Wow, Dave, did you know that they close down DVNP after Easter for the rest of the summer? It can reach +125F or higher at Easter so be prepared with lots of water. I loved to visit Bodie and Scottie's Castle. I lived in Barstow 1971-1976. The desert was my playground with my old 66 GMC suburban V6.

But been there, done that, and don't miss it! ;-) GL on the sats!

73, Ed - KL7UW

At 09:13 AM 4/21/2011, David Palmer wrote:

Hi Everyone,

Early next week (April 25th) I'll be taking my brother on a tour of the remote backroads of Death Valley National Park, and I'll bring my portable satellite station along. This will primarily be a camping and sightseeing trip, but I'll try to be on a number of morning/evening passes of the linear and FM sats. My tentative plan for now is the following locations and grids:

Sun pm / Mon am: Bodie ghost town or Mono Lake in DM08 on Sunday, Bishop area DM07 Monday. Mon pm / Tue am: Eureka Dunes in DM17 Tue pm / Wed am: Racetrack Playa in DM16 Wed pm / Thu am: Furnace Creek in DM16

My actual real-time location will be updated with the SPOT tracker, you can find the link on my QRZ page.

73 de Dave KB5WIA _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45 ====================================== BP40IQ 500 KHz - 10-GHz www.kl7uw.com EME: 144-1.4kw, 432-100w, 1296-testing*, 3400-winter? DUBUS Magazine USA Rep [email protected] ======================================

...

Wow, Dave, did you know that they close down DVNP after Easter for the rest of the summer? It can reach +125F or higher at Easter so be prepared with lots of water. I loved to visit Bodie and Scottie's Castle. I lived in Barstow 1971-1976. The desert was my playground with my old 66 GMC suburban V6.

Awesome! Yeah, I'm hoping the weather won't turn extreme on us. As it is now, forecast for mid next week at Furnace Creek is 100F, not too bad by comparison! With the elevation and nighttime temperatures, I'm expecting lows to get down to the high 30's near the Racetrack Playa. Talk about extremes!!

My brother's coming from Ontario Canada, so the desert will be a new experience for him. Will take him on a repeat of routes I've done in recent years. The Eureka Dunes are beautiful (plus there are the free airshows from the low-flying jets there!), and if all goes well we'll take a side-trip south of the dunes to see Steele Pass, the Marble Bath, and the petroglyphs along the canyon walls there. After the Dunes, we'll head to the Racetrack Playa so he can see the "moving" rocks, not sure if we'll take the route from Death Valley proper and in by Teakettle Junction, or if we'll continue Steele Pass to Saline Valley and go up Lippencott. Either way we'll likely stop at Ubehebe Crater to see just how dramatic the results of a steam explosion can be. After Racetrack, we'll head to Furnce Creek to enjoy the heat!

We'll be travelling in the Tacoma 4x4 that I've used previously down there -- can't be too cautious being so far away from immediate help, so we'll be taking it slow and easy, with plenty of water, also provisions, repair supplies, etc. Will also have comm via truck's HF radio (I'll probably listen on 17m during day, 40m at night) and the SPOT for signalling if needed.

I didn't know they close down DVNP after Easter.  I do know that the Furnace Creek Golf Course is open year 'round and you can have a round of golf in July on one of the cool 127 degree days.  I believe proof of a will and testament is required before starting the round. :-)

As for Mono Lake.  If I recall correctly, that's where the Clint Eastwood movie High Plains Drifter was filmed as the "fictious" town of Lago.

Ha! Yes, the closer to summer the more the will is needed! And interesting trivia about Mono!

73 de Dave KB5WIA