My extended DV stay

[Kauri]

The natural bridge is amazing, and the narrows in that canyon are very impressive! Great find!!

[MojaveGeek]

It varies a lot depending on location. It's also melting fast this week.  Tucki had tiny patches of snow in shady spots as low as 3300 feet this week.  The further north and west you go, the more snow there is.

Right now I can see significant snow at 4500 ft in the Grapevine mountains.  I think in the cottonwood mountains it was closer to 4000 ft where the snow line started.

Thank you! I'm getting some maps and ideas together and will be arriving at the end of the week. Forecast looks like it could be warming up quite a bit by then, highs getting up to 80 at FC. The fun part of visiting at this time of year is that you never know what the weather will be like, but you can usually go higher or lower to get whatever temps you like.

[Daymoth]

Such a nice canyon!!

[Brice]

Paid a visit to the Funeral Mountains Wilderness to climb various bat related mountains.  Bat mountain east, Bat mountain, and Bat mountain north (high point).



It was a cool, overcast day.  First look at Bat mountain East.



The imposing red-brown conglomerate pillars closer up.  I climbed to the top of the light colored band of rock, then around the right until I found a weakness in the pillars that wasn't too frightening.



From the summit of Bat mountain East, I got a good look at my next two targets, Bat mountain (left), and Bat mountain North (right).



I don't remember which of the summits this next photo is from.  It's a nice view of Pyramid peak (right) and the colorful mountains between.  The slabs are  somewhere down in the valley.



The next day I had my sights set on the mountain that separates Copper canyon from Sheep canyon, peak 5740.  It's on the NPS list, and doesn't have any recorded summits on peakbagger which makes it a little more interesting.  Only after climbing it did I remember that the ranger on the NPS guided hike pointed out this mountain and described it as a turtleback.  That's some sort of geologic formation of which I have no understanding, but it's likely the reason why it made the list.

I decided to go at it from Greenwater road, mostly because that's the side of the range I was on already and I thought the terrain would be easier overall.  If I climbed from Badwater road it would be about 6000' of gain, but a shorter distance.  Going at it from Greenwater, I ended up with 16 miles and almost 5000' of gain but I got two bonus peaks (which I had to summit twice!) and those also don't have any recorded ascents.  So that's nice.



I haven't explored Sheep canyon so I don't know how far up it a hiker can get.  Here's a photo of the upper reaches of the canyon where I expect not many people visit.  Gold valley and a snowy Smith mountain beyond.




And a view from the summit of 5740.  Sheep canyon on the left, Copper canyon on the right.

[Bluegreen kayak]

Beautiful pictures, thank you for posting and sharing them. And good luck on your continued peak-bagging adventures!

[Beardilocks]

Back to back triples. Nice!

[Daymoth]

Those look so beautiful. I usually imagine high points in DV to have hazy views so I dont usually go for them but I think im missing out. This is making me want to climb.

[Brice]

I spent some time in Cottonwood/Marble canyon this week.  I climbed up to Cottonwood benchmark and took this photo half way up of the approaching clouds.  There was possible rain in the forecast so I was trying to make quick time.  The spot where the two light colored washes meet is where the junction for cottonwood/marble canyon roads is located.



I summited, got back to my vehicle, and just managed to drive to the furthest campsite in Marble canyon, M4, when the rain and thunder began.  The upper marble canyon road was running with a good amount of water when I arrived.  Probably a combination of snowmelt and rain from the day before.   Once the rain began, it started running through my campsite, turning it into a mud puddle.  The thunderstorm passed and the water level dropped again, so I felt OK to remain there for the night.

The next morning I began my hike to find a couple of old benchmarks up past dead horse canyon.  It was a very wet and muddy hike.  I can tell the water running through the canyon was all snowmelt because my feet were icicles in no time.  This narrow section was knee deep and unavoidable.



By the time I returned back through the canyon in the afternoon, the water level had dropped so much it wasn't even flowing for the last few miles.  The thirsty ground was absorbing it all, and I only had mud to deal with.  As I drove out of marble canyon back to Stove Pipe Wells, I discovered the marble canyon road was completely gone from the previous day's flow.  Good thing I had a vehicle that could handle it.

The first campsite, M1, was completely washed away and the sign was buried in the mud, snapped off at the base.



Note, the campsite was not located in the nice flat sandy spot that is just out of the wash.  That area is off limits.  The choices the NPS made for these designated campsites confuse me.  There are so many good places to setup campsites that are not directly in the path of flash floods or small rain events like this one, while still being close to the wash and not in the "wilderness."  They could even keep the campsites in the wash but put them on inside bends where they're less likely to get destroyed.  I assume they have reasons for placing them where they have, I just don't know what they are.

Needless to say, Marble/Cottonwood is closed at the moment.

[John Morrow]

I spent some time in Cottonwood/Marble canyon this week.  I climbed up to Cottonwood benchmark and took this photo half way up of the approaching clouds.  There was possible rain in the forecast so I was trying to make quick time.  The spot where the two light colored washes meet is where the junction for cottonwood/marble canyon roads is located.



I summited, got back to my vehicle, and just managed to drive to the furthest campsite in Marble canyon, M4, when the rain and thunder began.  The upper marble canyon road was running with a good amount of water when I arrived.  Probably a combination of snowmelt and rain from the day before.   Once the rain began, it started running through my campsite, turning it into a mud puddle.  The thunderstorm passed and the water level dropped again, so I felt OK to remain there for the night.

The next morning I began my hike to find a couple of old benchmarks up past dead horse canyon.  It was a very wet and muddy hike.  I can tell the water running through the canyon was all snowmelt because my feet were icicles in no time.  This narrow section was knee deep and unavoidable.



By the time I returned back through the canyon in the afternoon, the water level had dropped so much it wasn't even flowing for the last few miles.  The thirsty ground was absorbing it all, and I only had mud to deal with.  As I drove out of marble canyon back to Stove Pipe Wells, I discovered the marble canyon road was completely gone from the previous day's flow.  Good thing I had a vehicle that could handle it.

The first campsite, M1, was completely washed away and the sign was buried in the mud, snapped off at the base.

What narrow canyon is that?  PM me if sensitive and don't mind sharing?  I can't picture a spot in main Marble Cany that looks like that, though it may be.

[Brice]

What narrow canyon is that?  PM me if sensitive and don't mind sharing?  I can't picture a spot in main Marble Cany that looks like that, though it may be.

It's marble Canyon.  I think it's here 36.59254, -117.36369