February Outings

There's a lot to cover, but don't worry, I've got plenty of pictures to accompany this post.

Earlier in the month, I had some time in the afternoon and decided to play tourist and hiked the Golden Canyon-Gower Gulch loop.  Golden Canyon is a pretty popular tourist stop and I was a bit embarrassed I hadn't hiked it yet.  It was beautiful.  You get up to the top and it's almost like you're looking over the Badlands of the Dakotas instead of Death Valley.

At first, my perception of the park was a barren, desolate place, with a serious tree deficiency.  However, the colors in Death Valley are absolutely spectacular.  It is truly a geologist's dream.

That's me, hiker extraordinaire, loving the intense afternoon sun.  The next day it rained and the temp dropped.  Good timing, I must say.

Last weekend I explored Sidewinder Canyon.  There were some really awesome slot canyons, a beautiful day, and a lot of climbing up dry falls.  It was good to stretch the muscles in a way they hadn't been stretched in a while scrambling up canyon walls and brush up on the three points of contact.  Awesome place.

Up the canyon, looking back towards the valley and the Amargosa Range to the north (the eastern border of the valley named Death).  See what I mean about colors?

This is one of the three main slot canyons.  I could easily reach out and touch both sides of the canyon walls in the picture below.  It got even more narrow and rather dark at times because the sun couldn't reach.  Beautiful!

Narrow!

I wasn't the only one enjoying the slot canyon.  This is a chuckwalla.  He was huge!  I wish I'd had something to give some perspective.  From head to hind feet, definitely a lot bigger than my foot.  So cool to see wildlife in their natural environment.

A very narrow passage.

Last weekend a co-worker, with a jeep, agreed to go explore some of the off-pavement trails in the park.  We stopped at a talc mine.  I'm posing with an old and long forgotten gas pump.

This is not snow but talc from the mine.  It was everywhere and was in sharp contrast to the dark, almost black, hills around us.

Remains of the old mine.

We stopped at the Warm Springs area and there was a huge mine adit! 

Looking through the bars over the entrance, I got a picture of how they shored the ceiling.  I had no desire to get in there and explore.

At the Warm Springs Camp, the original inhabitants built a swimming pool, with a diving board, where the spring water would collect.  It was so far out in the middle of nowhere in a place difficult to access (thanks I.W. for taking me in your jeep!) it seemed so out of place.  Totally cool!

Finally, we made it to our goal, Striped Butte.  It was a large outcropping of rocks in the middle of a large valley between mountains, that had the most beautiful striping on it.  There is so much here at this park that needs exploring.  It was a lovely day with great company!

I've had a few nibbles from parks for this summer.  I'll keep you posted.  Happy four months in Death Valley!