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The Heat Is On
After a February snowstorm that dropped five feet of snow here, the weather took an extreme turn with unprecedented temperatures 25° above normal. It was another roller-coaster event with our changing weather. The heat was on, and we were planning on meeting friends in Death Valley National Park. We switched our plans around to stay at higher elevations.
Yes, there is an access point into Death Valley National Park signed like this.
We were at what is called North Pass.
The women went to work airing down the tires for the miles and miles and miles of washboard and rough roads ahead for us.
Many times it’s a difficult decision for me on how or where I should start one of our stories. So, this one? Should I start with Convict Lake? Or Benton Hot Springs? Or the Reggae Festival in Tecopa?
We met up, once again, with our friends the rubberlegs, Steve and Deb from up in Washington State. This spring trip was planned around Deb, an artist, author, and historian, scheduled to give a talk at the Museum in Shoshone. The talk was canceled because of the Reggae Festival taking place in nearby Tecopa. Reggae in the desert, who would have thought?
But, it freed all of our time and we ended up at the top of North Pass, airing down tires, earlier than we expected. And in the middle of a heat wave. Our route took us down into Saline Valley. Reaching the bottom of the graben, (and Steve would quickly say, "We were 'horsting around' to get there.") we turned east on Bat Road and made a short stop at the Warm Springs. It was 95°. We continued east, climbing up toward Steel Pass and made camp just below the start of the “rock garden” section of road below the pass. We were in place to attempt the summit of Saline Peak the next day. It was hot.
The Lady, as planned, woke us all at 0500 hrs for an early start. With none of us yet acclimatized to the heat, we made a group decision to hold off on Saline Peak and take a couple of days to adjust. So, after breakfast and lowering our camper tops, we made our way up through the rock garden, needing to spot each other through about four sections. The Lady and I have grown quite fond of the rear locking differential in our new truck. We settled into a campsite at the top of Steel Pass and then, now at a cooler, higher elevation - but still hot - donned our packs for a hike into a nearby canyon.
A short ways up from camp we came upon a beautiful Panamint Rattlesnake.
These creatures are magnificent and we’re always thrilled when we come upon a rattler.
The vistas were grand of the Inyo Mountains to the east. And that is Saline Peak in the upper right.
And White Mountain Peak (a 14er and the highest peak in the Great Basin) far to the north.
We reached the mouth of the canyon we sought and started up into this exquisite cathedral.
The Lady and I had explored up this canyon in a snowstorm back in November 2011 and have yearned for an opportunity to return. Our thanks to Deb & Steve (and the Reggae Festival) for this opportunity. In 2011 we were searching for a “Marble Bath” and we found even more. What more could we find 15 years later?
From my narrative in 2011 -
“Was it a cartographer’s joke? That’s what many think. On the old topo maps a spring symbol was placed near the top of Steel Pass, an odd place for a spring, and odder still was the name, ‘marble bath.’ People looked for it. People got tired of looking for it. Somebody took matters into their own hands and fulfilled the map’s dream, providing a bath full of marbles.” (photo from 2011)
“We had found one marble bath. Was there another, was there a real marble bath? Having explored many canyons in Death Valley we knew it was common to find polished bedrock basins in winding narrows. Places that look like marble and bath tubs. Was it possible the little spring symbol had just lost its way; misplaced by that cartographer we thought was joking? There are several canyons that line the edge of the Last Chance Range. We would take a look.”
“Would we find a narrow slot canyon? Would we find slickrock and dry waterfalls? Would we find waterholes that would draw the bighorn sheep to drink and the ancient people who depended on them for food?"
"Yes, we did. We found the treasure we were seeking. Did we visit the real 'marble bath'? We will leave that one as a remaining mystery. These seldom visited mountains and canyons are delightful to explore on foot, to climb up into, to discover what is around the next bend.”
A pair of Peregrine Falcons screamed at us as we entered the narrows. Probably near a nest site, we quickly moved up canyon and away from their area.
This canyon cathedral is a gallery of ancient rock art - Storied Rock - both petroglyphs and pictographs. We were in awe of the treasures we found.
DStretch applied to help bring out the fading pictographs.
There were also historical inscriptions from the very early 1900’s.
We enjoyed the fun climbing and scrambling required to move up this canyon.
We were treading on sacred ground and moved through these incredible narrows with quiet and respect.
The petroglyph above, to me, looks like a human figure coming down the slick dry falls in this canyon.
We continued up, anxious and excited about what may be around the next bend.
We were further up canyon now, further then the Lady and I had ventured back in 2011. The canyon opened up.
This was a route over the Last Chance Range to Death Valley to the southeast; quite possibly the reason for this canyon’s importance to the ancient peoples.
It became time to turn around, reenter the narrows, and retrace our steps back to our humble and comfortable campsite.
It's fun to speculate that Dr. Seuss would call the above a "Toupee Plant."
We celebrated a wonderful day filled with exploration and discovery back at camp as the cooling evening air settled around us. We had so much more ahead for us as this adventure unfolded.
Our adventure continues in the upcoming Part Two.
Looks like another great trip! Thanks for letting us tag along!
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