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Adventurer
We rang in the New Year with a great, 4 day expedition trip to Death Valley. This was our first trip there, and we were very impressed with all the areas of scenic, historical and off-road interest. New Year’s is a time for reflection and consideration, and the trip provided this opportunity, but for me, these expedition trips are really about wilderness and adventure. I came across a quote from Edward Abbey that sums up my pre-trip state of mind:
This is what it’s about (photo by Jon Christensen)
Our party consisted of 2 vehicles. My wife and I frequently travel by ourselves, but we were happy to have a friend join us for this trip - especially because it was our first time to the area. Jon has been to Death Valley a couple times previously, but we hit many places he hadn’t been, and he said that even the places he had been were quite different due to the weather.
Cresting Mengel Pass: Who says the Land Rovers and Toyotas can’t get along?
Our planning was intentionally vague, in large part to accommodate cold weather and short days. Even in the Southwest, winter trips can get cold. We determined each night’s campsite based in large part on fire availability and/or altitude. For example, we wanted to stay at one of the first-come, first-served cabins in Butte Valley, hoping for a hard floor and wood-burner on a chilly evening. Unfortunately, Christmas/New Year’s is a busy time at Death Valley, and the cabins were all occupied. No problem. We continued onward and downward (from 4000+ ft to 200 ft), where we found nice dispersed camping overlooking the valley floor and had comfortable enough camping without a fire (campfires are not allowed outside of established campsites in the park).
Also, the days are short this time of year - approximately 10 hrs of daylight. After accounting for the morning routine of toasting bagels, making a couple cups of coffee, and breaking camp, and then setting up camp in the late afternoon, we had only 7-8 hours of travel time each day.
We also allowed for ample time out of the vehicles. The scale of Death Valley is so immense that many of the interesting sites require some decent hiking, and this is fine. During this trip, my wife's activity tracker logged over 5 miles of walking every day.
With that background, here are some of the daily highlights.
Day 1. We started our trip with an overnight stay in Ridge Crest, CA, and implemented our “make it up as we go” approach from the very start. I wasn’t planning to stop at Trona Spires, but we saw a couple pictures while leafing through pamphlets at breakfast, and I mentioned that I had read that some Star Trek scenes were filmed there, so we took the little detour. This would definitely be a cool place to camp … next time.
Trona Spires overlook
In the spires
From Trona, we proceeded to the ghost town of Ballarat. There’s not much there, but it’s always interesting to see the old buildings and relics. There’s a rusted hulk of an old PowerWagon truck that supposedly was used by the Manson "family” when they were holing up in the area. I read a trip report that mentioned the stars painted on the inside were a common decorative motif.
Manson mobile at Ballarat ghost town
Interior decoration of Manson truck
Which way to go?
From Ballarat, we headed south, eventually making our way through Goler Pass. This was one of the highlights of the trip. As you look ahead, all you see are solid canyon walls. If we didn't know better, we'd think that the map is mistaken, showing a trail through the pass. But the trail zigs and zags and somehow wends its way through the narrow canyon walls.
Navigating the narrow trail through Goler Pass
As mentioned, the Manson gang hid out in this area after their string of murders. They were apprehended at a remote, abandoned cabin named Barker Ranch, which is on a spur trail half mile or so off of Goler Pass. We weren’t planning to go there, but it was lunch, so we decided to check it out. The cabin burned down 10 years or so ago. It’s not really my area of interest - infamous people -- but it’s interesting history all the same.
Barker Ranch - some outbuildings and the gate still remain
Barker Ranch - burned out remains of the main cabin
From there, we continued east on Mengel Pass. This was probably the most challenging trail we encountered on the trip. There were a couple decent rocky sections, and one tight squeeze where tilting could cause door damage, but we made it through unscathed.
Rocky section on Mengel, with Striped Butte in the background (photo by Jon Christensen)
Striped Butte - this is a great photo, but it also serves as a good example of the disappointing nature of photographing the area. Images just don't capture the vastness of the area nor the color nuances in the butte (photo by Jon Christensen)
As mentioned, we had hoped to claim one of the cabins in the Butte Valley area, but they were all occupied. These are at 4000+ feet elevation, so we decided to continue east on Warm Springs Trail to lower elevations and higher temperatures. We finally stopped for the day at a nice overlook just beyond the 2-mile no-camping zone from West Valley Trail.
Warm Springs Trail heading east (photo by Jon Christensen)
Campsite off Warm Springs Trail
Day 2. One of the trade-offs of National Parks is that they make many interesting places accessible to the masses. I wanted to see some of the major sites, so we spent some time on paved roads checking out some of the more touristy areas.
Ashford Mills - interesting ruins, but there are much more impressive and intact ruins on the trails
The famous elevation sign
Badwater Basin salt flats
Although there were many people here, it was cool to walk out onto the salt basin. Hiking a mile or so onto the basin really gave a sense of the place.
Devil’s Golf Course - here the salt has formed larger clumps
We stopped at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center to purchase our park passes. After a couple days in remote wilderness, the place was like a zoo. Wait in lines. Hand over money. Necessary evil. After spending the first part of the day among the madding crowds, we decided to head out to the east to find dispersed camping on BLM land just outside the park off of highway 374. It was good to get onto remote, solitary trails again.
We had some good daylight left, so before finding a campsite at lower elevations, we headed back into the park to explore the Chloride Cliffs area. I hadn’t heard a lot about this area, and it seems like kind of a forgotten quarter of the park. We found some nice mining relics and incredible views into Death Valley as well as east toward the Nevada side.
Mining ruins
Chloride Cliffs shelf trail with Amargosa valley vista
Post 1 of 2
“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit.”
This is what it’s about (photo by Jon Christensen)
Our party consisted of 2 vehicles. My wife and I frequently travel by ourselves, but we were happy to have a friend join us for this trip - especially because it was our first time to the area. Jon has been to Death Valley a couple times previously, but we hit many places he hadn’t been, and he said that even the places he had been were quite different due to the weather.
Cresting Mengel Pass: Who says the Land Rovers and Toyotas can’t get along?
Our planning was intentionally vague, in large part to accommodate cold weather and short days. Even in the Southwest, winter trips can get cold. We determined each night’s campsite based in large part on fire availability and/or altitude. For example, we wanted to stay at one of the first-come, first-served cabins in Butte Valley, hoping for a hard floor and wood-burner on a chilly evening. Unfortunately, Christmas/New Year’s is a busy time at Death Valley, and the cabins were all occupied. No problem. We continued onward and downward (from 4000+ ft to 200 ft), where we found nice dispersed camping overlooking the valley floor and had comfortable enough camping without a fire (campfires are not allowed outside of established campsites in the park).
Also, the days are short this time of year - approximately 10 hrs of daylight. After accounting for the morning routine of toasting bagels, making a couple cups of coffee, and breaking camp, and then setting up camp in the late afternoon, we had only 7-8 hours of travel time each day.
We also allowed for ample time out of the vehicles. The scale of Death Valley is so immense that many of the interesting sites require some decent hiking, and this is fine. During this trip, my wife's activity tracker logged over 5 miles of walking every day.
With that background, here are some of the daily highlights.
Day 1. We started our trip with an overnight stay in Ridge Crest, CA, and implemented our “make it up as we go” approach from the very start. I wasn’t planning to stop at Trona Spires, but we saw a couple pictures while leafing through pamphlets at breakfast, and I mentioned that I had read that some Star Trek scenes were filmed there, so we took the little detour. This would definitely be a cool place to camp … next time.
Trona Spires overlook
In the spires
From Trona, we proceeded to the ghost town of Ballarat. There’s not much there, but it’s always interesting to see the old buildings and relics. There’s a rusted hulk of an old PowerWagon truck that supposedly was used by the Manson "family” when they were holing up in the area. I read a trip report that mentioned the stars painted on the inside were a common decorative motif.
Manson mobile at Ballarat ghost town
Interior decoration of Manson truck
Which way to go?
From Ballarat, we headed south, eventually making our way through Goler Pass. This was one of the highlights of the trip. As you look ahead, all you see are solid canyon walls. If we didn't know better, we'd think that the map is mistaken, showing a trail through the pass. But the trail zigs and zags and somehow wends its way through the narrow canyon walls.
Navigating the narrow trail through Goler Pass
As mentioned, the Manson gang hid out in this area after their string of murders. They were apprehended at a remote, abandoned cabin named Barker Ranch, which is on a spur trail half mile or so off of Goler Pass. We weren’t planning to go there, but it was lunch, so we decided to check it out. The cabin burned down 10 years or so ago. It’s not really my area of interest - infamous people -- but it’s interesting history all the same.
Barker Ranch - some outbuildings and the gate still remain
Barker Ranch - burned out remains of the main cabin
From there, we continued east on Mengel Pass. This was probably the most challenging trail we encountered on the trip. There were a couple decent rocky sections, and one tight squeeze where tilting could cause door damage, but we made it through unscathed.
Rocky section on Mengel, with Striped Butte in the background (photo by Jon Christensen)
Striped Butte - this is a great photo, but it also serves as a good example of the disappointing nature of photographing the area. Images just don't capture the vastness of the area nor the color nuances in the butte (photo by Jon Christensen)
As mentioned, we had hoped to claim one of the cabins in the Butte Valley area, but they were all occupied. These are at 4000+ feet elevation, so we decided to continue east on Warm Springs Trail to lower elevations and higher temperatures. We finally stopped for the day at a nice overlook just beyond the 2-mile no-camping zone from West Valley Trail.
Warm Springs Trail heading east (photo by Jon Christensen)
Campsite off Warm Springs Trail
Day 2. One of the trade-offs of National Parks is that they make many interesting places accessible to the masses. I wanted to see some of the major sites, so we spent some time on paved roads checking out some of the more touristy areas.
Ashford Mills - interesting ruins, but there are much more impressive and intact ruins on the trails
The famous elevation sign
Badwater Basin salt flats
Although there were many people here, it was cool to walk out onto the salt basin. Hiking a mile or so onto the basin really gave a sense of the place.
Devil’s Golf Course - here the salt has formed larger clumps
We stopped at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center to purchase our park passes. After a couple days in remote wilderness, the place was like a zoo. Wait in lines. Hand over money. Necessary evil. After spending the first part of the day among the madding crowds, we decided to head out to the east to find dispersed camping on BLM land just outside the park off of highway 374. It was good to get onto remote, solitary trails again.
We had some good daylight left, so before finding a campsite at lower elevations, we headed back into the park to explore the Chloride Cliffs area. I hadn’t heard a lot about this area, and it seems like kind of a forgotten quarter of the park. We found some nice mining relics and incredible views into Death Valley as well as east toward the Nevada side.
Mining ruins
Chloride Cliffs shelf trail with Amargosa valley vista
Post 1 of 2
