California Wine Country is the destination for this year’s winter escape. A brutal arctic storm is forecasted to descend into the west the third week of February so Joey (the dog) and I hit the road the day before. We were about 12 hours ahead of the storm all the way down to Las Vegas with clear roads and not much wind, though it was colder than normal. A day behind us found the same roads buried in snow with howling winds and below freezing temperatures. It’s NASCAR weekend in Las Vegas (a huge car race) and there is no place to stay so I slip through Vegas and land in Pahrump, about an hour west of the Las Vegas valley where the “real” trip can begin at a more usual leisurely pace…
Pahrump. NV
Las Vegas sits in a desert basin ringed by mountains that rise in wave after wave, interspersed with broad desert valleys. Mt. Charleston is the tallest peak in the mountains that border Las Vegas on the west and Pahrump sits in the Armargosa Valley beyond. Perched above the edge of the desert in Pahrump, the snow-capped tip of Mt. Charleston reaches into the sky behind the Lunch Box.
I’m staying at the rv park attached to the Pahrump Valley Winery, a small winery somewhat incongruously perched on the eastern slopes of the Pahrump Valley at the southern edge of the settlement of Pahrump. Pahrump is a bastion of western “individualism” and although nearly 25,000 people live scattered across the valley, there is not an incorporated town. The “urban” area is officially the largest “settlement” in the United States. A commercial strip strings out in a rather unorganized way along the highway for a number of miles. The winery is the largest producer of wine in Nevada, utilizing grapes from a number of small vineyards in the desert valley. Grapes were first planted in the desert in the early 1990’s utilizing hardy grape stock that could withstand desert conditions. The winery produced its’ first commercial red wine, a Zinfandel, in 2005.
These are very small vineyards, totaling around 10 acres. The winery sits between the rv park and the small estate vineyard. The small patches of green grass are artificial grass, this is the “real” desert and the water is reserved for the grapes.
West of Pahrump the desert unfoldes in a stark melange of rock, sand and scrub as we head towards Death Valley.
Fifty miles west of Pahrump the final range of mountains that border Death Valley on the east, the Armargosa, rise before me. The taller, snow-capped Panamint Range that forms the western side of Death Valley rise in the distance.
Death Valley
Death Valley stretches for nearly 100 miles between two mountain ranges and drops to the lowest point in North America at Badwater Basin, 282 feet below sea level. The highest point in the United States, Mount Whitney, rises 14,505 feet only 85 miles to the northwest. The valley is one of the world’s hottest areas, reaching temperatures as high as 134 degrees. The Armargosa “River” runs into the valley from the south, though it seldom has surface water. Snowmelt from the surrounding mountains also seeps into the valley. There is no outlet from the valley so what little water does occur gathers on the valley floor and evaporates, leaving a wasteland of crumpled rock and glistening white salt pans. Entering the national park from the west I take a brief detour before descending into the actual valley. A side road winds about 13 miles into the Armargosa Range before ending at Dante’s View, high above the valley. Driving up the access road, evidence of the mining culture of the area comes into view. Not sure just what is being mined in these two facilities, but around 1900 gold, silver and especially borax was mined in Death Valley.
The last quarter mile of the road “zig zags” up 15% grade switchbacks, a bit of a challenge for the Lunch Box. At 23.5 feet long, it barely fits under the 25 feet limit on the road.
Once at the top spectacular views of Death Valley unfold. This series of pictures tries to capture the entire valley from right (looking north), center (directly west across the valley to Telescope Peak), to left (looking south.)
The valley narrows as it stretches south.
Turning around and looking east to the far horizon is Mount Charleston, the peak that looms over Las Vegas.
Leaving the viewpoint we quickly descend (going down a 15% grade in a small RV is much more difficult than going up!) towards the valley floor, passing colorful rock formations decorating the eroded landscape. A sign points out that we are crossing sea level, still a couple of miles above the valley floor.
The Death Valley National Park headquarters is at Furnace Creek, a startling patch of green in the distance 190 feet below sea level on the valley floor.
The Furnace Creek area actually has two separate tourist facilities. The upscale Inn at Furnace Creek, located at sea level, sits at the base of the eastern mountains while the Ranch at Furnace Creek is more than a mile away down at 190 feet below sea level and is home to the national park headquarters, a motel and campground.
Our path now takes us south from Furnace Creek along the valley floor.
The lowest point of the valley is a Badwater Basin, where visitors (little dots in the picture) can walk out onto the valley floor at the lowest point in North America, 282 feet below sea level.
Past Badwater Basin the valley continues to stretch for nearly 20 miles before beginning to narrow. The road begins to climb in a sinuous ribbon of asphalt as we begin to exit the valley.
Near the southern end of the valley evidence of the mining history of the area remains nestled on a gentle hillside. The Ashford Mill was built in 1907 to process ore from the Golden Treasure Mine five miles to the east. As was often the case in the mining history of the Death Valley area, the mine and mill did not last long. The mill was abandoned the same year that it was built.
Leaving Death Valley and heading southwest, the highway passes through nearly 75 miles of the Mojave Desert, alternating crossing sharp mountain ranges with traversing broad desert valleys before meeting up with the interstate. We ride the ribbon of asphalt through the eastern edge of the Los Angeles metropolitan area until reaching our next destination, the southern wine center of California, Temecula.
Temecula, CA
The narrow valleys and mountain ranges southeast of the Los Angeles basin were home to Native Americans for hundreds of years until the Spanish missionaries first came to the area in 1798. During the next 50 years control of the Temecula Valley passed from the missionaries to Mexico to the United States in 1848 at the end of the Mexican-American War. The Mexican government had sectioned the land off into three large “ranchos” (Ranchos Temecula, Pauba, and Santa Rosa) and one smaller rancho, the Little Temecula that was given to the Indian leader Pablo Apis. All four would primarily run livestock on the land for over a century. The hills surrounding the valley are covered with granite boulders and the coming of the railroad in 1882 allowed the granite to be quarried and shipped anywhere. In 1905 Walter Vail, a successful rancher in Arizona, moved into the area and eventually amassed over 87,000 acres in and around the Temecula Valley. The small town of Temecula was established in a narrow valley along the railroad and served as the commercial center of the valley for the next 80 years. Today “Old Town Temecula” is now a center of shops, restaurants and galleries surrounded by “New Temecula.”
In a nod to the legacy of the railroad, sidewalks in the city center are composed of old railroad ties.
Above the narrow old town to the east is a Mission style government center and plaza. Standing on the plaza the view west is down the hill to the town center, to the east is the imposing government building.
The Vail Ranch dominated the local area until 1964 when it was sold for development. Now known as “Rancho California” the area developed slowly until the completion of Interstate 15 connecting San Diego to Los Angeles spurred the planning of the first subdivisions. Rapid growth has occurred in the subsequent years and Temecula is one of the fastest growing communities in California. Part of the current “boom” is being fueled by wine enthusiasts now flocking to the area. Grapes had been introduced to the valley by the Spanish missionaries but the area did not develop into a commercial wine-making center until the 1970’s. The developers of Rancho California brought in experts to plant a demonstration garden of 57 different varieties of grapes and wine makers soon followed. Today the hills east of Temecula are home to numerous vineyards.
Turning around and heading west back towards Temecula the suburban sprawl stretches to the northwest up the valley towards Los Angeles, 85 miles away.
The weather in Temecula sparkled in contrast to the snow and 20 degree below zero weather back home in Montana. My exploration of California Wine Country now heads northwest around the Los Angeles metropolitan area to the Santa Ynez River Valley in Santa Barbara County.
Next up: The Santa Ynez Valley
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