2022-12-30, 08:38 AM
I've been to Death Valley in great weather when there's no rain danger. I've been when there are storms and I definitely wanted to stay out of the canyons. But I've not been when scattered showers are in the forecast, which is what's showing for my trip next week. I'm still building my desert-hiking chops, so I hope all the experts on this forum can help me and other readers learn. At what point does one say "nope" and scratch a canyon hike? When there's a flash flood warning? When there are dark clouds in the sky?
I had planned to spend a couple of days exploring Trail Canyon. While the drainage area is pretty large, most of the canyons seem relatively wide open. I've noted a few high spots to pitch camp so as to stay out of any potential floods. Am I a fool to be heading out there with showers in the forecast? Or could this be a manageable situation with reasonable precautions taken?
Do you have any other tips or advice for light rain days? Are there resources somewhere online I can check out to learn more? (Searching Death Valley and rain on Google just brings me pages and pages of news articles about the floods this Summer.)
Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge.
I had planned to spend a couple of days exploring Trail Canyon. While the drainage area is pretty large, most of the canyons seem relatively wide open. I've noted a few high spots to pitch camp so as to stay out of any potential floods. Am I a fool to be heading out there with showers in the forecast? Or could this be a manageable situation with reasonable precautions taken?
Do you have any other tips or advice for light rain days? Are there resources somewhere online I can check out to learn more? (Searching Death Valley and rain on Google just brings me pages and pages of news articles about the floods this Summer.)
Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge.