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Fletcher
Member
Joined: 29 Jul 2009
Posts: 1658 | TRs
Location: kirkland
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Well, as I suspected going into the fall this year, Inslee shut it down once again and I found myself, once again, unemployed. Instead of sitting around rainy Seattle bored and depressed, I decided to take a trip down to the desert to bag some classic peaks and do some rock climbing. I left Seattle on 12/9 and drove down to Death Valley over the course of 2 days. On the third day of my road trip I did my first hike of the trip, Telescope Peak in Death Valley NP. I had planned on doing Mount Whitney on this day but decided to bail because of a frigid and windy forecast in the Sierra.
 Telescope Peak  Whitney off in the distance  Telescope  a big bristlecone  Telescope summit  summit reg  Telescope summitshot
After Telescope, I met some friends in Lone Pine and spent a few days climbing in the Alabama Hills. A decent place to hang out, but the rock climbing kinda sucks. We should have went up to Bishop instead. On the 14th, I was on my own once again, and went to go bag some more peaks in Death Valley. On this day, I had 3 separate shortish hikes planned. Corkscrew Peak, Death Valley Buttes, and Manly Beacon were all on the menu. Corkscrew was up first.
 Corkscrew  approach wash  really pleasant hiking  summit  fresh snow in the distant Sierra  Telescope  Cannon Hole
After Corkscrew, I cruised down the road a mile, parked again, and spent 90 minutes doing Death Valley Buttes per Adam Walker's recommendation. Good stuff!
 Corkscrew from DVBs  DVBs  views  views  Corkscrew again
After Death Valley Buttes, I drove over to Furnace Creek to do Manly Beacon. Our late friend Jake Robinson loved this hike, so i had to do it. Very unique place.
 the Beacon  my shadow  Manly Beacon summitshot
That night, I drove into Las Vegas to pick up my girlfriend Hannah and we would spend our next few days cragging at Red Rock.
 Dante's Wall, an awesome crag  Hannah at Dante's Wall  Red Rock from Dante' Wall  Sunset
On Hannah's second day in Vegas, we went to Arizona Hot Springs, also per Adam Walker's recommendation. Amazing place. We even saw a ring-tailed cat there.
 hiking to Arizona Hot Springs  hiking to Arizona Hot Springs
Early on the morning of the 17th, I dropped Hannah off at the airport, and cruised over to Lake Mead to climb The Sentinel. After doing the Sentinel, I decided to traverse high on ridges over to Mystery Cairn Peak and Redstone Peak. The Sentinel was awesome but Mystery Cairn and Redstone were chossy piles. I was awarded with an amazing perspective on Sentinel though, that I would not have gotten had I not decided to do that.
 hiking through open desert to Sentinel  the other Red Rocks looking up at Sentinel  up this wash  Sentinel  crazy veiw from Sentinel  crazy view of Sentinel  whoa  big horns  looking back at Redstone
The following day, I decided to do Mount Wilson in Red Rock Canyon via First Creek. This ended up being my favorite hike of the trip. Really fun hiking and scrambling up First Creek.
 Wilson  Wilson and First Creek  scramble crux in Frist Creek  general terrain  looking back down First Creek  summit area ahead  awesome views  Potosi to the south  Charlestone to the north  Vegas
The 19th was my last day to hike and I had a bigger day planned but I woke up feeling unmotivated and just did Potosi via its west ridge instead. Not the coolest peak of the trip, but it was fun. Potosi was my 100th ranked summit of 2020.
 cliffs of Potosi  scramble step  summit ahead  radio towers on the summit  Potosi summit shot  Telescope way out there
On the 20th, I met up with Dustin Trails and enjoyed 3 more days of climbing at Red Rocks. Good times!
 Dustin leading Running Man 5.11c  the money pitch on Black Orpheus  Dark Shadows  expsoure on Dark Shadows  Vegas from Mescalito (top of Dark Shadows)
On the 23rd, I left Vegas at 230am and drove all the way home to Seattle. I love the desert and Ill be back.   |
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Brushbuffalo
Member
Joined: 17 Sep 2015
Posts: 1724 | TRs
Location: there earlier, here now, somewhere later... Bellingham in between
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Fletcher, looks like you had a refreshing winter trip. The desert is awesome.
That's almost a full curl!
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Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still |
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raising3hikers
Member
Joined: 21 Sep 2007
Posts: 2110 | TRs
Location: Edmonds, Wa
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Nice selection of peaks! Looks like great weather but the most impressive trip, is the long haul back home in one push
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Eric Eames |
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Gimpilator
Member
Joined: 12 Oct 2006
Posts: 1488 | TRs
Location: Edmonds, WA
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Dustin Trails
Member
Joined: 23 Feb 2015
Posts: 111 | TRs
Location: Ashford, WA
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Fletcher, thanks for the trip report. Those Death Valley and Lake Mead area peaks were definitely not on my radar (maybe because many are less than p400), but they look so cool! Now I have some ideas for my next trip down there.
| Gimpilator wrote: |
| Pretty cool you and Dustin climbed Black Orpheus. |
That one was pretty high on my list for a while! Some of those Lake Mead area peaks that you recommend look awesome.
| raising3hikers wrote: |
| but the most impressive trip, is the long haul back home in one push |
It hurts my neck and hips just thinking about it.
Here are a few more pics from climbing:
This 5.7 liebacking pitch may not be the "money pitch" for the movement, but in my opinion was the most aesthetic:
Then a few more from Dark Shadows:
 dangle the pack and squeeze!  nice chocolate varnish  underrated quality pitches
I had previously climbed Dark Shadows, but only the first four pitches (where most parties rap from). The upper pitches are less popular, perhaps due to the involved descent? But they are worthy of being climbed and make for a great adventure outing. Most of the upper six pitches are longer than 30m, my favorite thing about adventure climbs. |
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Riverside Laker
Member
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 2628 | TRs
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You desert peakbaggers might enjoy ree's new book about the first European-descent people to stumble into Death Valley. Here's the map of their route. We did a lot of research by looking down from some of the peaks you mention.
Did you see Carol Lombard's airplane remains on Mt Potosi? It's not on the summit. It took us a couple tries to find it. Trip report on NWhikers |
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Matt Lemke
High on the Outdoors
Joined: 15 Jul 2010
Posts: 1978 | TRs
Location: My van
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