Spring 2023 California Saga, 3.21.23 - 4.9.23, Part 6 of 8, Death Valley National Park (con’t)

Death Valley has a notorious reputation for brutal extremes in weather. Daytime highs can be in the hundreds and at night it can be below freezing. We hit the weather lottery on this trip and Death Valley was no exception. We were there for six full days and had great weather all but one of those days. Our fourth day was the warmest. The low at sunrise was almost sixty and the predicted high for that day was eighty-four. Considering that back home it was cold, rainy and miserable, we were loving the heat.

Bridgit is always good for at least one sunrise excursion per trip if not more and this one was right up there with the best we’ve experienced. Andrew was no stranger to being up at all hours so the three of us took off at 5:45AM and drove twenty-nine miles to Zabriskie Point. The parking lot had at least a dozen cars already as this is an extremely famous spot to view the sun come up. Another cool thing is that the parking lot is down below a small hill from the viewpoint so as we walked up and crested the hill we were treated to a breathtaking scene laid out before us. A sprawling array of badlands spread out below with the Panamint Mountains rising in the distance across Death Valley. So many colors! The myriad of hills and rock formations seemed to have every possible shade of brown, yellow and red. To the south a series of fluted ridges were cut by deep winding washes that looked like little roads. To the north a huge wall of red rock called Red Cathedral rose above the entire scene. Clearly though, the star of the show was a tilted spire of golden rock called Manley Beacon that towered over the badlands in graceful majesty.

From the viewpoint, several trails dropped down into these badlands. I would connect up to one of these trails later in the day but for my purposes on this morning, I wandered down a short way and moved off the trail to a position where no one else would interfere with what I was viewing through the lens. I shot from the beginning of the golden hour through the sunrise and on until the sunlight drenched the entire badlands with morning light.

**The Panamint Mountains, Manley Beacon and Red Cathedral**

Zabriskie Point is located on a high ridge overlooking the lower part of Death Valley. Much further down this same ridge is an even higher point called Dante’s View. After our sensational visit to watch the sun rise at Zabriskie Point we drove further south to check out Dante’s View. Along the way we passed by one of those yellow signs that usually has a deer or an elk on it but this one had a turtle of all things. Now we were on high alert in case any desert tortoises came flying across the road in front of us.

Dante’s View is a high point along the ridge east of Badwater Basin. At an elevation of 5,476’, you are looking almost straight down to Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level. Talk about extremes!

Driving back, we stopped off to scope out what Furnace Creek had to offer. It is a little oasis in the desert fed by natural springs. Surrounded by stark landscapes, Furnace Creek has palm trees and actual shade! If you’re wondering why it is called Furnace Creek, this place holds the distinction of having recorded the hottest temperature on earth. On July 10, 1913 the temperature hit 134.1 degrees! Even more daunting, on July 15, 1972, while I was probably playing guitar with Paul Olson back in Applewood, the ground surface at Furnace Creek hit a whopping 201 degrees. No running around barefoot there!

We found a general store that had some better grocery options than at the small store in Stovepipe Wells. It also had a much better gift shop which made Bridgit happy. We treated ourselves to the breakfast buffet and then headed back to our camp at Stovepipe Wells.

As we learn how to plan our time better on these trips, we have developed a pattern that finds a good balance with my desire to be out and about for sunrises and sunsets and the need for some rest and relaxation time. The middle parts of the day are when the most people seem to be out at all the sights and since that same part of the day is typically the worst light for photography, we have a tendency to get up and out super early, do our thing for a few hours, come back and chill at our camp in the middle of the day and then go out again in the late afternoons and evenings.

After our morning excursion to Zabriskie Point, Dante’s View and a hearty breakfast and with big plans for later in the day we had a very relaxing few hours. Andrew and I went swimming in the outdoor pool. We may have even taken a mid-day nap.

Around 3:45PM we headed out again for another adventure. This was to be the second solo hike for me on this trip. Actually, Bridgit and Andrew joined me for the first part but since the entire hike would be further than they cared to go, when they headed back to the Jeep at the trailhead, I continued to make the hike a six mile loop.

We drove back out past Furnace Creek and down to the Golden Canyon Trailhead. I was super excited for this hike. I knew based on its position that late afternoon and just before sunset would be an excellent time for good light on this hike. The tradeoff was that at 4:30PM when we started the hike, the temperature was at its peak for the day at 84 degrees. It did feel hot as we started up Golden Canyon. We would hike from shade spot to shade spot as we worked our way up the wash. The scenery was incredible right from the start. Bright yellow rock walls lined the canyon, clearly giving reason to the name “Golden Canyon”. As we made our way up, a huge reddish brown wall ran across the back of the canyon. This was called Red Cathedral.

At one mile we reached a junction with the Gower Gulch Trail. Rather than take this, we pushed on straight up Golden Canyon towards Red Cathedral. The canyon became really narrow and we had to climb through little tight spots and holes before arriving at the actual wall of Red Cathedral. Here, Bridgit and Andrew turned around and made their way back to the trailhead, making this a three mile round trip hike for them.

After parting with Bridgit and Andrew, I explored the base of the mighty wall of Red Cathedral. I had read that near the back of the wall on the north end was a scramble route that if followed for about a quarter mile would lead up higher to bigger views. It was easy to find. I wouldn’t call it a scramble though. A well defined path zig-zagged up along the side of the wall to a prominent point that indeed looked out to big views.

**The vantage point above Red Cathedral**

By now the sun was getting much lower in the sky and the light was just tremendous. I still had a ways to go before getting back to the car so I worked my way back down and followed the Golden Canyon Trail back to the junction with the Gower Gulch Loop. Turning onto the Gower Gulch Trail, I made a steady ascent up to and right across the base of Manley Beacon. During this stretch, the almost full moon rose right next to Manley Beacon. Adding to the joy, and I can’t state this enough, from the time the three of us got to this junction on the way up to Red Cathedral until I got all the way back to the trailhead I saw not one other person. It’s not that I don’t like people, but there is a sense of freedom and serenity I get when I have the trail completely to myself that is hard to describe.

Manley Beacon was really impressive when viewed from the bottom of its huge western face. Once past this monolith, the trail climbed to another high viewpoint looking out over the badlands we had seen from Zabriskie Point that morning. I dropped down from this vantage point to a junction with a trail that if taken to the left would climb up all the way to Zabriskie Point. Having already been there, instead I turned right and proceeded to work my way down Gower Gulch.

Gower Gulch had its own beauty. By now the sun had almost set so the gulch was in shadow but the surrounding points and peaks were still lit up by the setting sun. It was a just a heavenly hike. The sun sank below the horizon but there was still plenty of light in the lower reaches of Gower Gulch. It took on more of a canyon characteristic down lower with high walls and steeper narrow cuts to drop down. Eventually it made a wide turn and popped out at a large dryfall. The trail skirted this dryfall by following the canyon wall before dropping down to the desert floor out in the open not far from the highway. One final segment ran parallel to the base of the mountain completing the loop when I arrived back at the trailhead at 7:15PM.