(2021-10-17, 01:36 PM)bbbb Wrote: Also, his route (in yellow) from Marble Canyon to Racetrack Playa looks neat. He leaves the canyon and heads north to Sand Flat before going west to Hidden Valley. When I hiked this area a couple of years ago (in blue), I pretty much did a straight line through Ulida Flat...

Someday I really want to do this route.  An option looks possible to loop back with the 3rd side canyon of Marble head above Sand Flat.  A route that I thin k I remember you scouting from Sand Flat.
I regret, somewhat, that I only day hiked this past trip.  But H2O is always my limiting factor.  Caching near Burro area makes it real possible.

Y'all have grand plans! I'd be happy if I could day hike Sugarloaf Peak. And maybe tackle the "Rockslide Route" on Panamint Butte.   
But there are some big hikes in other areas that have priority this winter.  Worse, for various reasons, these all seem like distant dreams right now...hopefully things will sort themselves out soon and I can get back to peakbagging!

Reviving the old thread here. Anyone have any plans for the 2022 winter season?

I'm (finally) getting back out west and plan to spend a month or two in the park. I'm hoping to do some exploring in Greenwater Canyon, get deeper into the Armagosa, hike an overnight loop on the Sand Flat/Hidden Valley area, hike a few canyons off of Steele Pass Rd, and a bunch of other stuff TBD!

There are a few through hikes I would love to do if only I could cache a spare vehicle at the end. Lol.

What's your favorite backcountry/off the beaten path hike or dream hike? Or what are you hiking this year?

Might have a gap in my schedule from late December thru the beginning of February, and the one thing I'd still really like to see is Corridor Canyon. Last few trips to DVNP have been really frustrating due to backcountry impact and lack of etiquette from other visitors, so would probably focus on the Owlshead area as it attracts the least amount of idiots. Other than that ... we shall see!

I'll likely be there for some parts of Dec/Jan/Feb.

Corridor is ABSOLUTELY worth the effort. Stunning hike that goes through a surprising number of landscapes on the way in. One of my favorite day hikes from the last few years. I'd love to do that one through to Saline Valley at some point.

In my two trips to the Owlsheads I haven't seen a single other soul. Well, other than donkeys and military vehicles on the road...

I was last in DV winter 2019/20 and it was already getting overrun with idiots in the backcountry pre-pandemic. I'm a bit worried about what I'll find now.

I'm hoping to finally get back to DV this 2022/23 hiking season, after not having been able to get to the main part of the park since early 2018 (I did visit the Eureka Valley in December 2020 though). I'm finally finishing grad school this summer and starting a teaching job in the fall, so my future travel plans are still totally unknown though.

There's an unnamed canyon I have been wanting for many years to hike someday, east of the Ubehebe/Crankshaft Crossing road, to hopefully get a view from the ridge into the Eureka Valley. Of course, that'll now depend on road conditions/closures...

(2022-08-21, 04:57 PM)Kauri Wrote: There's an unnamed canyon I have been wanting for many years to hike someday, east of the Ubehebe/Crankshaft Crossing road, to hopefully get a view from the ridge into the Eureka Valley. Of course, that'll now depend on road conditions/closures...

East of Ubehebe/Crankshaft into Eureka Valley?   Am I turned around somehow?  That view would be epic into Eureka Valley.  

I recently read about someone taking a route I’ve often wondered about: Eureka Valley to Sandy Peak.  So apparently there’s a hijab or hikeable drainage N/NNE out of Eureka Valley towards Big Pine Rd.

(2022-08-21, 06:07 PM)Beardilocks Wrote:

(2022-08-21, 04:57 PM)Kauri Wrote: There's an unnamed canyon I have been wanting for many years to hike someday, east of the Ubehebe/Crankshaft Crossing road, to hopefully get a view from the ridge into the Eureka Valley. Of course, that'll now depend on road conditions/closures...

East of Ubehebe/Crankshaft into Eureka Valley?   Am I turned around somehow?  That view would be epic into Eureka Valley.  

I recently read about someone taking a route I’ve often wondered about: Eureka Valley to Sandy Peak.  So apparently there’s a hijab or drainage N/NNE out of Eureka Valley towards Big Pine Rd.

Oops, yes, I am notoriously guilty of getting things backwards! (My brain seems to think, "Crankshaft is east of the ridge so I say east" when what I'm really trying to say is that the ridge is west of Crankshaft...)

I think I was looking at two spots, the ridge at 37° 7'35.83"N 117°36'36.30"W, or the ridge at 37° 8'55.01"N 117°36'54.25"W (which I now think is very close to Sandy Benchmark).

It's been so long since I've visited DV, I was just looking at Google Earth to refresh my memory of this potential hike and I'm really second-guessing myself what's a realistic hike and what isn't, whereas years ago I felt like I could read the terrain better and know where I'd be likely to run into issues.

Cool.  Both of those look doable in different ways.  First one seems plausible if maybe a bit of a scramble at the end. The second is definitely doable from Big Pine Rd. 

If you’d like to check out a few photos from that ridge there’s a guy on FB named Hiker Dan who has did Sandy Peak (and many others) with some really killer pics.

https://www.facebook.com/hikerdancom

Depending on whether my planned, insane November trip deep into the Sahara happens, I might do a Death Valley trip instead. Its amazing what the perspective of a 30 mile death march and driving the worst roads of my life, provides...