The far southern end of the Sierra Nevada runs into the great southern deserts, so we’ve included these hikes that we’ve taken off highway 178 and 190 in Death Valley and the vicinity. The hiking here is a little different. There is very little water, and most of the trails take you deeper into trouble. In Death Valley, there are very few marked trails at all, and yet use trails simply cover the hills. You can go pretty much anywhere you want...as long as you can get there, and get back out again. The photo above is the moon rising over Lone Pine California...just about at sunset. The foreground is in shadow because behind us towers the highest peaks in the Sierra, including Mt. Whitney.
What we have listed here are Day Hikes in this area...  Golden Canyon—maybe the best day hike in the Valley itself, this is a great adventure, climbing up from about sea level to Zabriskie Point, and then back down again, this time through Gower Gulch. It's a bit of a disappointment to get to the cars and parking lot at Zabriskie Point, but after a quick snack, we just headed back down the trail and left the rest of the tourists behind. We saw only two groups of people on the Gower Gulch section of the trail. Narrow canyons, beautiful eroded rock, wonderful vistas, and more geology than you can learn in a year, all in about six and a half miles. But do this one in the spring, when temperatures are pleasant. In the summer, the climb up Manly Beacon and beyond would drain you of every drop of sweat. The photo at left is from the upper reaches of Golden Canyon, looking out over Death Valley and towards the snowy peaks of the Panamint Range.
Mosaic Canyon—a great hike out of the Stovepipe Wells area, this one climbs up into a series of beautiful narrow canyons.
Grotto Canyon—this one was highly recommended, but we had our reservations. We didn’t drive all the way to the trailhead—the last mile required a steep dip down into the wash of the canyon, and our two-wheel drive SUV was our only way back. So we parked it there and hiked in. Once inside the canyon we were stunned by the first grotto…and stymied too. It was just a bit more than we could manage to climb up, without feeling a bit unsafe. So we admired it and then turned around and climbed the canyon next door. Also nice, but without grottoes. Oh well.
Check out our trip blog: Death Valley--Mother Earth unveiled  |
And they cast a long shadow in the later afternoon. This is a wonderful part of the Sierra, and the gateway to the great deserts beyond, including Death Valley. Which is the photo below.