Death Valley in one long day

[mdod]

We know we can't see everything. So how long is the drive out to Panamint Springs? It looked like a long way which is why I wasn't planning on going there. There's another issue too. The friends we're staying with in Vegas want to come with us for at least part of the trip. We will not be able to cover as much ground if they stay with us the whole time. Would you still suggest going to Panamint Springs if it meant dropping Golden Canyon Trail?

[Mark Sedenquist]

Panamint Springs isn't the destination -- the reason you would do this leg is to see more of the park and drive over Towne Pass. For me, I would skip Golden Canyon and do more of the park.

....Actually, what I'd do is.... Take the Wildrose Road over Emigrant Pass (but only if your friends are not bothered by steep narrow roads) all the way down to the Panamint Valley Road and then north to Panamint Springs -- go to Crowley Point and then back east on CA-190 over Towne Pass (so it's a loop) and then back.... It's a drive you'll never forget!

If you get an early enough start -- you could do this leg too!

Mark

[mdod]

I posted my entire trip report at Fodor's forums but I wanted to copy the Death Valley section here too since you guys helped me out a lot.
Our plans got turned around when our original flight was cancelled. Then we ended up having to go to an Urgent Care Center to have 25 cc of fluid drained out of my husband's elbow (from bursitis?) when we landed in Vegas so Red Rock was out but we did have a nice dinner with our friends.

Our friends know that we pack a lot into our days but they said they wanted to drive with us to Death Valley to see the wildflowers and the Pupfish. I told them we only had a day to see the place so we'd need to leave early if they were driving with us. I would have left at 6 AM but we gave them a break and aimed for 7 AM ;-). We hit the road from the north side of Vegas at 7:15 AM and arrived at Zabriskie's Point at 9:15. What an impressive intro to Death Valley. Next stop was the Furnace Creek Visitor's Center and Museum. There were scattered wildflowers along the road and a rock garden with wildflowers at the visitor’s center. They said this year's display wasn't much but, seeing AN Y flowers in Death Valley is amazing to me. I didn’t get my camera out quickly enough to get a picture of the roadside elevation sign for Furnace Creek (Elevation -190 Feet) and then forgot to take one later. We spent about 20 minutes at the museum and then headed to Salt Creek Flats to walk the boardwalk along the creek and watch the spawning Pupfish. It was entertaining to see the males chase off other males that came into their territory while the females seemed to hide out in groups, probably trying to get some rest from those pesky males.

We’ve seen and climbed big sand dunes at Kitty Hawk, NC so we decided to just admire Devil’s Cornfield and Mesquite Flats Dunes from the car but Mosaic Canyon is definitely worth a hike. We got there around noon and spent 90 minutes wandering around in there. The first part of the trail has a really neat slot canyon with curved, winding, smooth canyon walls. Near the end of the narrow section there is an area of large smooth rocks that you have to climb up in order to continue on. Many people were having trouble with that, including our friends. IMHO, you’ve seen the best part of the trail by then anyway so don’t sweat it if you can’t get past those rocks. Shortly after that, the canyon opens up and you walk along a wide gravel path. We veered off on the footpath that climbs up a small ridge on the right that parallels the trail. The path is narrow with steep scree slopes on both sides. I wasn’t too proud to go back down on my butt! If you look back toward the trailhead from the top of the ridge, you get a great view past the canyon walls and into the main valley. I asked someone who was returning from the end of the trail and they said the trail went another 30 min or so and the canyon narrowed again. We didn’t have time to go on because we had to head back and meet up with our friends that got hung up at the rocks. They had made it past the rocks and were resting in the shade, waiting for us. Just before reaching the narrow canyon section, the guys had to explore a large, flat, slanted rock section leading up the canyon wall on the right. There’s a small footpath that goes up through there too. They said the view was worth it so I followed them up there. From the top we could see the trailhead parking lot below and all the way across the valley to the Panamint Mountains.

By the time we got back to the car, it was time for lunch so we continued down the road to the picnic area at Emigrant. Calling it a picnic area is a stretch. There were bathrooms and a water spigot but there were only two picnic tables there, which were both in use. Fortunately there were campsites across the road with an open picnic table that the campers let us use.

We made it down to Badwater (-282 feet below sea level) at 3:30. When you get out of the car, be sure to look at the sign high up on the mountain behind you that marks sea level. Right near the parking area there was a little pond with patches of salt crystals on the surface. It’s amazing that that is all that’s left of a huge lake. We walked out toward the middle but it’s hot and, other than being able to see the mountains behind the parking area, the salt patches didn’t look any different out there to me. I’d sure like to know where the deep “potholes” on the well-beaten path out into the valley came from though.

As we headed back north, we stopped at Devil’s Golf Course. Nobody else thought it was worth getting out of the car. I got out to take a picture of the prop golf tee and ball there and to listen for the “ping” that the salt crystals supposedly make when they get really hot. I walked around for a few minutes while listening and looking for special crystal formations but apparently it wasn’t hot enough because I didn’t hear anything. We noticed that the valley was starting to get a little hazy. We assumed it must have been dust being kicked up because it obviously isn’t humid there.

We drove Artist’s Drive and hiked out to Artist’s Palette. It wasn’t a long walk but I was under whelmed by the view. I guess I was expecting a lot of colors. There is a big rock there that makes for a good photo-op. There was a pullout on the right, farther down the road that I thought was more interesting. There was a path leading down from the parking area onto what looked kind of like a washed out road winding through a road construction site with mounds of sand of different colors: orange, yellow, purple, etc.

By now the wind had kicked up so much dust that, even though there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, we couldn’t even see the mountains across the valley. So much for our plans to hit Dante’s View on our way out of Death Valley. But it did give us a little more time to hike Golden Canyon. If I had to choose, I would pick Mosaic Canyon over Golden Canyon. We thought the section out to the Red Cathedral was the best part of the hike. You get views of Zabriskie Point from below and it ends in an enclosed area with sheer red walls but when the trail marker says .25 miles to the Red Cathedral that must be as the crow flies. We were hurrying because we told our friends we’d turn back after 30 min. We had made it to the .25 mile marker pretty quickly so we decided we had plenty of time to make it to the Cathedral. So on and on and on we went. At every turn we kept thinking it had to be just around the corner. At 15 min we had to climb through some boulders that led to the Cathedral. After admiring the view from below, we climbed up the rocks across from the sheer walls for a great view of the horizon from above. Then we hauled butt, making it back 5 minutes late.

We drove through 20 Mule Team Canyon on the way out. There was so much dust that the sun looked like the moon, adding to the surreal feeling of the place. 6:45 PM and we were headed back to Vegas. We didn’t get to see Dante’s View because of the dust but we hit everything else on our wish list.
I think a full day and overnight in Death Valley would have been perfect for us. That way we could be there at night to see the stars (although we wouldn't have seen any that night!) and be there for the sunrise views and a morning walk in the dunes.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Good write up -- I like the photo possibilities at the Devil's Golf course, -- the crystals are pretty dang amazing. One of the places you should have stopped was the gardens at the Furnace Creek Inn -- lilly pads and koi see extremely out of place in Death Valley and it the striking oasis of those gardens is very special.

It has been windier than normal of late -- lots of dust here in the Las Vegas valley.

I just drove through a section of the Sawmill Canyon Road near US-93 that was covered with thousands of Apricot Mallow in full bloom -- orange flowers in every direction-- pretty awesome.

Mark

[mdod]

Furnace Creek Inn did look like an Oasys as we drove by but unfortunately we didn't stop. That would have been neat to see the pond but I might not haven't gotten my friends out of there ;-).

Yes the wind in Vegas was crazy that night and the next day. Our car was blowing all over the place on the way back from Death Valley and on the way to Zion the next day.

Thanks again for all your help. I've found another great site for trip research.