Sunrise wanderings in Twenty Mule Team Canyon were a wonderful start to the day. Would you believe that it took me an hour and a half to drive the 2.7 mile loop? Well, maybe I shouldn't call it a drive, it wasn't quite that simple. Drive a little bit, stop, jump out with my camera, walk a little, take photos, back to the car, drive a little bit, stop... The road was described as "winding through otherworldly badlands", and those rocky features were decorated by the sunrise. Nice!
I dropped back to Furnace Creek, stopping for a quick breakfast before I headed south once more along Badwater Road. First stop, Devil's Golf Course. I bounced out of the car camera in hand. (I guess Rover is teaching me to bounce!) Devil's Golf Course was a camera stop and not really a walking stop. The ground was definitely not smooth, described as "immense area of rock salt eroded by wind and rain into jagged spires". Rain? really? I crunched around the uneven surface for a bit, a little bit. And then it was time to drive further south, to the start of my next hike.
Hike? Well, sort of two hikes. My intent was to hike Sidewinder Canyon, but somehow I managed to start up the wrong canyon. It took me a while to realize that though. Oh, but I'd better start at the beginning.
The Sidewinder Canyon parking area is off of an unmarked dirt road. If there hadn't been two cars parked there (with no people in sight, they must have been out on an overnight trip) I think I would have missed the little road.
On the way to hiking Sidewinder Canyon, I took an hour detour up a parallel canyon. Oops! I thought I followed the directions to the right canyon, "from the southern end of the old gravel pit, walk up the large alluvial fan to the south that leads to a shallow canyon with poorly cemented gravel walls". I walked for a while before I realized I was in the wrong place. The trail description (or maybe I should call it a "no trail" description) said that the first of 3 slot canyons was a mile up the trail. I kept walking, and walking, thinking that I hadn't gone a mile yet. I finally came to an offshoot canyon, but it wasn't a slot. Hmm... I think it's time to turn around!
As I exited my mystery canyon, I saw two people heading to the next canyon south. I changed direction, walked over to them, and laughed about my misdirection. Ah, so that's where Sidewinder is. I dug down for more energy in the hot part of the day (well, most of the day is hot here!) and headed up Sidewinder. I'm so glad I didn't miss it. There were three slot canyons, plus a few other "holes". I stopped in the first non-slot and saw the remains of what I think was a bighorn sheep. There were two horns, separated by a bit of space, part of a jaw with teeth, and leg bones. That wasn't really a slot, didn't look like good walking. But I'm glad I walked up there; the bones were interesting. No, not morbid. Clean bones, and death is a part of life, isn't it?
Ah, back to the slots. It's amazing what the force of water can do in a desert. Flowing through cracks, carrying rocks, rubble, scouring the sides of the canyons, polishing the rocks in spots like Mosaic Canyon, leaving rough sides in the slots in Sidewinder Canyon.
Here's a description of the hike so you can see why I didn't just give up after walking my mystery canyon for a while:Oh, do you think I should have thought twice about hiking a canyon named after a rattlesnake?
"The hills at the western base of Smith Mountain seem uninteresting from a distance, yet tucked deep within them are some of the narrowest slot canyons in Death Valley. .... About a mile in, a major drainage joins from the right and the main canyon narrows abruptly. At this point look to the right and you will see the mouth of the first slot canyon where you can climb through boulders. The walls squeeze down to just a few feet wide and may be more than 100 feet high in places. Hidden within the dark, mysterious passageways are natural bridges, and pour-offs that may provide a challenge to scramble up."
Trail description courtesy of Death Valley National Park, included here to whet your appetite for visiting.
I couldn't resist stopping at Badwater once more. I tried to capture some of the salt crystals with my camera, and then I walked again. Walking down that white path of salt crystals, heading toward the center of the valley. Did you know that there is sometimes a lake here? It only happens in years of higher than normal rains. How do you manage to time a visit to a place like Death Valley to see those special things? I suppose it would have to be pure luck.
I gave myself permission to head back to the hotel in mid-afternoon. Finally, a chance to enjoy the pool! It's a pool that is very easy to enter, a pool that is filled with water that comes from the warm springs at Furnace Creek. The air temperature was 90 degrees, the water was 84 degrees. Warm, comfortable...
Artist's Drive called to me in the late afternoon. There was good light on half of the loop, but I was too late to see the last bright light on Artist's Palette. I headed out well before sunset, but the sunset times don't take the surrounding mountains into account. The sun dropped behind the Panamint Range earlier than I expected. The first half of the drive was magic.
The day wasn't quite over yet. I headed to the visitor center for tonight's program, titled "Rare as Rain". Yes, I think it would be very interesting to see this very dry spot in the rain. Maybe someday... Didn't I tell you that Death Valley has joined my park addiction?
And then, I just had to stop at the General Store for my end-of-day treat. My usual treat on biking trips is chocolate. But on this non-biking trip I found a new treat. The store here has self-serve soft ice cream, and it's good! The choices? They always have vanilla and chocolate, plus one other flavor. For most of the week the third flavor was mocha almond. Tonight was a bit of a change, raspberry chocolate chunk. Yum, tonight's choice was a mixture of chocolate and raspberry chocolate chunk.
Tomorrow? I can play a little bit in the morning before I need to head back to Las Vegas to catch my flight back to the other side of the country. Can't I just stay here?
