I`ve decided to take the week of Mar 4th -10th to ride DV, and can`t make up my mind how I want to go about it. I guess I don`t have specific questions, but figured I`d run everything by the forum and see what kind of comments it draws.
Two rides I really want to do while I`m down there are Titus Canyon and the Wildrose-Panamint-Townes Pass loop. I`m thinking two days for each of those rides should give me enough time to do them without a big hurry. For Titus, that two day guestimate would be in the event that I do it as a loop from the Furnace Creek or Stovepipe Wells area- if I come out of Beatty, I`m thinking 1.5 days from the highway cutoff to Emigrant or Stovepipe. Reasonable?
But it would be even better if I could manage both of those rides PLUS a big loop all the way down to DV Junction and up through Amaragosa Vy to Beatty. That adds a lot as its own loop, though it would cut the extra time required for Titus Canyon by a little bit. I think that would be possible if I had great conditions, but my understanding is that I might well have wind troubles and could find my week over before I got back to Beatty (or wherever I`m parked). That`s too much for a one week trip, isn`t it?
Since I`ve car camped in the park a number of times, I`ve already seen most of the easy to reach stuff, otherwise I`d definitely skip the loops in favor of hitting all the stops between Stovepipe and Badwater. But maybe to play it safe I should just park somewhere in "DV Central", ride my two loops, and then ignore the crowds the best I can and keep it close while revisiting whatever nearby sights I hear calling my name for whatever time I have left over.
I also see that Furnace Creek area has a lot going on this year, which might add to the general confusion and make it harder to get things done in general. It looks like the visitors center was closed a few months ago for remodelling and a temporary one set up in another location, also supposed to close the FC campground in Feb for several months worth utility work. Man, that combo makes me want stay clear of the whole mess and keep it on the boondocks as much as I possibly can. Unless I`m overthing the situation
