Grapevine Peak and Wahguyhe Peak in Deat h Valley

“Grapevine Peak and Wahguyhe Peak

PHOTOS: http://community.webshots.com/album/329639506sqEHUs

This weekend we were celebrating Calhiker's birthday as we made a second attempt at Wahguyhe Peak, and a first attempt of Grapevine Peak. We made both peaks, but not in one day like originally planned. The drive to the trailhead was a long one. After meeting Bishophiker in Stovepipe Wells, we still had a ways to go, including the last 20 miles on a dirt road. As a result we didn't get to sleep until 4 am and weren't able to get that early start we needed.

Saturday morning: The 4WD road to the saddle was blocked by fallen trees 0.6 mi from camp (6400'), so we drove up to 7,070' in the Jeep and hiked from there. The weight of the past heavy snowfalls had broken off limbs and toppled whole trees from their roots! I don't think I could have turned the 4Runner around on the road because it was so narrow and steep with a snow bank on one side and water flowing down from melting snow.

Grapevine Peak (8,738') was a longer hike than we expected. Although it looked close from the saddle, because of all the ups and downs, a little more effort was required. As we hiked, we encountered some fun patches of snow that gave us the opportunity to slide down on our feet. When we reached the summit, we had good views all around even though there were overcast conditions. To the west you could even make out the Sierra, including the dark profile of Mt. Whitney. We took a moment to look around and identify all the desert peaks we'd climbed in the past two years. According to entries in the register, helicopters frequently land on the summit to check repeaters. On the way down we went around the sides of the "bumps" on the ridge and made a lot better time. Just before arriving back at the saddle, we found an area with cool geodes and spent 45 minutes exploring and taking pictures. When we got back to camp, we decided to skip showers and a hot meal in Beatty, not wanting to travel the 40 r/t miles of dirt road again. We had enough food to get by, so we sat outside under a full moon, talking until it got too cold.

Sunday morning: We weren't sure what the weather was going to do, but awoke to clear blue skies after a quick, light sprinkle of rain in the night. So at 8:30 am we started our second hike of the weekend. We traversed a tree-covered slope to the saddle west of the summit, then up the steep and rocky NW slope to Wahguyhe Peak (8,628'). Last time Calhiker and I tried this peak in December there was too much snow/ice to safely continue. This time it was just loose scree & talus, but still really steep at a measured 40 degree angle. Views were great atop this cone shaped mountain with 60 degree temps and the wind coming from the north. We were able to see all the places we had been on previous trips (Fall Canyon, road to the Strozzi Ranch, Grapevine Pk, Tin Mountain, Towne Peak, Red Pass, Corkscrew Pk, Thimble Pk, Pyramid Pk, Telescope Pk, and the Sierra). We decided to descend the NE ridge because the slope we came up was so steep. My friend Jay from the Wilderness Club at work told me about the Von Schmidt Line and a monument about 1/2 mile from the summit. We found the intact monument from the 1873 survey sitting on a saddle. A rock cairn held a carved square wooden post, with "CALIF", "NEV", "1873" and "420 MI" carved on the 4 sides. For awhile I was worried that it might be buried in snow. This was a very cool piece of history to see in the middle of nowhere! Also saw some flowers we had never seen before on the NW slopes. We were back at camp by 2:30, had some birthday cake and packed up.

On the 21 mile drive out, we kept stopping to take pictures of wildflowers that were literally growing like weeds on the side of the road. I took over 100 photos of just flowers as we made our way back to the highway. Also saw cocoons of catepillars hanging in trees. It looked kinda gross as they were moving around inside. There must have been 50-60 in each one. It took over 3 hrs to drive to the highway!

The forecast had called for 20% showers, but we managed to avoid the rain. As we drove back into the park from Beatty, we could see rain coming down in the distance. A great weekend to be in Death Valley!


Photos of Wahguyhe should be up in a day or two. Separate album for the wildflowers (took over 100 photos!). I will need help identifying them
last edited: 4/27/05 2:27:22 AM”

“Neat story and photos!



Good Photo...

~BW”

“Nice Pics SnowNymph, even LOOKS cold as heck though. LOL

Oh...and nice TR too of course.
last edited: 4/27/05 7:04:12 AM”

“Happy Birthday.....big fella....

I'm really glad you guys finally bagged that conehead....sheesh...whatta ya been waitin' for.....you slackers...ha ha...

Nice pics and photos.....can't wait to see the Wayguyhe shots....”

“My Jeep wishes it had a chance for 20 miles of dirt road to a trail head. I doubt there's 20 total miles of dirt roads in my area.”

“Happy birthday to Calhiker. Those geodes were incredible.”

“Really nice pictures and trip report Snow Nymph. I've got it in my mind that I want to head to Death Valley and do Waucoba Mountain in the Inyos sometime in May - hopefully, there will still be flowers.”

“Stratusloop, we know how much you wanted this peak. Wish you could have been there. You're the one that got us started with the idea, so we tried last year, but with ice it was scary. It was scary this time without the ice! LOL! It was a pretty awesome dayclimb! Working on the pics right now.

WD, the flowers to the north were growing wild. That one stretch of road doesn't get much traffic, so it was pretty cool. Heard the flowers to the south got hit pretty hard by the 110 deg temps a few weeks ago. I missed the Waucoba trip last year with my friend Jay, but its still on my list. Just not sure when.

T Mac, the Jeep was lovin the road, especially the end on the 4WD section going over ditches and snow and running water. If it wasn't for the trees across the road we would have made it. Loved the way I was able to turn it around on the narrow road!

It was a great way for Calhiker to spend his birthday!

Yeah! The geodes were awesome!”

“SN....can't wait to see the pics!

Sitting here at my desk is a photo of the Grapevine range taken with the dunes in the foreground with Wayguyhe, Palmer, etc looming in the background.....and its an awesome site.....and a constant reminder that I need to get back there....what about we do Palmer?

Calhiker.....hope ya had a great day dude...looks like you got a cool present....very nice!

Peace out guys....”

“Beautiful pictures SN as always!
I love the lupine one..I bet bearcrossing could tell you what those other flowers are.
Yes, those geodes are amazing..you always see the coolest stuff on your adventures!
Happy Birthday Calhiker! I love his BD card, how cute”

“Being in DV was a great way to spend a birthday, and Snow Nymph's card was a nice surprise. Gave us all a good laugh!

Stratusloop - Wahguyhe was awesome! One of the best peaks I've done in DV, but also one of the rockiest and steepest. Finally made it up there, dude! Once you see the pictures I'm sure you'll be wanting to book that flight out to Cali ASAP. We'll give Palmer a try someday as well. That one looks like a beast, but it'd be nice to bag all three of those peaks!”

“PHOTOS of Wahguyhe Peak hike:
http://community.webshots.com/album/330801758CxVFaS

I've been impressed with this peak since I saw it from Fall Canyon in Jan 2004. A failed attempt in Dec 2004 (too much snow and ice). This time we made it!

I'll work on the flower photos next week. Off to Mammoth! :-)”

“You guys made me cry.....i'm speechless...

Thank You soooo much.....and I wish I was there....those photos are really awesome!!”

“Awsome picture. I am not crying stratruloop, but they ARE REALLY nice.”

“We had to do something for you Stratusloop. I know you wanted to climb that peak pretty bad, so we tried to include you somehow, at least in spirit, bro.

I'll have my pics up one of these days, and some from Bishophiker.”

“Dude....thanks again....you and SN are really awesome people.....it was a total surprise and I really truly did break down and cry....yeah....a macho man like me....it made my soul feel so happy....anyway...

Peace out my good friends.....”

“Glad you liked the poster, Joe! :-)

Here are the flower pics! I don't know all the names, and its taking forever to look it up, so if anyone knows what these are, please reply to guestbook or send an e-mail (in profile). Thanks!”

“Guess I should add the link to the flowers:

http://community.webshots.com/album/333712345oKuyGu”

“Silly girl....I was wondering when you would figure that out....but...I knew you'd catch it eventually!

Now....let's go see those pics!!!

SN....I especially like those "new" type of flower....are they called JackArses?
last edited: 5/03/05 2:52:47 PM”

“Good one, Joe! I'm slow . . .

here's Calhiker's photos:
http://community.webshots.com/album/337005414cCoeNK”