Death Valley, Telescope Peak and Sequoia National Park

26th-29th May 2006


Central Valley sunset...		Approaching the ghost town of Ballarat


	The sand dunes at Stove Pipe Wells in Death Valley





		Little Ubehebe crater is volcanic


Scotty's Castle - really an oasis in the desert	A Death Valley sandstorm.	Telescope Peak at sunset - still looking for camp...


A beautiful sunrise from the tent	The dry lake beds of Death Valley 9000ft below


The summit		Still some snow in May


Charcoal kilns	The vast dry lake bed near Panamint Springs	Telescope Peak is the highest point behind


Joshua and cactus descending to Owen's Valley	Owen's 'lake' and the High Sierra	Tunnel log in Sequoia National Park


Moro Rock	Big, big trees on the Big Trees trail and a beautiful meadow


		This is a fallen branch of the General Sherman tree


The Congress and Senate groups are unbelievable


Back to the dry East Bay hills

The trip:

We took advantage of Memorial Day weekend in May to climb the highest point around death valley, 11049ft Telescope Peak in the Panamint Mountains to the West.

Leaving San Francisco Friday afternoon we slept at a motel in windy Ridgecrest Friday night and drove on to Death Valley by 7am the next day.

We had the Stovepipe Wells sand dunes to ourselves on a beautiful morning and after climbing to the highest dune we drove the 50 miles to Scotty's castle and volcanic Ubehebe crater in North Death Valley.

On the way back South we skirted a sandstorm before Jono was pulled over for apparent drunken driving crossing the central line a few times. Guess I was feeling sleepy or just admiring the views...

We headed to Telescope Peak on Saturday afternoon aiming to camp at Mahogany Flats and we parked the car at 'Charcoal Kilns' - giant stone structures they 'cooked' charcoal in many years ago. Hiking up the steep road towards Mahogany Flats an LA couple took pity on us and gave us a lift the last two miles to the top even donating a beer to our cause - it was steep, and we were very grateful.

But there was no room at the camp so we continued into the dark and camped just as night fell in a welcome and perfect spot at the first pass. Sunrise was beautiful with the High Sierra to the West including Mt. Whitney at 14000ft plus and the lowest point in the US in Death Valley to the East. A cold wind kept us hiking to the summit for breakfast by ourselves with spectacular views and we were back at the car by 11.30am meeting many hikers just coming up.

We headed out on the long drive back through Owen's Valley and via Lake Isabella and West on an excruciatingly slow and bendy road. We were aiming for Sequoia National Park which we reached as the sun started setting and, finding the camps were all full, it was Memorial Day after all, we found a spot at the small town of Three Rivers outside. Starting early again we had a beautiful, but cold, peaceful stroll almost alone at Moro Rock looking out to the Great Western Divide. We also strolled both the Big Trees trail and the Congress trails. The Congress Trail takes you through the most beautiful strands of giant sequoias anywhere. A mile or so in, incredibly, we had the place to ourselves.

After the big trees we headed out through Kings Canyon on the long drive back to San Francisco.