DATE 1/22/2017
IDS 27965 98106 27964 25110
GROUP furnace_1 blanco_n2_1 20-mule_team_1 funeral_mountains_wilderness_hp_1
Continued...
I was camped at the mouth of Titus Canyon Rd in Death Valley NP, and upon
rising at 6a, found it raining lightly outside with moderate winds. The
forecasted storm had arrived and would keep the entire park (and
indeed, much of the state) heavily overcast and precipitating the entire
day. This was desert, right? I had to remind myself that even desert regions
get some precipitation and this week Death Valley was getting much of
its meager yearly allotment. It will probably help bring a banner year for
wildflowers, still months away. At the end of January there was
little that could be said to be green. The ground was saturated with moisture,
more than I've ever seen on my many visits to the desert. The Amargosa River
was slowly
flowing a light, muddy brown and in many places I walked today I could feel the
cushioning effect of the saturated soils, occasionally sinking an inch or two
where it felt more like quicksand. It was quite a change from the usual dry,
hard earth found here most of the year.
Because I had no idea how long the rain might last or how intense it could
get, I decided to do some short hikes on my drive south through the park. I
found a trio of such candidates along SR190 along Furnace Creek Wash. All of
these are featured in Courtney Purcell's Rambles & Scrambles, though I
didn't have the book with me for reference. I found them on my GPSr and winged
it as I went along. None were more than a mile from where I parked, so how hard
could they be?
Funeral Peak
Found 2/3mi from the highway on the north side,
this makes for a short but
tricky ascent. Much of the peak is surrounded by soft, badland-style soils
that can be treacherously unstable when wet. I went up one such route from the
south but found a much better route down the southwest side
where the slope
was less steep and the footing more solid. I took a photo from the
summit looking northwest towards Furnace Creek, but today wasn't
one for views due to the weather conditions.
Cerro Blanco / 20-Mule Team Peak
Found on the south side of the road not far from the first summit, these two
peaks are most easily reached from Twenty Mule Team Canyon
and the scenic park
road that winds through it. This was once a bustling mining district and there
are still remains of such activity, but aside from some borax, little of value
was ever extracted. The colorful canyons and badlands
are quite picturesque, much like nearby Artist's Palette and Zabriskie Point.
Cerro Blanco is the highpoint of a cream-colored ridge adjacent to the
scenic drive. There are many informal foot trails found throughout the area.
The Park Service doesn't seem to mind as there are no signs restricting hiking
activity in the area. I started from the highpoint of the scenic drive
found at the southeast end of the Cerro Blanco ridge, following
a footpath up the soft feature as it heads northwest towards the
highpoint. The trail traverses lower on the southwest side to avoid much of the
ridge. There are good views overlooking 20-Mule Team Canyon
and the Furnance Creek Wash from the summit.
After returning to the van, I continued south
to 20-Mule Team Peak, about 3/4mi
in that direction. The easiest (and only reasonable) approach is from
the northeast,
following a series of lower-angle drainages that lead to the
summit. There are some treacherous-looking badlands to the north of the summit
that are best avoided. I found a minor variation on the way down that took
me over a lower, white-colored ridgeline before descending into some interesting
badland washes and back out on the remnants of an
old mining road through the
canyons.
Funeral Mtns Wilderness HP
I drove back out to SR190 and continued southeast for 10mi to tackle a P1K in
the Funeral Mountains that had eluded me on a previous effort. Found between
Pyramid Peak and Bat Mountain, the highpoint of this rocky outcrop is a P1K
and the highpoint of the Funeral Mountains Wilderness. Previously, I had
climbed the eastern summit a mile from the highpoint thinking I had reached
the highest point. Only later did I realize the western summit is slightly
higher by 40ft. When I pulled off SR190 southwest of the summit it was raining
a little heavier than it had been earlier while hiking the other three summits.
Before I could get my act together to leave, the rain started coming down
heavier yet and it caused me to delay starting. The clouds obscured all but the
lower few hundred feet of the Funeral Mountains -
there would be no views from
this 5,300-foot summit today. I waited for just over an hour, reading my book
while the rain oscillated between moderate and light. Eventually around 1p I
decided it was time to brave the elements or punt altogether as I would run
into daylight issues if I delayed any further.
The six-mile roundtrip hike was an exercise in immersing myself in the
elements - rain, snow, wind and cold. It might be described by others as
"battling the elements"
but I don't like that term which suggests a fight. When one
side is completely indifferent and incapable of losing, it isn't really a
fight. And though I was concerned more than a little at times, it was grand
fun. Below about 4,500ft the terrain was wet, a cold wind blowing fiercely
over the ridge roughly south to north. During the ascent, I found solice from
the wind by traversing on the northwest side as much as I could. The rock was
primarily limestone which afforded excellent traction even when wet. Once
above 4,000ft there began to appear ice patches on the windward side of the
rocks and shrubs, the result of freezing rain transitioning with the elevation
gain. Above 4,500ft, the leeward side
of the ridge was covered in an inch or two of snow,
making travel on that side less pleasant. I would pause periodically
to add a layer of clothing or change out my damp gloves, moving from leeward
to windward side as the terrain and weather seemed to warrant. The wind grew
steadily stronger the higher I went, roaring like a freight train near the
summit. Had the summit been another 1,000ft higher I might have had to turn
back, but at 5,340ft it seemed just about as much as I could manage without
feeling desperate. Relying entirely on the GPSr for navigation (I certainly
would have failed with map/compass on this one), I found my way to the summit
where I found no cairn or register, all the summit rocks encrusted with snow
and ice, and could hardly hear myself think. Snow was blowing ferociously
across the summit, making it impossible to even pull out the camera for a
picture.
I had originally planned to take an alternate ridgeline on the descent, but
was not feeling so confident given the weather conditions. It was much safer,
I deemed, to simply follow the GPSr track back the way I came. I would have
to refer to it every minute or so to keep heading in the right direction, down
the correct forks in the ridgeline, back the way I'd ascended. A few momentary
clearings of the clouds showed that I could probably have descended any slope
and gotten back more easily than following the undulating ridgeline, but I
insisted on following the safety of the GPSr track until I was nearly back
off the ridge. The rain never let up, but the walk back across the valley
floor was an easier affair with the lessening of the wind. My overmittens
weren't as waterproof as I might have liked, leaving my wool gloves damp and
my hands chilled by the time I returned to the van after 4:30p - I was
happy this 4hr+ outing didn't last another hour or more.
After starting the van to warm the interior, I stripped off my wet and damp
clothes and distributed them about the van to begin to dry them out. There
would be no shower routine today. I would
drive south an hour or so past Death Valley Junction until I was near
Shoshone where I found a place to spend the night. I tried a few places that
were a too wet and precariously saturated to hold the van (it would suck to
find myself spinning my wheels in the morning), eventually finding something
more solid off the road just north of Shoshone. If the weather gives me a
chance in the morning, I'll climb something in the area before heading home.
Now it was time for dinner...
Continued...