Just out of the park. Setup on an old mining road just east of Furnace Creek, our flight home was a little later than usual, so we planned to get a hike in before heading back to Las Vegas. This meant a third morning in a row of awake-before-sunrise, but with early sunsets and bedtimes around 7:30pm, we were still getting more sleep we generally get at home! It'd been a windy night, but our spot - between a hillside and a road berm - had been chosen carefully to reduce wind noise on the tent, and as we shoveled…
21 CommentsTag: death valley
Having discovered the existence of a few rock art sites in the Greenwater Valley area, I put on my best Sherlock Holmes hat (note: it is strikingly similar to the Cal Poly baseball cap I always wear) to scour the interwebs for clues. Of the three sites, I was able to pinpoint one reasonably quickly, and reached out to a few fellow rock art enthusiasts for hints on another. The third - somewhere on the hike up Funeral Peak - was out of the question on this particular trip, though I'll surely return to find those in the future. Mostly,…
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At first glance, Greenwater Valley seems - especially compared to the other valleys of Death Valley National Park - downright boring. In fact, it is. Even its most-visited attraction - Dante's View - is what I would describe as "just OK," if someone asked my opinion, before volunteering several alternative views in the park that I feel are significantly more amazing. Thankfully, few people ask - and even fewer care - for my opinion, and the world continues to spin. Still, it was with great excitement that we entered the southern end of Greenwater Valley on the first evening of…
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Every time I visit Death Valley, I cover some amount of ground. I know this because I fill every daylight hour with hiking, driving, climbing, and poking my head into places that a younger, smarter me would certainly avoid. Somehow, though, at the end of each trip, I realize that my list of places to explore has inexplicably gotten longer. It happens without fail. Every. Single. Time. In 2018 - when @mrs.turbodb and I were exploring the Ibex Dunes and the talc mines near Saratoga and Ibex Spring - I noticed a little valley on the eastern flank of the…
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A few weeks earlier - as we'd thoroughly enjoyed our hike through the upper 7 miles of Bighorn Gorge - we'd known that a return trip through O'Brien Canyon was an option. In fact, based on a description I'd found in what we lovingly refer to as the Death Valley Bible, I'd planned for us to return via this alternate route. The thrilling part of this little-known place is its superb narrows about 2 miles down from the [Silver Crown] mine. For several hundred yards the canyon squeezes through a series of tight passages, shaded underworlds of slick bedrock, faceted…
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The last time we drove White Top Mountain Road - in fact, the only time we've driven White Top Mountain Road - we did so under the cover of darkness. This was no problem - it is, for the most part well-graded - but it did mean that we were unable to experience the surroundings of this unfamiliar part of the park. Having just completed our hike to Ubehebe Peak, we had just about an hour of daylight as we took full advantage of the skinny pedal, a long trail of dust glowing in the evening sun, as we sped…
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From the edge of the Racetrack, an old mining trail climbs to the stark heights of Ubehebe Peak, across rocky slopes sparkling with heavily varnished plutonic rocks. The summit views are awesome, encompassing the Racetrack's eerie mud flats on one side, Saline Valley's deep sink on the other, and many ranges all around. You might find it more difficult to leave than to get there. Hiking Death Valley Depending on who's telling it, Lippincott Pass is either a treacherous, near-death experience or a straightforward shortcut between Saline and Racetrack Valley's, hardly worth a second thought. For us, it has always…
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There's a first time for everything. In all of our adventures, it seems like we're always on the go. I've never really given it much thought - probably because I know there's so much more to see than we ever can - always trying to utilize as many daylight minutes as possible, wherever we happen to be. This trip wasn't going to be any different. I'd planned six hikes over seven days, sure that - even with an extra day - we had more than we could possibly accomplish. Then, our butts were thoroughly cooked on our hike up Tucki…
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On a dark, cold night in January 1952, a distress call went out over Death Valley. “Mayday. Mayday. Mayday. This is Air Force 001 bailing out north of Barstow, California,” the official crash report would later read. Soon after, the crew of six jumped out of the CIA's 16-ton, dual-engine, SA-16 Albatross plane into total darkness. The plane - under power of only a single engine and its backdoor hanging open - continued on course for several minutes before scraping a couple of summits. Then, against all odds, landed on its own - with surprisingly little damage - on an…
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For anyone familiar with recent Death Valley weather history, the impact of hurricane Hillary in 2023 will be a memorable event. After 2.2 inches of rain fell in a single day - more than the average annual total of 2.15 inches - nearly every road in the park was closed. Only a few opened within days, and a few more within weeks. Months later, many major thoroughfares were still closed. Today, more 15 months later, nearly all of the roads have been reopened, with the exception of the one we wanted to use to reach our next destination. Exiting Telephone…
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Having enjoyed our peaceful evening in Marble Canyon, our next destination was another that I'd had on my To-Do list for quite some time. Back in 2021, we'd headed up Telephone Canyon to find a remote arch and a couple old mines. We'd driven all the way to the end of the road - or at least, as far as was legal - to a wilderness sign that designated the area beyond as "Foot and Horse Traffic Only," before turning back to spend the night at, and explore, the Tucki Mine. It wasn't the wilderness sign - so much as…
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It was on the final night of our very first trip to Death Valley that we rushed through Cottonwood and Marble canyons, and we haven't been back since. It was largely the popularity of these places that kept me from returning, our preference to spend time in more remote places of the park outweighing the draw of narrows and rock art that Marble Canyon is known for. Still, it was tough to ignore the description of Marble Canyon that constantly caught our attention in Digonnet's Hiking Death Valley, and when we found ourselves with an extra afternoon at the beginning…
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Knowing that we had a huge hike in front of us, we worked our way high into the Cottonwood Mountains after returning from our hike to Leaning Rock just before 6:00pm, already an hour after dark. Having never driven White Top Mountain Road, the circuitous route remained a mystery as we pulled into a spot that we hoped would have a nice view once when the sun completed its circumnavigation of the globe. Even as we set up the tent for the night it was freezing. Luckily, @mrs.turbodb had already prepped sandwiches - at the same time we'd prepped our…
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For nearly three years now - ever since I met in a Eureka Valley silt bed - there's been a special canyon in the Cottonwood Mountains that I've known I needed to visit. canyon was one that I'd heard whispers and hints of through other sources, but never a name and certainly never a specific location. As we chatted for a few minutes - after a small tug freed his pickup from the silt - our shared love for Death Valley was immediately obvious. He shared the joys of his trip that was coming to an end; I excitedly listed…
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Our night in the southern flanks of the Cottonwoods was chilly but with a couple down comforters and a replacement Exped Megamat that did a great job of holding air and keeping us toasty warm, we slept well. It helped that it wasn't windy, too! Good morning mountains. (White Mountain - of the White Mountains - rising in the distance.) The Sierra and Inyo Mountains fought for dominance to our west. We ate a quick breakfast - it had to be, since the milk in our bowls was freezing as we spooned the cereal into our mouths - while trying…
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Winter. You will never hear me share my love for winter in the Pacific Northwest. Here, during the period of the year that lasts from the end of the September until the beginning of July, it is gray, dark, and damp. Still - for the last seven years - I find myself looking forward to the season. Winter, for me, signals the time of year for trips to Death Valley. A vast wonderland of exploration that - every time I visit - seems to reveal additional secrets and endless ideas for future adventures. After 20 trips to this spectacular place,…
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I've done a lot of exploring in and around Death Valley National Park, and have spent many a morning watching the sun illuminate the Inyo Mountains from the east. But, I've spent almost no time exploring the Inyo Mountains from the west - Owen's Valley - side. I'm not sure exactly why this has been the case - there's a ton to experience - but I suppose it's due to the fact that it's nestled between the dramatic Sierra Nevada and my favorite National Park. Regardless, I've wanted to drive the Swansea to Cerro Gordo Road - up past the…
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I slept soundly at the head of Ashford Canyon, two days of driving and hiking finally catching up to my aging body. Knowing that I'd have another long hike - and steep climb - ahead of me for the day, I spent a few minutes around camp, soaking in the sunrise and enjoying the shade that I knew I'd long for as the day went on. With the Tacoma still cool in the shade, a little glow on the Owlsheads, just as the sun is cresting the horizon. As I was eating my breakfast, I spotted this little guy near…
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Making my way south from Furnace Creek, I wasn't in any rush as I putzed along Badwater Road. With tourists swinging into the other lane to pass me by, I soaked in the ever-changing western face of the Black Mountains. Is it just me, or does it look like that guy is fishing in Lake Manley? No fish out there buddy! After passing the parking lot at Badwater, traffic thinned out significantly. Sure, there was still a bit - heading to or from Sidewinder Canyon or south towards Jubilee Pass and Las Vegas - but by and large I was…
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Driving Forever I don't know how we ever did it. Or why. Time after time, for five full years, we would spend nearly 24 hours in the Tacoma, making our way south - in a single shot - to the desert. At the behest of @mrs.turbodb, and following in the footsteps of Ken @DVExile - my Death Valley archetype - I wised up at the beginning of 2023 and haven't looked back. Still, every now and then the Tacoma has to come home for one reason or another. This time, it was to do some work on my rear leaf…
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