Death Valley Deep Dive 2024

[Beardilocks]

This is a short trip that I took just before I left Death Valley this spring.  I have a few more trip reports to plug in here that I'm finally catching up on now that I'm back at base camp in the East. 

My reports were cut short because my folks showed up out West and visited Death VAlley for the first time and needed a tour guide. 

Due to the significance of Ubehebe Crater to the Native Americans of Death Valley and the many archeological sites in the area, I thought I would hike the ridges just to the south of the crater that form sort of the terminus of Cottonwood Mountain range and see if I could find anything there. 

It having been several years since I've stopped at the crater, I had forgotten what a stunning geological feature it is.  So I immediately proceeded to take no photos of it whatsoever. 

I did grab one of Little Hebe looking gorgeous. 


The flowers were out in force and looking magnificent, especially contrasting the black volcanic soil. 


A beautiful desolate area. 


The ridges themselves are made up of some kind of river deposit, with all the myriad stones rounded and smooth; an oddity in most of Death Valley.  I would be very curious to find out how & when this deposit was formed. 

In the end the only evidence of human activity I found on the ridgeline was several low walls that look like they could have been hunting blinds.  They're a bit too large and the wrong shape to be fallen mining cairns.  Not that this seems like a particularly good place to hunt.  But then I can't see back thousands of years either.  I lost my time travel binoculars. 





The views were certainly worth it though. 


And the view just past the crater was pretty decent as well.