a one hour film lab. LOL.

Thanks spirobulldog and Way_North.

I will post a message about the Amargosa facilities, and the evening performance, when I return.

Thank you, Spirobulldog for helping me find your trip report on DV. You have a lot of good information. I enjoyed the report.