Two Days In Death Valley

A warm morning, no fire, and we sought the shade at the crack of 8:00am. Death Valley is exactly what our chilled bodies needed. Even though the FJ carries a real tire as a spare, it doesn’t carry a 6th tire in case you have two flats. With another cross country journey ahead of us (traversing the Mojave Desert later in the week), we decided it might be wise to get the flat tire fixed. We headed to civilization, Death Valley style, and found ourselves in aptly named Furnace Creek. The guy at the “next services in 126 miles” gas station came through on that promise and made quick work on our tire. While we waited, we checked out the camping scene in Furnace Creek, and quickly located a spot that was a substantial upgrade over the gravel parking lot at Stovepipe Wells.

With the daily chores completed, we ventured off to the narrows of Fall Canyon.
It seemed like it was a flat hike, the canyon walls stayed about the same, relative to the floor, but we kept getting tired and needed a rest in the shade. Hmmm, it must be the heat. After a 3 mile slog in loose gravel, we checked the GPS and discovered we had climbed 1500 vertical feet. Those alluvial flows can be tricky. The full scope of our ascent became crystal clear when we began the descent and could see just how far we had climbed.Next on the agenda, the marble walls of Mosaic Canyon. For the first time, we hiked with no packs and carried a simple water bottle. Hmmm, so that’s what it’s like with 20 less pounds on your back. The next day featured more heat, and another chance for us the underestimate the amount of vertical feet the trail had in store for us. We chose to venture into Golden Canyon and work our way up to Zabriske Point where we had left our bikes earlier in the day. Sorry to disappoint you film buffs, it was too hot for any of that scandalous behavior, but Wilson did pay homage to Richard Wright by listening to “Us and Them”. We checked the GPS when left the bikes, and checked again at the trail head. We were in for a measly 600 foot ascent, no problem. We started up this dry sandy wash and eventually wound our through the badlands to the base of the red cliffs in the distance. The narrow slot canyon at the base of the red cliffs provided ample shade and chance to relax.
More on the hair in a minute, there is a very reasonable explanation. After taking the spur trail to the red cliffs, it was time to tackle the rest of the trail to Zabriske Point. Amy is all smiles here, knowing that we have already beat the heat and just need to put another 400 vertical feet behind us. Yep, just over that ridge, and down the bad lands, and up the bad lands, and down. You get the picture, we climbed that 400 feet at least 5 times in the last two miles.

Our obsession with gathering firewood has been replaced with one to cool our drinks, and cool down down the shower water so it’s bearable. Yes, we said “shower”. In the Texas Springs campground, we have devised our very own shower, complete with solar heated water and strategically placed branches. Wilson is no longer wearing a hat, so the hair goes where the hair wants to. We met some more fine folks in Death Valley, the camp ground host and her dread locked husband were there for the winter, and some old timers who had just arrived for a six week stay for the 44th straight year. We liked it enough to put it in for consideration on any future trips through the Southwest. One last image from Death Valley that made us think we might be high in the Atlas Mountains of Morroco.