Ever since our very first trip to Death Valley - when we passed through Butte Valley for a single night - I've loved this little pocket of paradise in the Panamint Mountains. While many seem to take joy in the cabins sprinkled around its perimeter, the highlight - for me - has always been a pile of granite boulders with the most fabulous view of Striped Butte. I am not the first to enjoy this place; it has certainly been a resting point for thousands of years. Still, I've never spent more than a few daylight hours in this wonderful valley, and I was delighted to finally plan a three-day excursion that would allow me to poke around a little bit, discovering more of the glorious secrets in this Butte-iful place.
Two Planes Down | Butte-iful #1 - Ever since our very first trip to Death Valley - when we passed through Butte Valley for a single night - I've loved this little pocket of paradise in the Panamint Mountains. While many seem to take joy in the cabins sprinkled around its perimeter, the highlight - for me - has always been a pile of granite boulders with the most fabulous view of Striped Butte. I am not the first to enjoy this place; it has certainly been a resting point for thousands of years. Still, I've never spent more than a few daylight hours in this wonderful…
From a Canvas Door to a Fallout Bunker | Butte-iful #2 - We were parked on the alluvial fan of Warm Springs Canyon, which is a fancy way of saying we'd voluntarily set up camp at the mouth of a wind tunnel. A tunnel that - not long after we got settled in bed - was, predictably, performing flawlessly. Luckily, we'd oriented the tent in such a way that we were in no danger of it folding up with us inside, so after closing the door flap - to prevent direct hits from the oncoming blasts - we were rocked to sleep through the remainder of the night. We'd both wish we'd…
Hermit Hideouts of Redlands Canyon | Butte-iful #3 - I was so excited to be camped in my favorite spot in all of Death Valley National Park - with an amazing view of Striped Butte - that I was ready to go even before our alarm went off in the morning. Is it time yet? Knowing that I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, I wiggled my way out of bed and down the ladder to grab my phone and a battery pack that I could use to set up a timelapse of sunrise in this special place. Good morning, Striped Butte. Like the feeling of relief that…
Hiking Striped Butte | Butte-iful #4 - Good morning, Striped Butte. Unlike the previous morning - where I'd been so excited to be in Butte Valley that I'd woken up nearly an hour before sunrise - I was able to sleep in a little later on our second morning. But not much. The reason was right out the tent window. There was - so to speak - an elephant in the valley. An elephant known as Striped Butte. For all my love of this place, we'd never climbed its imposing slopes, and I knew that if we didn't climb them today, it could be years before we'd…
It's Not Safe | Butte-iful #5 - Energized after our morning climb up Striped Butte, we'd pretty much wrapped up everything I'd planned for our three days in Butte Valley. Still, a big part of a visit to this Shangri-La is the 4wd route through Mengel Pass and Goler Wash - both of which had been heavily impacted by storms in late 2025 - so exiting out to Panamint Valley would give us a chance to check out the road conditions as well as a couple other attractions that I was curious about along the way. Goodbye, Striped Butte, you were as mesmerizing as always! Making it…
Sauerkraut Trail | Butte-iful #6 - Having had a wonderful three days in Butte Valley and the Panamint Mountains, our flight out of Las Vegas wasn't until 8:00pm, which afforded us an unusual opportunity: a leisurely morning in camp and plenty of time to work our way east. Knowing this, we'd also planned to take care of a few items we'd deferred on the last several trips - washing the Tacoma, vacuuming the interior of the cab, unloading all of the recycling that'd been piling up in the Trasharoo since December - all things that needed doing, but "eventually." Anyway, things were going to plan as…