Death Valley Adventures Steve Hall's Death Valley Adventures
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"Welcome everybody to my Trip Planning blog for future hikes I am researching to take in Death Valley."-- Steve Spring 2010 Short Trip BreakPosted on March 9th, 2010
(above) View of the mysterious Crystal Hills in Death Valley
After doing the 4 days of epic hiking in the Owlshead Mountains, I took a short break from my Spring 2010 trip. Now I am set to resume hiking in Death Valley to a wide range of destinations starting on Wednesday or Thursday. Once that happens, I will check in again from Death Valley at the first opportunity. Until then, I leave you with a great view of the beautiful Crystal Hills in southwestern Death Valley.
HIKING MILEAGE UPDATE
Day 1- Nemo Cyn / Mud Spring (5 miles), Day 2- Talc Cyn overnight (9.5 miles), Day 3- Owlshead Cyn (13.5 miles), Day 4- Sagenite Cyn & Owl Lake (11 miles), Day 5- Lost Lake & Epsom Salt / Crystal Hills (19 miles).
Total to date for Spring 2010 Trip– 58 miles
Day 5- Lost Lake & Epsom Salt / Crystal HillsPosted on March 8th, 2010
(above) Chilling out on Lost Lake
(above) Getting a picture with the Epsom Salt Monorail ruins:
Day 5– Lost Lake & Epsom Salt / Crystal Hills
After hiking out to Owl Lake, we set up camp at the trailhead for Lost Lake. Overnight, it rained for probably 6 hours. Fortunately, my tent did its job and kept me dry. I awoke to warm sunshine and a beautiful rainbow, which kept us company on the long hike out to Lost Lake. After walking out to the lake, we went up a nearby hillside for some viewpoint pictures of Lost Lake. In the afternoon, it was on to the Epsom Salt Works & Monorail, which is located in the beautiful Crystal Hills. I’ll have more info in my Trip Reports in a few weeks, but the Crystal Hills are basically a spectacular blend of Artists Palette and Zabriskie Point. That tells you all you need to know, it’s a very pretty area. I’m headed home now for a brief break from my Spring trip to rest up a bit. More to come in the near future.
Day 4- Sagenite Canyon & Owl LakePosted on March 8th, 2010
(above) View down from Sagenite Hill into Sagenite Canyon
(above) Relaxing on Owl Lake
Day 4 started with a visit to Owl Hole Springs, which I found interesting enough to write up a Trip Report on later. Then, it was on to the destination I had been waiting 2 years to visit and explore: Sagenite Canyon. Sagenite Canyon and Sagenite Hill were both awesome places to visit. I will have to make sure to thank Niki and Jamie when I write up my report, because this place is fantastic (if you like pretty rocks). In the afternoon, we hiked out to Owl Lake, which was about 5 miles each way.
Day 3- Owlshead CanyonPosted on March 5th, 2010
(above) In the slot-like part of upper Owlshead Canyon
(above) Backpacking across the Amargosa River
On Day 3, I woke up with the warm sunshine in the Owlsheads and hiked deep into Owlshead Canyon. And for as boring as the wide lower canyon was, the exciting upper canyon more than made up for that. I found an awesome slot-like area and 3 magnificent dry falls before my progress was stopped once and for all. The 1st dry fall took me an hour to bypass, and it still probably was a bad idea. But of the 4 officially named canyons in the Owlsheads I have explored so far, Owlshead Canyon is the best.
Day 2- Lake Manly & Talc CanyonPosted on March 5th, 2010
(above) Steve in Talc Canyon
(above) Steve kayaking Lake Manly
On the morning of Day 2, I had a chance to kayak out on Lake Manly. I was able to get lots of pictures, so I will write up a Trip Report for Lake Manly upon returning home.
In the afternoon, I backpacked up into the Owlsheads. The plan was to camp in the middle of Talc Canyon and Owlshead Canyon, thus giving me a chance to fully explore both canyons over a 2 day period. After crossing the strong current of the Amargosa River, I cut through the drainage of the Confidence Hills and set up camp. Then, I still had a few hours of daylight, so I fully explored Talc Canyon. The best part of the canyon was towards the end, after it started narrowing down.
Day 1- Nemo Cyn & Mud SpringPosted on March 3rd, 2010
SPRING 2010 TRIP
(above) Steve in the Mud Spring Side Canyon
Well this is my first update from Death Valley and I’ve only been here a couple of hours. I arrived in the park at 4:45 pm driving up Wildrose Road. Realizing that I had almost 2 hours of daylight left, I decided to do an unplanned hike down to the middle of Nemo Canyon. Nemo Canyon is one of my “secret spots” in the park that is really special to me. I went up the Mud Spring side canyon to check on the water flow, and found that there was barely a trickle. Most of the plants were all dead, but there was water in two locations of the Mud Spring side canyon. Round-trip from the parking area above Nemo Canyon down to Mud Spring and back was about 1 1/2 hours and 4 total miles.
I have to be honest, the weather and wind is miserable here. If I could have read what was on the Morning Report before leaving home, I would have stayed home. The weather is expected to be really bad this weekend. If I can’t take it, I will just drive home. But I’m here for now.
Trip Reports Master List increased from 150 to 170Posted on February 15th, 2010
Steve waiting for his next DV trip
In preparation for our 2010 hiking plans in Death Valley, we have increased the number of Trip Reports on our Master To-Do List (the main page of the site) from 150 to 170. In reaching this new number, we dropped 1 destination and added 21 more. This new number reflects many of the hikes we are planning to undertake in 2010 and beyond. Here is a look at the updates.–
Anvil Spring Canyon Backpacking, Upper Trellis Canyon, Trail Canyon N Fork, Skidoo Mine, Needle Peak, Skookum Mining Camp, Grave Canyon N Fork, Grave Canyon S Fork, Dry Bone Main Side Canyon, Lower Dry Bone Canyon, Marble Main Side Canyon, Bighorn Gorge Main Side Canyon, Harris Hill & Shorty Harris Canyon, Lost Burro Mine, Kerdell Prospect, Epsom Salt Works & Wingate Wash Dry Lake, Drone Canyon, Echo Canyon & Inyo Mine, Nevares Peak, Ryan BM (Greenwater Range), Jubilee Mountain, and Funeral Peak.
We are due to undertake our Anvil Spring Canyon backpacking trip during the month of February. And our Spring trip will take place in March or early April. Here are some of our planned destinations for this Spring (in no particular order).–
*- backpacking overnight
1- *Lower Dry Bone Canyon
2- Dry Bone Main Side Canyon
3- *Grave Canyon North Fork
4- Grave Canyon South Fork
5- *Talc Canyon
6- Owlshead Canyon & Contact Canyon
7- Bighorn Gorge Main Side Canyon
8- DV trail volunteer work assisting Chico State spring break students
9- open date (possible Marble Main Side Canyon)
10- Indian Pass Canyon
11- Sagenite Canyon & Owl Lake
12- Lost Lake & Epsom Salt Works
13- Mill Canyon
Anvil Spring Canyon Backpacking PlansPosted on January 18th, 2010
Originally, I was hoping to backpack the Fall-Red Wall loop in February, which would allow me to see Upper Fall Canyon, Upper Red Wall Canyon, and also summit Mount Palmer. However, this January there have been storms hitting Death Valley, which has resulted in snow fall. Due to the abundance of snow, I needed to find an alternative to the Fall-Red Wall loop. This alternative needed to meet 4 criteria– (1) water availability, (2) interesting scenery and destinations, (3) ability to hike as a loop, and (4) lower elevations. After much research and studying of maps, I came up with a good alternative.
Anvil Spring Canyon Backpacking Loop
Day One- 4 miles backpacking from Panamint Mine Road (1300 ft) to Lost Spring (2150 ft) via Lost Spring Canyon.
Day Two- 9 miles backpacking from Lost Spring to pass (3200 ft) to Squaw Spring (3350 ft).
Day Three- no backpacking (see day hikes below)
Day Four- 10 miles backpacking from Squaw Spring to Mesquite Spring (1650 ft) to parking area via Anvil Spring Canyon.
Optional Day Hikes
Day One- 6 miles round-trip from Lost Spring to Sugarloaf Peak (4819 ft) with an elevation gain of 2669 ft.
Day Two- 6 miles round-trip from Squaw Spring to Needle Peak (5808 ft) with an elevation gain of 2458 ft.
Day Three- 12 miles round-trip from Squaw Spring to Striped Butte (4773 ft). Also explore Little Spring, Fivemile Spring, Willow Spring, and surrounding area.
Anvil Spring Canyon Backpacking Route
Minor Trip Report RevisionsPosted on January 9th, 2010
I’ve been working on some minor revisions to a few trip reports. As they are updated, I will post info on them below so you can check them out if you would like.
Panamint City Backpacking– this report was updated with 2 new photos (which are the first two seen on the page) and as there were previously two pages, they have now been merged into one page with some updated commentary. I have backpacked to PC three times so far, and they are all covered on the newly merged page.
Panamint Sand Dunes– reorganized, 13 additional photos (increased from 22 to 35), new commentary.
Saline Valley Sand Dunes– reorganized, 6 additional photos (increased from 22 to 28), new commentary.
Hidden Sand Dunes– reorganized, 25 additional photos (increased from 22 to 47), new commentary.
Saline Valley Warm Springs-- 3 additional photos (increased from 8 to 11), new commentary.
Surprise Canyon– 9 additional photos (increased from 39 to 49).
Wyoming Mine– 16 additional photos (increased from 35 to 51).
more to come soon…
Winter / Spring 2010 PlanningPosted on December 22nd, 2009
Well, my plans are starting to come together for the next few months. I actually was invited to go backpacking in the Owlsheads with some friends a couple of weeks ago, but sickness prevented me from joining them. (Which is frustrating because they found some incredible stuff and had an amazing trip). Let me share with you my plans, some of which are definitive and some under consideration…
SPRING 2010 TRIP:
*Indian Pass Canyon– Everything I’ve heard about this hike tells me it is a great one to do in the Spring. I plan on dayhiking it from Hwy 190 and going about 8.5 to 10 miles each way.
*Marble Peak– It’s time to step up and do this hike. I’ve got two options, hike it from the Eureka Dunes or hike it from the opposite side of the range up the old closed 4wd road to Skookum (this road is shown on most maps). The second option is a little longer, but the driving is shorter and it might prove to be very interesting.
*Dry Mountain– I give a lot of respect to anybody who has ever accomplished this hike. It’s a great journey and a good portion of those who set out to do this hike fail to finish it. Thus, I think it will be a great challenge.
*Cottonball Marsh– A couple friends of mine hiked out there this past Spring and found the pupfish after searching for several hours. Whether or not I can find them, I still think this would be a nice walk / hike / exploration for the Spring.
*Mill Canyon– This hike is impossible from Lake Hill Road as an out and back in one day. It’s just too far. That leaves two options: catch a ride and be dropped off at South Pass and one way hike back to Lake Hill, or hike down and back from South Pass (not exactly a fun prospect, but possibly a necessary evil.) Mill Canyon intrigues me based on the reports of a very small number of people who have hiked it.
Also on the schedule: Striped Butte (can’t believe I haven’t been there yet), Happy Canyon (perfect in the Spring), Moonlight Canyon (in for sure).
Other potentials include: Tin Mountain, Sand Canyon, Talc Canyon, Pyramid Peak, Mount Perry.
BACKPACKING:
Fall Canyon / Red Wall Canyon loop– My friends who did the Cottonwood-Marble loop with me this past Spring would like to do another backpacking trip in Death Valley in late February. So far, this is the best destination I have come up with to take them to. I’m thinking that we can backpack up Fall Canyon to the spring and set up camp there for two nights. On day two, we can do a dayhike up to the summit of Mount Palmer (snow conditions permitting). Then, on day three, we can cross over and backpack down and out of Red Wall Canyon.
Owlshead Mountains– I also have plans to head into the Owlshead Mountains and do a little bit of solo hiking / backpacking sometime within the next few months. I would like to loop hike Lost Lake and Owl Lake, explore Sagenite Canyon fully, and check out the Epsom Salt Works.