Ubehebe Crater, Death Valley

Peter says that Ubehebe Crater was named by the guy on Fat Albert that wears a cap over his head, so all you can hear is “ubehehbehebebbe”, but I’m not sure I buy it. 😉

The crater was created by volcanic activity; the entire area surrounding it is black and ashy. The road up is pretty exciting — narrow and washboarded, with regular intervals of buckled pavement. Definitely
worth the trip, though.

We also swung by Scotty’s Castle, but arrived too late to do both a tour and still make it to the crater. Instead, we wandered around outside the castle and toured the little exhibit hall.

Both of us really liked North Highway from Hwy 190 up to the ranger station serving both Scotty’s and Ubehebe. It’s about 45 miles long, straight in parts and curvy in others. There are sections of roller-coaster dips and bumps — lots of fun at 65mph. 😉 We came across very little other traffic, so we zoomed and bumped and dipped alone, for the most part. The road is lined with creosote bushes, some
smatterings of wildflowers, and desert rocks.

*happysigh*