February long weekend

[Daymoth]

Im back from an awesome long weekend! 

This is the latest weve been in DV since like the first time ever, we usually go in december/january. Was not looking forward to the temps. But maybe the lizards and pup fish are out and I finally get to see them! 

Milion thanks to Kauri for your reports and map, to MojaveGeek for the huge amount of tips and to Bluegreen kayak because I lack imagination and used your trip report shamelessly to pick destinations. 


Friday leave home after work. Drive drive drive drive. Sleep in a rest area. Drive drive get to death valley late morning saturday.
Went to check out the Artist Palette canyons.

Dip #1 was very beautiful with nice views of the panamints and the initial obstacles were easy enough we could figure them out and enjoy the challenge. We eventually ended in a huge pile of rocks that got a bit tedious, and having another 3 canyons to check out, we decided to turn around.






OH HELLO THERE!

[Daymoth]

Dip #2 was absolutely FANTASTIC. Fun scrambles, green and pink rocks, golden narrows. You name it. We had a blast.





To be continued...

[DeathValleyDazed]

Loving the color and contrast in your images. If you can ever get up and over the east ridge of Artist Palette and drop down into the drainage between Borax Benchmark and Artist Palette a whole new world opens up. The area composed of Golden Canyon, Manly Beacon, Red Cathedral, Zabriskie Badlands, Twenty Mule Team and Corkscrew Canyons, Borax Benchmark and Artist Palette and Drive are my favorites to explore in the park. I've yet to explore a majority of the northern sections of the park and the southern part to the Owlsheads,so I may change my mind.

Looking forward to your "to be continued."

[Daymoth]

Thankyou DVD!

So then we went to artist palette viewpoint, the parking lot was a zoo but as soon as we took the wash we where the only ones. Canyon #1 I call "vanilla strawberry ice cream", not sure it comes through in the photos.

Again, fun scrambles that kept it challenging but doable for us until we hit a huge mud fall.

[Daymoth]

We then went to #2 but got distracted by the colourful hills, scattered with people enjoying themselves. We finally got to the canyon but it was getting warm so we had a nap in the shade.
Canyon #2 is again like nothing like the previous 3. Its golden and gnarly and crumbly. Ended up in a narrow dryfall with a crack we could not make it passed.




It was sunset by then and we where exhausted from all the fun. The 4 canyons where all jumbled up in our brains despite how different each of them was. It was a great day and we were so happy to be back.

To be continued...

[MojaveGeek]

Great pix so far! Looking forward to more. You caught the colors well. I find that it really takes a clear sunny day to get colors in a place like that (or the red canyons); on a cloudy day I prefer to go someplace more bland where I won't lose so much due to the subdued light.

[Daymoth]

So the next day was going to be the warmest. We had never checked out moonlight and the report from Bluegreen and the several Kauri reports looked intriging.

Ah the Grapevines' aluvial fan. Here we meet again. I hate you so much. Thankfully the gravel was way more compacted than in Red Wall and the approach to the main canyon is half the distance. It was also full of cactus.

The main canyon is HUGE! And the walls remind me of the walls in medieval castles. It was 9 am and the heat was already a bit unconfortable.


We checked the first side canyon to the east and oh boy it is SO GOOD. Highlight of the day. It narrows into tall white walls with overhangs full of wasp nests. Its freaking crazy. Super special.





We then continued up the main canyon and explored some short offshoots that quickly became impassable.

We then made it to the second east side canyon ( I think Kauri calls it first south canyon). The gravel here was deep and a PITA. We made it through a narrow slot just to find that the "easy dryfall" described was actually impossible for us to figure out. Oh well, plenty canyon to see here so we kept going upstream.

Then a bunch of clouds came in and cooled down a lot. They even dumped some snow on the Panamints. It was unexpectedly very nice weather. It would have been unconfortable on the main canyon otherwise.

We made it to the third east canyon - the moonlight bridge canyon. I was surprised at how long it was. It kept going on and on and on and on. It was not narrow and dramatic as the first one but was still very nice. We checked some narrow side shoots but they all quickly ended.  We finally got to the bridge. DUDE its WAY bigger than I though. Impressive. 


It was like 2pm by then and we where tired and satisfied so we slogged our way back to the car. 









To be continued...

[netllama]

this report has so much variety. thanks for sharing!

[Daymoth]

this report has so much variety.  thanks for sharing!

Thats what I love about DV! Every canyon is so different!

[Daymoth]

Ok so last day was the second attempt up borax and we where successful.

It is the most weird crazy place ever. And im so chuffed that finally I got up there after several years wanting to.

We went through golden canyons up to an alpine desert and then up to a crazy fever dream of ice cream rocks.

The colours are just INSANE. The day was hazy but was nice to see snow on Telescope. We saw two people up Artist Palette.





There is a register since 2021. Maybe 5 groups per year are signing.  Some serious peak bagger names in there (Stav, Bob Burd, Chris Kerth). Felt so much impostor syndrome signing it.




We continued on the ridge until the summit before corkscrew canyon where the terrain got very shitty and was like walking on marbles. We didnt want to be up there in the afternoon when it would get stupid hot so we turned around.




We met the people from Artist Palette, a french couple with a printout of Stavs report and map, a rope and harness and a bunch of badassery. Want to be half as cool when im their age. We shared notes about routes and terrain, then went back quickly as the sun started getting opressive.

This was absolutely incredible and I want to go back to check the area more. Artist Palette mountain and Corkscrew Canyon are defenetly happening next winter.

My only concern is how much damage there was and how much damage we did despite trying to be super careful. That place doesnt stand a chance if the amount of visitors per year increases.

I will probably delete these last photos in a week. The info and help is out there for who needs it already so no need for me to draw more attention than what the place can absorb.  But i did want to share with you since you helped me so much to get up there.