Ambitious spring break plans to go out on a solo road trip largely fizzled into a week of getting caught up on work and home, apart from a couple days camping with Heather's family at Furnace Creek. Temperatures were unseasonably exceptional with highs in excess of 104F, which made the middle of the day the best for driving or hiding in the shade or a pool. Relatedly I got a few small hikes in but it was mostly the roadside touristy variety. It had been over a decade since I had been to Death Valley proper so playing tourist was fine by me.
The first day we hung out at the mesquite-shaded campsite, got pool passes for the ranch resort next to the campground to kill the middle part of the day, then went for a sunset hike through the Mesquite Dunes with Heather and Claire. Hiking through the dunes I particularly enjoyed the various creature tracks and sometimes following them back to their makers (frontispiece).
In the morning Heather, David, and I drove to Zabriskie Point and hiked through the badlands towards Golden Canyon. I enjoyed the many shifting views of the monument of Manly Beacon as we weaved through the drainages and crossed beneath its cliffs. Here I opted to let Heather and David do a downhill through-hike down to the Golden Canyon trailhead, while I ran up a maze of washes and loose slopes to cross-country back to the car drenched in sweat, then drove around to collect them.
 |
| Manly Beacon at right |
 |
| Looking up at Manly Beacon |
Back at camp we got organized to drive out to Ubehebe Crater. I was surprised to see that not only was Scotty's Castle closed but also the entire highway through the area, essentially making Ubehebe that much more isolated. Generally the storm damage in recent years has resulted in a lot of key roads and attractions still being closed years later. It was incredibly windy at Ubehebe, which would have been obnoxious except it helped cool temperatures to reasonable. I walked the rim up to Little Ubehebe craters as rogue clouds rolled in and provided wonderfully dramatic shadows shifting across the craters, nicely highlighting the fault that cuts through the crater walls. On the drive back I did a roadside stop to check out some healthy clusters of Cottontop Barrel Cactus.
After a stop at the store, we continued on to Devils Golf Course which I always enjoy, then on to Badwater. We did a quick drive around Artists Drive with a fairly obnoxious fancy 4WD tour crowding the road. The snowy peak of Telescope Peak towering about Badwater gave a dramatic sense of elevation.
Back at camp it was a roasting hot evening. Heather and I walked around the below sea level golf course, laid down on a putting green, and then check out some chunky toads. My plans to go backpacking into Panamint City the following day evaporated as Keith's plans to meet up fell apart. The wind and heat were both suitably obnoxious that I was wide awake at 4am, and feeling fairly defeated, drove direct on home. The cool cloudy morning I arrived to in Riverside felt a world away from the furnace of Death Valley. Thanks to Heather, Chris, and Terry for handling all the food and camping. Hopefully I will get another chance at Panamint City in the near-future.
No comments:
Post a Comment