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Please click here for - Part Two
Funeral Peak
Yes, Funeral Peak won out. We drove out from LeMoigne Canyon and made a stop at Furnace Creek so Deb could check on orders for her book, “The Man Who Beat Death Valley.” From Furnace Creek we drove to Furnace Creek Wash Road to get in position for our hike to the summit of Funeral Peak the following day. Julie and I had hiked to the summit on a previous trip, back in December of 2010. It was cold and windy on that trip. Things hadn’t changed much in a dozen years. It was still cold and windy.
Our early start allowed us time to make a stop at a well-known petroglyph site at the head of a broad canyon prior to making camp.
Petroglyph panels are on basalt cliff faces on both sides of the canyon. Many necessitate a climb to view them. Even at 70, I can still climb (okay, I’ll stop the 70 comments now).
I don’t know about Steve, though. I believe I heard something like this, “You got me up here and now you want to climb up there?”
I’m having a bit of fun with that caption above. Both Steve and Deb handle climbing on rock very well and love it.
We found a nice spot along the dirt road to camp. The next morning the wind remained strong and the skies clear.
Funeral Peak is to the far right, the large block with the long ramp up to the summit. As with our stay at LeMoigne, wind would be a feature of all our time spent in Death Valley. It is a long cross-country trek across the bajada to reach the base of Funeral Peak. We entered a small canyon to revisit some of my favorite petroglyphs in the Park.
Here is a panel of Coso style sheep glyphs.
And my favorite, the andromorph figure holding its head in its hand.
From the canyon, the Lady led the way up the ridge to the ramp.
It's a long slog up the ramp. Today, as on our previous hike to the top, it was a constant battle with the unrelenting wind.
The last obstacle was climbing the summit block that, fittingly, resembles a coffin from a distance.
The vistas were spectacular. Death Valley (proper) is visible to the west from the top. The ruggedness of the terrain is awe inspiring.
Julie found the summit register and got as low as she could – out of the wind – to sign the logbook.
We posed for a summit photo. The group smiled so well because of my attempts to get into place before the shutter release timer went off. I was happy to provide quality entertainment.
What goes up must go back down.
Shadows grew long as we crossed the bajada on our return to camp. The sun dropped below the horizon before we reached our trucks and campers.
The next morning, after we broke camp, we made a stop at Navel Spring. Deb & Steve had visited before and Julie and I enjoyed the explorations in the area. Navel Spring, indeed, looks like a navel from above.
Navel Spring was an important water source on the way down Furnace Creek Wash to Death Valley. The ruins of old water basins for travelers still remain.
It is also an important water source for wildlife. We doubted that water quality caused the death of this bighorn ram.
We explored the area looking for signs of ancient trails leading down into Death Valley.
We found trails, habitation sites, and petroglyphs. This was an excellent area to visit.
We had spent two nights at our LeMoigne camp and two nights at our camp for Funeral Peak. We had one more place to visit in Death Valley and wished to spend two nights there. We returned to our vehicles and headed out, anxious and excited about our next destination.
The tale continues. Please click here for - Part Four
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