Give us your DEVA backcountry plans or dreams!

[John Morrow]

Sept 25, 2021 and day 1 that I have adjusted my focus from the Cascades to the desert.  Daydreaming has begun!

What I'd like to do this fall:

explore the "bridges" canyons north of Cottonwood Gate 

Maybe access Butte Valley via Anvil Spring Canyon and Lost Spring Canyon over 4 or five backpacking nights

Try to figure out the secrets (if any) as to why no one, I mean nobody, reports on Chuckwalla and Death Valley Canyons....

What are some of your future plans and/or dreams; immediate or far reaching?

John
Roslyn,WA

[DeathValleyDazed]

What are some of your future plans and/or dreams; immediate or far reaching?

Hopefully prior to 2021 closing out. 1. Trelliis Canyon has a cool geological formation I want to explore and photograph thoroughly. It's about half way up the canyon to the right or east side. 2. Find some more salt springs southwest of Badwater and try to measure and photograph the depth. 3 Closeup of a salt spring. 4. Revisit Blue Mountain summit by a new route to check the blue box register I placed there nearly four years ago. 
http://www.salamandersociety.com/deathva...h-list.png

Finally to discover or learn about some location I had no idea existed before.

[TacoLand]

Hey John, if you figure out any secrets are you going to share them with us? 

My girlfriend and I are always talking about Death Valley and we're shooting for a January trip. We don't have any specific points in mind, rather we're looking forward to testing out my new truck down there that I'm hoping to have roughly put together by December. It's going to be a big change from my trusty 4Runner that got me through around a dozen trips down there.

Actually one spot we probably will try to make a point of visiting is Corridor Canyon as that's been on my list forever. It's a little cold and the days are a little short in January up in that area, but who knows ... White Top Mountain & Dry Bone Canyon are also there so maybe we can finally check all three off in one go.

[DVexile]

Actually one spot we probably will try to make a point of visiting is Corridor Canyon as that's been on my list forever. It's a little cold and the days are a little short in January up in that area, but who knows ... White Top Mountain & Dry Bone Canyon are also there so maybe we can finally check all three off in one go.

Well White Top will certainly be colder than Corridor that time of year

If doing the middle part of Dry Bone by heading down the bypass be sure to do a bit of route finding research in advance to save yourself awkward backtracking up talus. As I recall you'll want to stay to the right as you near the bottom of the talus slope as the terrain at the base to the left is far too steep (a cliff really I think). On the right side you do a bit of boulder scrambling but pretty straightforward.

[TacoLand]

Well White Top will certainly be colder than Corridor that time of year

If doing the middle part of Dry Bone by heading down the bypass be sure to do a bit of route finding research in advance to save yourself awkward backtracking up talus.  As I recall you'll want to stay to the right as you near the bottom of the talus slope as the terrain at the base to the left is far too steep (a cliff really I think).  On the right side you do a bit of boulder scrambling but pretty straightforward.

YYeeaaahhh, White Top might be pretty cold in the winter ... we've managed 0º camping before, but that involved a big fire most of the night.

Thanks for the heads up on what the bottom of the talus looks like. I'll add it to my notes for sure as I think a day hike of Dry Bone sounds at least doable, as much as I'd like to through hike it.

[shane]

I’m planning to backpack Gateway cyn this fall. It doesn’t look too exciting but it gives me an excuse to check out upper big fall again.

[TacoLand]

I’m planning to backpack Gateway cyn this fall. It doesn’t look too exciting but it gives me an excuse to check out upper big fall again.

Which one is Gateway? Not seeing it my copies of Digonnet or Steve Hall's website ...  Upper Big Fall was great, but doubtful I'd ever make the trek out there again. Phew!

[shane]

It’s the canyon west of 5 mile rock cyn that eventually dumps you out at the head of upper big fall. Steve referred to it as Gateway but I don’t know why.

[TacoLand]

Just gave my hard drive a better search and found a thread from the old site where you & I were talking about Gateway in 2017, sheesh.

Also see Lower & Upper Gateway Canyon on Steve's topo maps for the Upper Big Fall route. I definitely took 5-Mile Rock Canyon on my overnighter to Big Fall ... but now I'm intrigued. I can't seem to find any trip reports or photos of Gateway though, so if you do check it out share some photos if at all possible. Beats looking at everything in Google Earth.

[Kauri]

Yes, please let us know what Gateway Canyon is like! I recall Steve said he heard someone refer to it by that name, perhaps someone who hiked it and mentioned it to Charlie at the NPS, but I can't remember.