On our way to the Mule Tail Mine after hiking Upper Marble Canyon. Pastel skies - and Telescope Peak in the distance - as we searched for somewhere level. After a bit of a struggle to find a reasonably flat spot along the Mule Tail Mine road where we could set up camp, it was pitch dark when we climbed into the tent a little after 6:15pm. We were asleep 45 minutes later, well before a reasonable bedtime. It was also windier this evening than it'd been on the previous three that we'd been in Death Valley National Park. Rather…
9 CommentsTag: Telescope Peak
The last quarter of 2025 has not been kind to Death Valley National Park. Major flooding occurred on September 19th, wiping out many roads that'd only recently reopened after hurricane Hillary went through in 2023. The September rains couldn't have happened at a worse time. The NPS - already historically underfunded in my opinion - had been gutted by asinine firings and government cutbacks. Budgets for managing and maintaining our National Treasures had been reduced dramatically. This resulted in cleanups that took longer than ever, a situation that was further exacerbated by a government shutdown - over the availability of…
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I have no real goal around peak bagging in Death Valley, but something fun just happened, and so now I'm keeping a list. Maybe someday it will become the basis for more. While @mrs.turbodb and I were enjoying our first Fall 2025 trip to Death Valley, I shared with her that we'd be climbing Funeral Peak on the last day of our adventure. Keen to see what Digonnet had to say about the hike, she pulled up Hiking Death Valley on her Kindle and was surprised to find that the hike wasn't listed at all. However, it did mention (highlight…
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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…
12 CommentsOn a ridge at 8,133 feet above sea level, Mahogany Flats campground is reasonably well-known for cold, windy conditions. Luckily for us, the wind wasn't too bad, but temps did drop down into the 30s for much of the night - a nice change, actually, given that we we'd brought along two down comforters and had been rather warm on the first couple nights of this trip. We'd camped here - unusual for us, given that it is a campground and we generally prefer a more secluded setting - the night before in order to set ourselves up well for…
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