Explorations with the Ski3pins: Death Valley National Park

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The Find of the Century?

We decided on Friday afternoon to leave for a few days. We packed up the truck and readied for an early morning launch Saturday morning. Nevada was a possible destination but the weather forecast was not good. A storm front was moving to the north and dropping down into Nevada. Not much moisture, but it would hit with clouds, wind, and cold. We decided to go to Death Valley. It would get a glancing blow from the storm but less than the middle of Nevada. And, we have endless lists of things to wander off looking for in Death Valley.

The drive south on 395 was pleasant. Traffic was light. Drivers were minding their manners. After reaching Death Valley National Park, we found a large camp set up at the end of Hole in the Wall Road. We backtracked about a quarter mile and backed into a spot just large enough to get the truck level.

We called it good, and it was. We had a big chicken salad for dinner and awaited the rise of the full moon. With its brilliant light we could have walked all night, but the wind drove us down from the ridges and we returned to the camper. Wind rocked the camper all night long. The harder gusts would wake us from sound sleep. The morning was cloudy and cold. The wind continued.

Rock had brought us here. A large outcropping of sandstone is exposed here on the flanks of the Funeral Mountains. Large blocks have been carried out into the broad wash. Large blocks with fossil ripple marks.

We climbed up a shallow side canyon for our walk before breakfast. The sandstone layers were tilted. Most exposures showed interesting water forms.

We would have a fun time wandering around here for a few days!

This block of sandstone was overturned and sported reverse fossil ripples. Think of a layer of ripples being covered with a new layer of silt.

Limestone with fossils.

We put our packs together after breakfast. We would spend the day hiking up the main wash and explore an area labeled "Red Amphitheater" on our topo map. The weather was forecast to get worse before it got better. The forecast was correct. We were ready for a challenging day, but exploring this terrain made it all worth it.

When we found a little shelter from the wind, we'd stop for a break.

Across the broad wash system, to the south, we saw evidence of a landslide.

We hiked east, crossed the braided wash, and climbed up into reddish limestone.

Fossils and colorful rock caused us to stop often.

We traversed, then entered the boulder choked canyon, and began the ascent.

Doesn't this look like the lumpy bottom of a pond?

We encountered outcroppings of conglomerate or breccia.

We entered an alcove of the red amphitheater.

Our turnaround time was one thirty.

Even with the heat of hiking, we never shed a layer of clothing.

The rock was so interesting.

We returned late afternoon, brewed some Peets, and enjoyed the hot coffee with a walk down the wash from camp. Our camp is upper center in the photo below.

The Lady scanned for bighorn sheep and other critters with her seemores.

The wind was different our second night here. Dead calm would be followed by a sudden hard blast of wind. Sleep was interrupted. Sometimes the roar of the coming wind would wake us before the blast rocked the camper. Morning finally came, cold and clear.

We took way too long of a morning walk, probably four miles or so and mostly cross country. It was our discoveries that kept pulling us to go on. On a high bench in the wash, we found well preserved sleeping circles.

We walked far up the wash to an outcropping. A large shelter was at its base.

This shelter was so good, a person was living in it.

Close by was another sleeping circle.

We returned to camp very hungry for breakfast. After fueling up, we set out to explore two unnamed canyons.

The uplift in the sedimentary layers was spectacular at the canyon's mouth.

A towering cut bank of fanglomerate was up canyon.

The canyon quickly narrowed and we wondered how far we'd be able to continue.

Around a couple corners was a slick pourover with a chockstone stuck near the top. It took a bit of chimney work pushing against smooth stone to work our way up. Here's a view back down.

The canyon had an exhilarating steep gradient.

We encountered fun sections of polished bedrock.

The overall gradient was incredible.

The rock was just downright fun.

The canyon continued to call us upward.

We only traveled less than two miles up canyon but it took over two hours. The feeling of exploration and discovery was intoxicating, as it should be.

We turned around and the descent was just as much fun.

We had another short canyon to explore. It started out in the sandstone layers, many with spectacular preserved ripples. We, of course, were on the lookout for possible fossil tracks.

The shallow canyon had an excellent pourover with the sandstone.

Did you notice it? It caught our eyes immediately, that huge human like footprint to the right.

Was this fossil proof of bigfoot? Could this be the find of the century? It was at least two feet long.

We down climbed to take a look. Would we find preserved details of the foot complete with individual toe depressions? Being science minded and not the least interested in notoriety, who would be best to report this to?

We climbed up on the block, our hearts racing, and found it to be a naturally made pocket in the rock. Old prehistoric sasquatch had not traveled through these parts.

The day had warmed. The winds had subsided. We relaxed in the late afternoon sunlight back at camp. We wondered when a massive piece of mountainside would come loose and roar down slope.

There were erratic winds during the night but our long day hiking assured deep sleep. We woke to another beautiful morning.

Wouldn't you know, we had reservations for the night at Benton, almost becoming an addiction, but what a sweet addiction it is. It would not be a long drive for us. This was good because we could break camp and move on to another outcropping of sandstone inside the Park. We'd have enough time to search for an ancient rock art site.