Another destination in Death Valley I stopped at on 10/30/05. Not the amenities as Furnace Creek. No fuel, no food. Looks like town is a pretty good hike and there may not be much there. Hopefully somebody has a little more info. By the way, the runway is in worse shape than the alligatored ramp. Pictures at http://www.backcountrypilot.org/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=104

Stovepipe Wells is about a mile or so walk from the store/gas station/motel/campground. I've spent quite a bit of time there. This is the spot where you would stay to be close to the dunes.

BTW the local coyotes like to hang out in the campground bathrooms. I think they use the toilets for a source of drinking water.

Q

N6EA wrote:Another destination in Death Valley I stopped at on 10/30/05. Not the amenities as Furnace Creek. No fuel, no food. Looks like town is a pretty good hike and there may not be much there. Hopefully somebody has a little more info. By the way, the runway is in worse shape than the alligatored ramp. Pictures at http://www.backcountrypilot.org/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=104

Q wrote:BTW the local coyotes like to hang out in the campground bathrooms. I think they use the toilets for a source of drinking water.

Q

Yikes, that's good to remember before sprinting into the head after a long flight...

Mark

Anybody ever tangled with a coyote? They're so diminutive, I've seen them many times but never witnessed their "prowess" when it comes to being confronted.

Zane,

Coyotes are totally and absolutely harmless to humans. When you go into the bathrooms at night the coyotes quickly run out the door. Kind of surprising though to people who aren't familier with coyotes. I always enjoy hearing them singing while camping in the desert.

In our PPCs we'll occationally swoop down and give one a fright. When they get tired of running they'll stop and show their teeth. Here's an aerial picture I took of one last summer while down at the Alvord.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/QDM/coyote.jpg

Q

zane wrote:Anybody ever tangled with a coyote? They're so diminutive, I've seen them many times but never witnessed their "prowess" when it comes to being confronted.

a pissed off momma racoon is what I'm scared of. There was this overly curious labrador once, and I watched a racoon shread him. It was bad.

I think just about any wild animal bigger than a shrew has the ability to open a can of whoop-ass on a human being. Even if it turns out to be fatal for them. I just recently saw a home video of a guy getting flailed by the front hooves of a deer-- scary. Most animals are scared of humans, luckily-- it's when that they become too used to man, or something overpowers that fear (like a mother's protectiveness or being cornered) that some bad things can happen. I like to listen to "song-dogs" too-- from a distance.
I can't believe it when I've heard about people wanting to pose their little kids with "tame" black bears-- some folks just don't have a clue. About a month ago, I was real close to a couple of deer when they wandered into a fenced enclosure at a jobsite I was working on-- you could see them start to go into panic mode when they found themselves in a blind corner behind some cars and a couple guys started their way. We all just backed way off & gave them some room to find their way out, and everything was fine.
I wouldn't want to be between a coyote and the door inside that bathroom if I had any choice in the matter.

Eric

Q,

Man your photos are amazing. You need to publish a coffee-table book.

Thanks Zane,

Another year of gathering photos and I'll be ready to do a book.

Q

zane wrote:Q,

Man your photos are amazing. You need to publish a coffee-table book.

I have some good friends who are dedicated coyote hunters & I don't have a problem with that. Like John said, as a predator we have our place in nature hunting them, I just don't care to do it myself. I don't have any stock to protect, so I limit my hunting to edibles. Actually, I don't even deer hunt anymore but I sure do like to eat venison.....

Eric