Back on the Road - Death Valley National Park

N'kwala said:
Wonderful report, Ski3. Looking forward to Pt 4. And looking forward to making it to DV one day.
Highly recommended! It is a great place!

All - thank you for your very kind comments.
 
Wish you had video :D

“I had to pee. This wasn’t a take your time deal. I open the door and thought ‘Boy I don’t remember the door squeaking like that’ and I’m hit with two flashlight beams. Spotlighted. The boys heard the door squeak. I miss the edge of the step and I’m down, spotlighted naked man rolling in the dirt in the middle of the night. Great.”
 
ski3pin said:
The story is complete. Part Five is up on the blog.

Death Valley Part Five

We hope you enjoy our tale. :)
One of your photos taken at Arguerberry Point is looking down Trail Canyon (or maybe a canyon or two north) towards Death Valley.
AgPoint.jpg
Anyway, in the old days the maps showed a road going from a couple miles west from where you took that photo all the way down to Trail Canyon and then out to the valley. The road in Trail Canyon is still there today but the higher, steeper road from near Arguereberry Point is mostly long gone.

Back in the '80 when the road was in slightly better shape than today, WtW's own GreatBasinGuide rode a mnt bike from the Point down to Valley. That's about 6k feet of downhill!
 
Stew had my ride almost correct. I actually started on Wildrose Peak 9064 feet, rode down burro trails till I found an very old dozer trail which I followed down to the south fork of Trail Canyon. Quite a spectacular descent. Back in there I found a cabin with the table set, wine jug on the table and a 1947 Life Magazine.

Coming into the main stem where the old road once came down from Aguereberry Point I saw a Toyota Forerunner parked some distance ahead. Without warning my rear tire popped with a loud bang a naked man and naked woman popped up from behind the Toyota and ran to the far side, pink skin flashing in the desert light. I guess they thought some one was shoot at them..... I fixed the flat and rode some of the greatest whoopdee doos at high speed down the trail canyon road. Eventually I came to the valley bottom and pedaled in temps of 110 or so to the Furnace Creek Ranch. A total descent of 9289 feet in about 14 miles.
 
Señor 3pin, that is a cute, but embarrassing story! Thanks for sharing!

We've seen bighorns (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) several times in Hole-in-the-Wall canyon. Always ewes with lambs, and a few really young rams. There are a few shots of them in my photostream. Your hike looked like it was really interesting. We've poked around a bit back there, but not as far as you went. Nice photos BTW.
 
Doug Stewart said:
<snip>
Anyway, in the old days the maps showed a road going from a couple miles west from where you took that photo all the way down to Trail Canyon and then out to the valley. The road in Trail Canyon is still there today but the higher, steeper road from near Arguereberry Point is mostly long gone.

Back in the '80 when the road was in slightly better shape than today, WtW's own GreatBasinGuide rode a mnt bike from the Point down to Valley. That's about 6k feet of downhill!
Doug, this one of the hikes we would like to do. Have our camp set up down in Trail Canyon and get a shuttle up to Aguereberry to drop us off. Also on the radar is the big one - Death Valley floor to the top of Telescope Peak. Our friend Mr. Randonee has done it and says anytime we want, he's ready to do it again. Around 11,300 feet vertical gain. One of the biggest. Then after reaching the top you get the 7.5 miles back down to Mahogany Flat.

Boy do we love Death Valley!
 
Greatbasinguide said:
Coming into the main stem where the old road once came down from Aguereberry Point I saw a Toyota Forerunner parked some distance ahead. Without warning my rear tire popped with a loud bang a naked man and naked woman popped up from behind the Toyota and ran to the far side, pink skin flashing in the desert light.
I 'spose one must conclude, 3pin, that you were not the first nor the last person to be caught naked in Death Valley.
 
ski3pin said:
Doug, this one of the hikes we would like to do. Have our camp set up down in Trail Canyon and get a shuttle up to Aguereberry to drop us off. Also on the radar is the big one - Death Valley floor to the top of Telescope Peak. Our friend Mr. Randonee has done it and says anytime we want, he's ready to do it again. Around 11,300 feet vertical gain. One of the biggest. Then after reaching the top you get the 7.5 miles back down to Mahogany Flat.
I don't think I can muster the strength to hike up 11.3k ft along with all the water I'd require. Might-could drag myownself up to Aguereberry Point, however. What season were you planning to do these adventures?
 
Great TR as usual with lots of great pictures. I really need to step up my game.

"Around 11,300 feet vertical gain. One of the biggest. Then after reaching the top you get the 7.5 miles back down to Mahogany Flat."

Knowing you and the Lady, what will you plan to do in the afternoon? :p
 
Ski - It was a pleasure meeting you, the Lady, and the Spiders a few weeks ago. Based on the humiliation and psychological trauma that you suffered, I would say that you have a pretty strong liability case against Jeff, Marty, et al for the obviously defective squeaking door they installed on your camper :D
 
I get tired just thinking about that. I'm actually surprised I have yet to fall out of my camper, specially as I usually just step on the ball. Yet another great trip report. Thanks.
 
Before we head out somewhere I often say that we'll have a good time or a good story. You sure had both. Thanks for sharing.

Alan
 
I was just thinking about the material Jay suggested for the curtains in your build thread. You mentioned that it frequently looks like that in your camper. That developed a pleasant image in my mind, very similar to the image on the fabric. Now I read about you falling out of the camper naked. Definitely not what I had.
 

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