Day 11 - Death Valley

Cool fact - Death Valley, the beginning point of my solo adventure is the lowest point in North America. Mount McKinley on the John Muir Trail, the ending point of my adventure is the highest point in the contiguous US. They are only 100 miles apart.

My first full day at Death Valley began just after dawn at Badwater Basin, the very lowest point in North America (pic1). The sky was perfect and the crowds were absent this early. I hiked into the salt flat for thirty minutes and back. I then drove up a rutted dirt road (additional bungee cord added after everything fell down:) to hike to a natural bridge--a section of rock forming a bridge, and made myself some coffee in a canyon. I then drove up a scenic, paved! road to the artists pallette, a series of pastel colored hills. Where most people park and take photos is where I park, strap on my day pack with water, food and emergency supplies and hike in. Pic 2 shows a panorama (zoom in) from inside the pallette.

Next stop was the Devil's Golf Course, unusually photogenic salt formations in the middle of the valley(pic3). I then went back to the golden canyon badlands and hiked the northern part of the trail that I didn't have time to complete the previous night. Pic 4 shows me at the high point of the climb overlooking Martian-looking landscapes and the valley floor.

All this by 330pm. Not done yet I drove up to Dante's View, a 5500 foot high point overlooking the valley. Twenty degrees cooler and windy and an awesomely clear sky and angelicly-colored valley vista stretching as far as the eye can see made for a highlight of the day (pic 5).

Exhausted, disgusting and hungry, I drove into Furnace Creek town and had a half pound burger and fries. I bought a cold beer and drove to Salt Creek (pic6) just in time for a final beer and sunset short walk. I drove up the road ten miles to an official campground, bought a $4-felt like $400 shower, and went to bed.

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Day 161 - JMT Purple Lake and Tully Hole

We got our first glimpse of smoke far across the valley as we climbed higher. Up on a ridge after a morning climb, we followed a side trail to an open viewpoint beyond the trees. Selfie:) The smoke, while visible, seemed to give the mountains a blue glow-- like a highlighter to a sketch. You could still see the edges of the mountain ridges, the story of their creation. We could hike in this. But the smoke looked worse farther south. Or it was getting worse as time rolled incessantly forward. On day two we had ran into a northbound hiker we nicknamed Speedy Steve. Speedy Steve had hiked 18 miles a day through eight consecutive smoke-filled days, including atleast three "very bad days" when he couldn't see the surrounding mountains, the sun glowed a haunting orange and ash accumulated overnight. On the way to Purple Lake we ran into three dirty, beat up, tired north-bound hikers with a similar story. They had to spend one night in an emergency hut at Muir Pass to avoid the...

Day 41 - Escalante Coyote Gulch

This one or two night Coyote Gulch hike was an easy test of my newly learned navigation skills. Anxious to get started I awoke at 545 just as the sun was rising. I followed an obvious landmark, a tall thin spire called Chimney Rock, northwest to Hurricane Wash (a drainage running into Coyote Gulch). After a couple of hours of walking up over and around slick rock, I entered the famous Coyote Gulch. The walls around me raised up, darkened and th water flow increased--like nature hinting at the scenic beauty ahead. The normally crowded Coyote Gulch was fairly empty on this early Thursday morning, giving the canyon a very peaceful and quiet feeling-- fragile almost. Down steam, I ran into the famous Jacob Hamilton Arch and then thirty minutes further-- the Coyote Natural Birdge. Both were beautiful due to their see through the wall character, but both would be overshadowed in my memory by the Stevens Arch tomorrow. Pics. By 1pm, I had hiked for six hours...

Day 42 - Escalante Stevens Arch

The Stevens Arch is so massive that legend says daredevil pilots would fly through it. I was excited to see it! Having napped most of the afternoon, I awoke promptly at 545, packed up my things and hiked down to the Escalante River as the first morning light was pouring into the canyon. Hiking around more waterfalls and ledges and along the stream before anyone else was up was nice. My written directions said to look for sandy hill to my right which led up to my only exit from the canyon-- the Crack-in-the-Wall. I ran into the confluence of the Escalante River, a point which my guidebook noted was passed my exit route, requiring a ten minute backtrack. This was fine though because I had tons of time and wanted to see the Stevens Arch. I crossed the knee-deep Escalante River several times before the Arch came into view. Like a window in the Roman Colloseum, the Arch seemed almost engineered by man in this tall curving canyon wall. I hiked under the arch and couldn't eve...

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