Death Valley Deep Dive 2024

[Beardilocks]

Hanaupah Canyon, off West Side Rd, opened up this last week so I decided to go check it out.  I haven't been all the way up the canyon in about 6 years and I was curious what it would be like after the flooding and road repairs. 

The road up the fan on the bench was in good shape.  A bit more heavily bulldozed than I think was necessary. 

The only warning that I would give about the road is that you can (as of today) get most of the way up the road in an AWD SUV with decent clearance.  Right up until about where Middle Fork splits off and the road continues down the South Fork.  After that it is HC 4WD only.  The gravel get loosers, the holes and rocks much larger. 

Here's the road dropping into the wash.  It's still steep!  Haha. 


Here's a big chunk of the bank that is freshly cut, about 15-20ft high. 


You can really see how much of the vegetation in the wash is just gone.  I remember the wash being full of creosote and other plant life. 


The road used to end right about here at these narrows.  Flooding over the years had washed this out and completely destroyed the wash further up canyon from here.  I was quite surprised to see that they pushed the road up further.  But looking at my USGS maps, I can see where the old right away from 1994 ended and they pushed the road right up to there.


To here actually.  Which is complete folly IMHO, as it will be washed out again as soon as the next solid storm comes through. 


I took a short walk up canyon to see how things were further up.  It was kind of shocking how much the wash was rearranged in the flooding.  Here is a shot of the confluence just past where Shorty's road comes up out of the wash.  This used to be all vegetation, not bare gravel like this.  And those are 2-4ft cuts at the bank on the left.  Crazy.


It was a real mess trying to hike up to main part of the spring.  Smashed vegetation which was covered in gravel, causing me to punch through knee deep a few times in unseen pockets.  The main flow of water is in a completely different place now. 


Heading up Shorty's road. 


The old supply shed or workshop is still about the same as ever. 








Overall an interesting trip up one of my favorite canyons in the park.  On the way out the next morning I ran into two kids (early 20's) that had somehow driven a Honda Civic up from the South entrance of West Side Rd and slept overnight at the intersection of Hanaupah and WSR.  You're only making that drive with either commitment & skill or stupidity & luck.  The first words out of their mouths when I pulled up was “Did you summit?!”  My immediate thought was “Summit what??” Followed almost immediately by “Y'all are crazy”.  Yep, they were starting out to summit Telescope from WSR.  Only about 11,250ft up.  And covered in many many feet of snow.  When I asked if they were really prepared for the snow and the climb (and mentioned the two guys getting choppered off the slopes of Telescope last winter) they turned around to show me their helmets, ice axes, and rope.  Alright guys.  I guess my thoughts on the drive in apply to summiting a snowy Telescope as well.  Good luck.