Words about science and hiking
Despite the abundant snow I slept warmly- albeit with all my clothes and layers on. I didn’t wait around for the sun, but got moving at first light, still fully layered. In no time at all I was at the Nevada state line. Like most state lines in the west, its location is meaningless. Congress Read More …
My tarp held up fine through the windstorm last night. Until the wind reversed direction at about 6am and turned it from a wind shelter into a sail. The front stakes finally pulled out and it flipped over while I was answering nature’s call. But the back stakes held and I only had to chase Read More …
Somehow didn’t get around to writing in my journal yesterday even though I had plenty of time. With another day of high heat forecast I was up at 4:30 yesterday and hiked several miles before sunrise. It was a very pleasant time to be out and walking. The wash continued good as a route and Read More …
36.78580, -117.25209 The NWS forecast for the next two days is highs near 100F. Yet I lingered at Stovepipe for the sake of a thoroughly mediocre buffet breakfast. This was a mistake. Although I was walking by 8:30, it was already hot. The first few miles were through the dunes. The walking surface was pretty Read More …
36.60530, -117.14520 A fine sunrise walk found the rocks diminishing, with sandiness increasing. After a few miles I reached the highway, crossed over, and hiked more or less parallel with it among the Mesquite Dunes. I must say these were some pretty nice dunes–shapely, interspersed with mesquites, and relatively easy to walk on. Much easier Read More …
36.59238, -117.03262 One of the things I’ve learned about hiking the Desert Trail, and of hiking deserts in general, is that they never run out of ways to surprise you. Many of those surprises are good–a show of wildflowers, a waterfall, a bear. Others are not so welcome. Today’s surprise was of the unwelcome type. Read More …
36.42479, -116.92585 Last night’s sunset was matched by an equally colorful sunrise. I continued north along the Westside road, which, just as the name implies, runs along the west side of Badwater Basin. Despite it being a fairly-well maintained 2WD road, there was little traffic, maybe one car per hour. Most of the side roads Read More …
36.21191, -116.87277 I picked up where I left off last year, at the mouth of Sheep Canyon on the east side of the Badwater Basin. The route would take me directly across the basin, some 280 feet below sea level, to its west side. The playa is a dried up ancient lake bed. It is Read More …
Planning the next leg of the Desert Trail has been a particular challenge this year. Last year I left off where Sheep Canyon empties into Badwater Basin, near the southern end of Death Valley National Park. From there, the DT crosses the playa, skirts the west side of Badwater Basin, passes through Stovepipe Wells, then Read More …
BackpackingLight has published my account of hiking another section of the Desert Trail in spring 2022. Click here to read.