Death Valley Stuffola – Trip No. 16, Jan. 2024

[TacoLand]

Here's a quick & dirty trip report from last week’s leisurely 16th expedition down to DVNP. I haven’t written up a trip report in quite a while as the last few trips were kind of a bummer due to: other humans; truck issues; broken bodies; global pandemics; naked cowboys; etc.

This time through I tried to jot down a few notes every night on my phone as I was falling asleep, which is quite the change of place from previous trips which were much more well-documented. It probably doesn’t help that Patagonia isn’t paying me anymore to go out and write about my trips and do gear reports. But, hey!, I have added a daily dinner report – so get stoked.

*** And if you click on the images it should provide an embiggened version for your viewing pleasure ***



Day 1

Uneventful drive down 395. Was good until Mammoth, then it turned into a thoroughfare of speeding cars until turning off at Lone Pine.

Easy and quiet drive into Panamint Valley for gas before hitting Lake Road. Short hike to stretch the legs and watch sunset hit the Panamint Dunes.

Dinner was butternut squash and green curry soup.





Day 2

Woke up to rain around six and rolled out of the truck to batten down the hatches. Wet morning. Rain picked up as time went by.

Driving into Park with almost no traffic. Heavy machinery and truck at mouth of Lemoigne. Maybe it isn’t dead yet. No customers at Stovepipe Wells. Last bottle of grape Pedialite was our reward.Furnace Creek also a ghost town and camp sites appeared widely available. Gas wasn’t too pricey — $5 Stovepipe and $5.80 Furnace.

Driving down the valley and the rain was still coming down. Almost stopped at all the tourist traps (Golden Canyon, Artist Drive) — only seven cars at Golden Canyon …. Badwater was also quiet. Lake Manly still a draw despite “playa boots.” Stopped at Sidewinder with only one other car there. Poked around to stretch our legs in the rain.

Down Harry Wade in wet conditions (but 2wd). Amargosa was bone dry unlike everything else. Long drive out to Lost Lake with the road missing for long stretches and route pretty vague in the washes. Made it and got setup as the rain stopped. Nice dry evening versus the rest of the day. Pretty tired. Cold night with heavy cloud cover.

Dinner was black bean soup and mushroom quesadillas.





Day 3

Rain picked up in the middle of the night but gear was lashed down and come morning time all of the crazy weather from the day prior had burned off.

Leisurely camp morning before making our way to Crystal Hills. Decent hike and nice weather. The zone is a bit of a dud as a destination and after two visits now I’m good. Saw a few mean burros and that’s about it. Fencing for China Lake mostly in disrepair. A few muddy / playa areas. K poked around for rocks while I walked the extra mile round trip to the lower military base gate. In better condition than anything else I’ve seen related to the base.

Drove up to radar station. Only one set of prior tire tracks. Road has maybe two decent washout areas from storms. Had to put it in 4wd for those right before reaching the top. Looks like no activity, maintenance, or updates here since last visit …. many years ago.

Great views, almost a full moon, cell service and warm until the sun set. Wind very minimal thankfully. After dinner we were treated to a 20-minute intensive helicopter/drone/??? light show on the far range in China Lake. Pretty trippy.

Dinner was a kale salad with squash and lentil soup.





Day 4

Cold morning up at the radio tower. Cut out early for warmth at lower elevations with Saratoga Spring in mind.

Harry Wade turned into an obstacle course on the way and was completely saturated with water and mud. Nothing too dicey, but not much of it feeling like a good idea. Saratoga was too muddy to want to proceed to so we headed back (through the mudlands) and up to Sand Canyon.

Wrote some postcards and drank a beer under an overcast sky. Night got chilly and seriously damp once the sun set. Got a neighbor that showed up from the south, maybe .5 mile down. Maybe more. First sign of another human in over 48 hours. It was nicer without.

Dinner was hot dogs and potato salad.





Day 5

Woke up early to a comfortable overcast morning as our neighbor drove off. We were on the trail to Sand Canyon around 9:30 and made good time, even with a few diversions to rescue multiple endangered desert balloon (finally tally for the day was seven balloons). Canyon had no tracks and was very damp due to recent rains.

Definitely could see some new wall erosions since last visit in 2021, but nothing that impeded travel until the end. Found one living tarantula and one dead. At the top of Sand Canyon the sand dune area has continued to erode and due to recent rains did not want to slog through wet sand and really track up the place, while getting fistfuls of granite particulates in our shoes.

Trek back was fast and we were back to camp in record time. A leisurely evening around the camp and then at some point the sound of a flowing river somewhere in the distance … second time I’ve experienced this phenomena at this location. Now that I’ve heard it twice can comfortably confirm it wasn’t a hallucination.

Dinner was pozole and tortillas.





Day 6

Another day with no concrete plans. Leisurely morning ensued and we discussed returning home a day early to clean the truck and gear before having to head back to work.

The Mighty Amargosa had in fact filled in while we were down yonder and made for a fun “river” crossing on the way back north.

Tourist traps all appropriately filled now with better weather and the weekend approaching. Mailed postcards and got an ice cream cone in Furnace Creek before making our way out of the Park via Daylight Pass. Stopped in BLM land at the abandoned outhouses (IYKYK) and visited with Beardilocks for a good while before making the drive back home.