Continued...
My second full day in Death Valley was a blustery one. The wind had started up
the previous afternoon and wasn't forecast to run its course until later this
evening. And "blustery" is a bit of an understatement - it was roaring to the
point that I had trouble standing up on the summits. It was hard to reconcile
this with "fun". I had some longer hikes in the 6-10mi range in mind, but
decided those wouldn't give me an easy out if I wanted to abandon the effort.
I thought about heading home early, but with my wife off in Southern California,
it would be pretty lonely by myself sitting around the house. No, I needed to
tough this one out, and to make it easier, I decided to do a series of shorter
hikes connected by drives that would give me some respite from the wind. This
seemed to work well enough and overall I ended up enjoying the day more than I
had expected.
Peak 2,747ft
This was the last summit I had left to do in the Dublin Hills, a minor point
with just over 300ft of prominence, less than a mile south of SR178. Because
of the wind, I slept in a bit longer than I had the previous day, and though I
had camped only a few miles from my starting point, it wasn't until nearly 7a
that I got started. It was a short climb , going up
in a fairly direct line to the summit. When I got to the
top in 20min, I noticed there were two more points to that
looked like they might be higher. I spent 10min traversing the summit ridgeline to the , eventually figuring they were indeed higher, though
I couldn't tell which of the two was highest. Later, I would get LoJ to update
the summit to the middle point. I went from the
northeasternmost point, which filtered into a different gully than the one I'd
ascended, neither proving obviously better. I was to the Jeep an
hour after I'd left.
Peak 2,975ft
This summit is also found on the south side of SR178, some miles to the west
of the first summit. It is tucked behind some folds in the hills, making a
direct approach from the highway a little tricky. I was happy to find a cherry
stem into the Death Valley Wilderness that I could drive to a saddle a mile and
a half east of the peak. It would have the unusual property of a starting point
that was higher than the summit I was after, though barely. The route follows
, now in the Wilderness, down to that
flows past the peak on . It made for one of the better
outings of the day because the wash was partially blocked from the wind blowing
south over a ridgeline on that side. Once near the peak, I climbed up
to reach on the peak's east side,
then followed class 2 slopes up to , taking about 45min from
the start. It was blowing strongly over the summit, so I didn't stay much longer
than it took for and to leave . On a
calmer day, I probably would have followed the undulating ridgeline back to
where I'd parked, but it was far too windy to be enjoyable for that length of
time. Instead, I dropped back to and followed
that back .
Peak 1,269ft
This minor summit is found west of Jubilee Mtn and Jubilee Pass, about 3/4mi
south of SR178. I parked along the road and
started from there. This was , taking just over half
an hour up of . I would take
on the way back. There is a good view of Jubilee
Mtn to from the summit, and a fine overlook of the immense
Death Valley to the , and . There
was still plenty of snow to be seen on the flanks of Telescope Peak on the west
side of Death Valley. I left at the summit before starting
back down.
Shore Line Butte
This standalone summit rises from the floor of Death Valley, a few miles
southwest of the from where I started. The hapless
was used to crush gold ore from the Ashford Mine, about five
miles deep into the Black Mtns to the northeast. The mill changed hands several
times, but never seemed to become profitable and was eventually abandoned.
are one of the minor NPS attractions in the park. The hike
with a gentle descent across the sandy valley, crossing
(all underground at this point, normally), before
hiking to the base of Shore Line Butte. The butte is really a collection of
folded terrain, generally rising to something not quite butte-like, but flat
enough that the name seems quasi-appropriate. The northern part of the butte is
dark volcanic vomit that looks exceedingly tedious - essentially slopes
completely covered in toaster-sized rocks. I chose to follow up a wide and
obvious that narrows to a
going up the middle of the butte on the east side. I found mule and people
tracks to suggest others have thought this the better way, too. By taking the
appropriate branches as one climbs higher, this wash-becoming-gully can be
followed nearly to the summit. I wasn't paying close attention and climbed out
of the wash to the northwest a little too early and paid for it by climbing
extra elevation and a slope that was half-treacherous, half-annoying in its
steepness and looseness. The true highpoint was another quarter mile to
, but once off the steep slope, this was an easy hike -
normally. The wind seemed to have hit its maximum as I was traversing between
the wrong and , making me pause regularly to brace myself
against the buffeting, then moving again in slow, jerking motions. It was so
loud and disorienting that I could hardly think straight. At the summit an hour
after starting out, I found a register left by Barbara and Gordon
, filled with 15 pages of
entries. It was a struggle to photograph the pages with the wind whipping them
about, but I managed to get most of them in focus before putting it away and
heading back off the summit. I descended directly to the east into the start
of , the route I should have used for the ascent - so
much easier. It would take only 45min to make the return trip, by which time
the winds were beginning to ease some.
Peak 1,614ft
Found in the southern part of the Black Mtns, Peak 1,614ft made for the most
interesting summit of the day, having some bonifide class 3 scrambling, though
only a smattering. From the Ashford Mill site, I drove back south to the
junction with SR178, then further south on the well-graded dirt Badwater Rd that
cuts through the Wilderness. From a distance, the peak looks difficult, with
cliffs that needed to be avoided and some route-finding challenges. I parked
off the roadway about 2mi and started from
there. The first half hour and change was spent hiking across the not-so-flat
desert flats, with lots of to make it more
difficult than the usual desert crossing. The wash I ascended on the south side
of the summit was equally taxing and I was none too happy to finally get to
start climbing out. I found a decent that I
north to gain the more formidable . The
had some actual scrambling. This part was pretty enjoyable
until I hit an impasse that I thought might have me in trouble. There was a
30-foot drop to a notch that I could not easily see a way down. Bypassing it
looked difficult on both sides, but after a few minutes I discovered the south
side had a few class 3 options to get me to so I could
continue on the ridge. I had to bypass other obstacles on the north side of the
ridge, but the last 1/3mi or so went nicely right up the spine of the ridge,
now all class 2. There seemed to be two points vying for highpoint at either end
of the short . LoJ has the spot elevation at the eastern
end as the highpoint (the topo map shows an additional contour there), but after
, I think the western point was the highpoint, and it was
there that I left my last .
On , I found an alternate descent route off the south side
of the SW Ridge, down just before I had returned to the notch
I'd struggled with earlier. The gully was all class 2, but slow going due to
. Once back down , it
was another half hour through the rough wash section to to
the Jeep. It wasn't until after 4:45p when I finished up, only about 15min
before sunset. I had hoped to do one last easy summit, Round Mtn, about 10mi to
the south, but it would be well after dark before I would get there. I broke out
, and had an enjoyable drive south to Round Mtn where
I would spend the night. I got to cross where it
was flowing above ground, easy enough in the Jeep, but
it would have undoubtedly made me nervous in the van. With the wind finally
settling down, it was a quiet, lonely night in this remote part of Death Valley
under a broad sky full of stars - not a bad place at all to rest up for the
next day...
Continued...