Fall Canyon
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| Entrance to Fall Canyon |
We came in from the north end of Death Valley and stopped at the mouth of Titus Canyon for a short hike up Fall Canyon. The flowers at this elevation have not peaked yet but there was a good mixture. The hike up the canyon was fun and interesting. 8 miles.
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| Golden Evening Primrose |
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| Desert Five-Spot |
Once reaching the dry waterfall that requires a class 3/4 climb to get above we turned around. It was a good warm-up for the hiking we would do for the next few days. Besides, there were lots of flowers to see at the southern end of the valley.
We spent the afternoon driving south with the most extensive displays all beyond Badwater. The heavy fall and early winter rains made for some spectacular views.
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| Desert Sunflower |
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| Death Valley Phacelia |
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| Purple Mat |
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| Desert Five-Spot |
We made our way up Warm Spring Canyon at the south end of the valley in the late afternoon and explored the old mining site. Since primitive camping is allowed in this part of the park we were home for the evening, and staged for a hike the next morning up the canyon.
Warm Spring Canyon
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| Fremont Phacelia |
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| Warm Spring Canyon |
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| Rock Nettle |
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| Golden Evening Primrose |
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| Fremont Phacelia and Fiddleneck |
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| Golden Evening Primrose |
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| Pincushion |
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| Locoweed |
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| Phacelia |
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| Rock Nettle |
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| Striped Butte and Manly Peak |
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| Golden Desert-snapdragon and Desert Star |
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| Sunset over the basin |
Wingate Wash
Map Link (tracked one way - 18 total miles)
Bird List
This hike was a whim, picked at random from the map. We had no idea starting out what we would find, but the large fields of flowers drew us in. We mostly followed the alluvial run-out of Wingate Wash climbing ever higher until it was time to turn around. This wash goes for many miles, we managed only 9 miles of it before turning around. We couldn't have asked for a better day - the flowers were epic, the scenery fascinating. The surprise of the birding day was the sheer numbers of Sage Thrashers. Obviously in peak migration now, we eBirded 28 but could easily have seen double or triple that number.
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| Wingate Wash |
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| Wingate Wash |
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| Interesting mud formations from recent flooding |
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| Gravel Ghost |
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| A happy flower peeper |
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| Golden Desert-snapdragon |
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| Phacelia |
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| Desert Velvet |
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| Says Phoebe nest with 4 eggs |
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| Old mine |
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| USGS bench marker at mine |
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| Phacelia |
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| Do they get lonley? |
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| Purple Mat |
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| Desert Five-Spot |
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| Desert Five Spot |
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| Another mine entrance |
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| Lunch time |
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| Lava flow |
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| Desert Gold Poppy |
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| Bigelow's Monkeyflower |
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| Desert Five-Spot |
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| Shoe pollen! |
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| Broad-leaved Gilia |
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| Broad-leaved Gilia |
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| Dodder (Cuscuta) - a parasitic vine |
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| Desert Dandelion |
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| Phacelia |
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| Spotted Langlosia |
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| Sage Thrasher tracks? |
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| Another beautiful sunset |
Sidewinder Canyon
Map Link
Bird List
Our final morning had us hunting for keyhole slots in a very interesting canyon. There are many internet resources with GPS waypoints on the location of these slots, so we took advantage and headed in. The main canyon starts out very wide and narrows to nothing a couple miles in. Along the way the keyhole side slots are there for exploring. Point-and-shoot photography of these dark spaces is 'iffy at best, so I encourage you to make this fascinating place a destination if you have a chance. We had a lot of fun! Reaching the back of the alluvial section of the canyon, we climbed the wall and traversed down along the south rim. It was time to head home.
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| Sidewinder Canyon from above |
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| Traversing the canyon edge |
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| Looking north toward Badwater Basin |
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| Final descent to the car |
Wow, a very interesting trek. So many excellent photographs really helped tell the story of the area when on rare occasions the flowers are in magnificent bloom. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteOK, that was effin amazing. Couldn't have done that trek in a life time.
ReplyDelete