2025-02 - Owlshead Mts 4 day trip

[Algol]

Hello

It took me a couple of years but I finally made it out to the Owlshead Mountains in Death Valley.

On Feb 14-17 I took a 4 day walk around the area. The itinerary was simple:
Day 1, park along Harry Wade Rd and hike via Through Canyon to reach Owl Lake.
Day 2, hike South-West crossing Owl Lake and hike through “Burro Wash” which would take me towards Lost Lake
Day 3, from Lost Lake hike back and head north on the valley between the ridge of Owlhead Benchmark and the inner mountains of the Owl Lake Basin “Owlhead Alley”
Day 4, hike out the Owl Lake Basin via Granite Canyon

Photo gallery
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjC3ret

Through Canyon, Granite Canyon, Owl Lake and Lost Lake are of course well known and well reported and explored. The other areas not so much. I called them “Burro Wash” and “Owlhead Alley” (suggestions are certainly welcomed and needed)

Overall the hike was great. The weather was nice and the highest temperature I experienced was 75F, the lowest temperature was 30F. I did take a hiking umbrella with me and that was certainly a good call, it made a big difference to keep cooler and reduce water consumption to some extent.

Interesting findings were the old NPS Boundary marker and the crashed dart. They are marked on the map. I also got a chance to see the head of Contact canyon. I was thinking that it would be possible to loop Contact and Through Canyon for an overnight trip. After seeing the terrain up close, I do not think it would work. The volcanic rock that makes the upper portion of Contact canyon looks passable but I am not sure it is worth the effort and risk.

Overall it was a fun walk. Lots of things that look "passable and doable" in Google Earth are not so much in real life, I was happy to get that insight about the Owlshead.

Cheers

[Bluegreen kayak]

Nice pictures - the cloud in #113 reminded me of Marilyn Monroe in Seven Year Itch.

[Brice]

Nice! That's a lot of ground covered all at once. How much water did you start off with? Water and the resulting heavy pack is what keeps me from doing any overnight trips in DV. I think you can get all the way through Contact canyon, but not without making at least one significant bypass. I haven't done it myself. The terrain up there is very rugged.

[Algol]

Thanks Bluegreen kayak. I am not as talented as other people on this forum, but I think I am getting better with the camera. I guess I got lucky with that cloud.

Brice, I carried 13.5 liters of water plus about 25lbs of food+equipment. I think this route can be done if you are willing to cache water via Owl Lake and Lost Lake.
I don't have a capable vehicle for that (Toyota Corolla) plus it is time consuming. I also don't know how much the burros would mess with a water cache.

[Beardilocks]

Thanks for the report! I agree with Brice, that's a big hike hauling all the necessary water. Nice! What was your approximate total mileage?

I have been very curious about what I would call the nose of the owl: the hills that are between Owl Lake & Lost Lake. AFAIK very few people have ever been through there. So that was really cool to see. I have a vague plan to check out some of the lower sections some day when time allows.

I'm quite surprised by how little Native American trace is in the Owlsheads....

[Algol]

Thanks Beardilocks.
My garmin recorded the following

Day1 10.8
Day2 13.9
Day3 15.4
Day4 11.9
Total 52

I was surprised about how big that "Burro Wash" connecting the two basins was. I did not expect to see the wider areas. There were a couple of places that
were nice camp spots.

[netllama]

Oh nice. The owlsheads are always a huge effort due to how remote they are. Thanks for sharing!