Death Valley National Park – BOOTS on the TRAIL

Salt Creek (Death Valley National Park) 13-Nov-2021

2021-11-132021-11-20Posted in California, Other Stuff, U.S. National Parks & MonumentsTagged Day Hiking, Death Valley National Park, Hiking, Mesquite Dunes California, Salt Creek California4 Comments

After five days of ceaseless adventuring, we faced the long drive home on the morrow. So, for Adventure #6, we decided to visit close-by attractions – Salt Creek and Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes – that we’d previously by-passed in favor of more remote, less crowded destinations. We beat the crowds at Salt Creek but were engulfed by them at the dunes – but we still got to see some interesting stuff.

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Saratoga & Ibex Springs (Death Valley National Park) 12-Nov-2021

2021-11-122021-12-12Posted in California, Other Stuff, U.S. National Parks & MonumentsTagged Death Valley National Park, Ibex Springs California, Road Trip, Saratoga Spring California2 Comments

We had one more day of 4×4 available to us, so we decided to make Adventure #5 a visit to Saratoga Spring and Ibex Spring at the south end of Death Valley National Park. This proved to be a day of minimal hiking and much off-road driving. We could have gotten to Saratoga with a 2WD car but a high-clearance 4×4 was a definite plus for the short, but lumpy, ride out to Ibex.

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Rogers Peak (Death Valley National Park) 11-Nov-2021

2021-11-112021-11-18Posted in California, Hiking, U.S. National Parks & MonumentsTagged Day Hiking, Death Valley National Park, Hiking, Mahogany Flat California, Rogers Peak California, Telescope Peak5 Comments

We’d spent yesterday bouncing around in a 4×4, so today we needed to hike. A long, long time ago (i.e., 1974), Wayne, Diane, and I climbed Telescope Peak, the highest point in Death Valley National Park. That proved to be a truly memorable trip but one we weren’t interested in repeating. But, inspired by nostalgia enhanced by memory loss, we decided it would be fun (loosely defined) to hike to a closer, lower peak within sight of Telescope. Rogers Peak (9,993 ft / 3,045 m) is only 5 miles round-trip (8 km) from and 1,800 feet (549 m) above Mahogany Flat. And you can see Telescope from its summit. Plus it’s slightly taller than nearby Bennett Peak. So summiting Rogers became Adventure #4 of our adventures in Death Valley.

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Saline Valley (Death Valley National Park) 10-Nov-2021

2021-11-102021-11-17Posted in California, Other Stuff, U.S. National Parks & MonumentsTagged Death Valley National Park, Road Trip, Saline Valley California3 Comments

When we were tossing around possible adventures for our time in Death Valley National Park, Wayne and Diane mentioned that they’d always wanted to see Saline Valley, which is about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Furnace Creek. I had been there once before in the mid-1980s; The LovedOne had never been there. Saline Valley is one of the most remote and hard to reach places in the park. While you can make it there and back in a 2WD vehicle (bring extra tires!), a high-clearance 4×4 increases your chances of not spending many unplanned hours stuck in the desert. Since we had access to a 4×4, why not go for a visit?

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Sidewinder Canyon (Death Valley National Park) 09-Nov-2021

2021-11-092021-11-16Posted in California, Hiking, U.S. National Parks & MonumentsTagged California, Day Hiking, Death Valley National Park, Hiking, Sidewinder Canyon California, Willow Canyon California8 Comments

Sidewinder and Willow Canyons run next to each other on the west side of the Black Mountains about 30 miles (48 km) south of Furnace Creek. The hike to either starts from a minimally signed gravel pit just off of the Bad Water Road. We hiked to the waterfall (which was running!) in Willow Canyon in 2017 and had planned to hike the slot side canyons in Sidewinder that same day. On that occasion, our car was the only one in the parking lot when we left for Willow. When we got back not too much later, the lot was near to full and lines of people were heading for Sidewinder. We decided to hike it later. We didn’t appreciate at that moment just how much “later” later would prove to be. So Sidewinder became (finally) Adventure #2 for this year’s trip to Death Valley.

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