I had never backpacked Death Valley

“Cottonwood Canyon, Death Valley
April 5-6, 2003

Photos:
Cottonwood Canyon Backpack with Stikmon and Sonja
Hiking out solo


I saw a thread on “Death Valley in April” but didn’t want to commit to a backpack, especially when the snow in Mammoth was so good. Then I saw the “East meets West” thread and Stikmon replied that the Westerners weren’t responding. That got my attention.

It was a tough decision, but in the end it made sense to give my ankle a rest before I really did some damage. On March 18th, I hit the ankle pretty good on a bump, which made the board chatter on the toe side. The result was a throbbing ankle and I had to cakespread down Cornice. This cost me 2 days off the slopes. Since then I’ve been cautious, putting the brakes on anytime I see anything that might hit the toe side hard. We hiked up the Sherwins 3 days later with our snowboards, which didn’t bother the ankle at all. It also gave me the itch to hike again. So this backpack in Death Valley was perfect. I had never backpacked there, so it was something new for me. We emailed, got all the info I needed to get there, and left Friday night. Twenty five miles off Hwy 395, white stuff started coming at me! It was snow! It only lasted a few miles, but it was neat to see it in the desert. I drove the unfamiliar winding road in the dark with only a sliver of a new moon, and finally pulled over when I started hitting the side of the pavement/dirt. I couldn’t tell if the sides cliffed out or what was out there. I slept so good!

I woke up Saturday morning feeling good! The place I pulled over was a turnout on Town Pass (4,956’). I drove 18 miles to Stovepipe Wells (5’ above sea level), and drove around the area to kill time. Stikmon and Sonja talked to Ranger Charlie for trail info, then met me at Stovepipe Wells. After a few pack adjustments we drove 10 miles, thru some cool narrows, and to the junction of Cottonwood/Marble Canyons (1,188’). It was noon by the time we got started, but we had a cool breeze to keep us from getting too hot. Sonja kept finding neat rocks, and looked under everything. Stikmon was taking pics of flowers and zooming in with his macro lens.

We took a lunch break at a big cave complete with a jug of water and a fire ring. A perfect place to camp, and with a view! Stikmon entertained us by playing his flute, amplified by the cave. Neat sounds!

An hour later we were on our way again. As we wandered up canyon we were finding all kinds of cool things to photograph. We dropped our packs at one point and wandered up a canyon with white slick marble-like walls. We climbed up the mini-dry falls til a boulder blocked our way. No way we could climb over it and get down safely, so we turned back. We got to the Road End (10 miles/2826’) at 5:40pm and set up camp. We cooked dinner, listened to Stikmon and his flute, watched the starry skies, and talked til 9:30pm. What a great day!

After a good nights sleep, Stikmon got up early and had breakfast while watching the sunrise on the surrounding ridges. I thought everyone was asleep, so I didn’t rush to get out. I had breakfast, and an hour later Sonja got up. After realizing the time changed, we packed up. We took our group shot, said goodbyes, and left the road end at 11:20am. Stikmon and Sonja headed up canyon for two more days in the desert. I headed back, but ended up taking pictures of everything around. I had to delete photos so I could take more. I stopped at the cave to get my extra water and it was ice cold. I added lemonade mix and sat for 10 minutes enjoying my cold drink and a quick snack. About a mile from my truck my feet got so hot I switched to Teva’s . I wondered why I didn’t do it earlier.

This was a great weekend to spend in Death Valley and it was nice meeting another TTer!”

“More photos:
Hiking out solo ”

“Great shots guys. Looks like a great rtip.”

“I also much enjoy backpacking in Death Valley. We have backpacked the Fall Canyon area twice (great narrows), Hungry Bill's place once (endless possibilities over there on the west side), and Sidewinder canyon once.

November and March were temperate times to be there, too.”

“I have to go back and hike the rest of the loop sometime. Stikmon had a great trip planned out! The part I did could be driven with a 4x4, although a few places looked pretty rough. Maybe in November.”

“nice trip report and pictures. Cool picture from inside the cave.. Only Snow Nymph can rest an injured ankle by backpacking! LOL”

“Technology! They're still hiking and you're posting trip pics. lol

Cool stuff!! So was this an exceptional year for flowers and did you hit the peak?”

“Thanks for the trip report Snow Nymph! Great spring desert flower pics!

Hey, since I've got your attention, do you have any advice on where to stay while I'm in Mammoth over the Easter holidays. Hotel/motel? Must have a hot tub!”

“Just finished viewing your photos...NICE!!! Looking back on them made the bigassed smile pop back on my face.

You should be glad that you didn't continue on with us...I will post complete Stikmon styled details later this week...but for now...this was a STELLAR!!! trip, Thanks for hangin with us for a short time...and...thanks to Ja for creating Death Valley...Sonja and I survived...hehehe.

Oh yeah...I took like 490 photos, so editing them down to 60 on webshots will be a daunting task, I might just have to set up 2 albums. We'll see.”

“Stikmon, I was wishing I took the extra day off. I bet I would have loved it! Can't wait for your trip report. I almost called you on your cell to find out how Telescope conditions were. We ended up backpacking in a storm (which was kewl!!!). Trip report later.

Skibum, Sorry I didn't get here sooner. I think Motel 6 is easy to get into. I heard one guy tried carcamping the first night, then got a room at Motel 6 the next night. There's some kind of hostel (ULLR, I thing) on Main Street and Minaret where you can get a bunk. If you want to car camp, I can tell you some easy access places just outside of Mammoth. For showers (if carcamping), go to the front desk at Mammoth Mtn Inn and ask for a shower. For $5 they'll give you a towel, soap and shampoo. I know a lot of people steal showers from the MMI or some of the condos. Sorry we'll miss you. Have fun, its dumping right now!”

“Bring on the trip report... and the tons o' photos!! lol”

“OK, was the bottle house near Rhyolite?? Been there, done that, if so (and what's up with Sonja and the house guy?? LOL!)”

“ryolite ghost town...pretty neat, but I didn't mention it in my trip report, after what we had been through...a chooch stop, just didn't seem to be too exciting, we did go to Beatty and had shots and beer, while awaiting our Pizza, which we ate while touring Ryolite. Then went and got more beer and got quite tight back at the CG at emigrant pass.”