Death Valley Topix Trip Report and Photos
Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:27 pm
what a great weekend - with both familiar faces and new friends
Friday night I left town late and did not arrive at Wildrose Campground until sometime after 9pm. most everyone was asleep - but I did see see one lone sole wandering aimlessly. it turned out to be sierragator. we caught up on some times and with little coaxing decided a cold beer was in order. some time shortly thereafter shortly thereafter Lewis and Randi pulled up. had never met them so and we broke out chairs and more beer. soon Norma and Tamara rolled in to camp. it was great to meet all 4 of them. a little while after climbing in sleeping bags heard Snowy and Trekker arrive at camp but was too lazy to get back out of the cozy sleeping quarters.
Saturday morning everyone is up by 6am or so to get ready for our hike. I had chosen Pinto Peak and we were supposed to meet Tom G. at Towne Pass by 8am. the morning light showed Trailtrekker, Rainboze and Joe who had already been asleep when we arrived the night before.
started up for the peak around 830 - the weather was not too bad but we were on the watch due to recent weather reports. we had a group of 12 people hiking - one of the largest I had hiked with. we only got off intended route on a couple of small occasions and everyone managed to arrive at summit within a short time of each other - congrats to everyone for summiting. we had enough time left and Tom G showed us to the hellfire wreck which was not too far off the summit. it was my first plane wreck and was amazing the carnage from where the plane hit. as we were headed down the sun actually came out for a short time. as we got off mountain and were crossing the bajada back to the vehicle the snow started. the snow got pretty heavy and I was glad we were not any later than we were. everyone made it safetly back to vehicles without too much trouble.
due to the heavy snows we decided to move camp down to Ballarat. my vehicle was still back at Wildrose so Sierragator and I arrived in camp later than everyone else. it was fun too see all the vehicle - they were all parked in a close circle with room for mine to fit in - it reminded me of circling the wagons from the western days. after dinner and camp setup it was time to sit be the fire and enjoy some after hike festivities. there was plenty of wine, laughter, pictures and warm fire. went to bed much too late and daylight came way too early.
Sunday morning some of were going separate ways.
joe and sooz were going to Indian Wells to explore for petroglyphs
sierragator decided to hike corkscrew since it was on his way home
lewis and randi were going to explore a canyon and then drive home
SnowNymph, Norma, Tamara, Rainboze and I decided to hike Argus Peak.
Trekker joined us but opted not to summit that day.
We got a late start - hit the trail at 1045 - later than I have ever started hiking for a summit. I did not bring a headlight - so I knew I had to stick to a certain turnaround time. we all 5 made summit before 200 and enjoyed some fun and pictures on the top - it took us less than 2 hours to arrive back at the car. the trail was in good condition - we had some new snow on the north side and on the boulders near the top. everybody did a fantastic job of negotiating through this potentially slipppery stuff.
sitting at home on a Monday evening - will go through pictures by tomorrow. already I am thinking of the next peaks I want - I am hopeless. "the mountains are calling and I must go"
thanks again everyone for making a great Topix trip
Friday night I left town late and did not arrive at Wildrose Campground until sometime after 9pm. most everyone was asleep - but I did see see one lone sole wandering aimlessly. it turned out to be sierragator. we caught up on some times and with little coaxing decided a cold beer was in order. some time shortly thereafter shortly thereafter Lewis and Randi pulled up. had never met them so and we broke out chairs and more beer. soon Norma and Tamara rolled in to camp. it was great to meet all 4 of them. a little while after climbing in sleeping bags heard Snowy and Trekker arrive at camp but was too lazy to get back out of the cozy sleeping quarters.
Saturday morning everyone is up by 6am or so to get ready for our hike. I had chosen Pinto Peak and we were supposed to meet Tom G. at Towne Pass by 8am. the morning light showed Trailtrekker, Rainboze and Joe who had already been asleep when we arrived the night before.
started up for the peak around 830 - the weather was not too bad but we were on the watch due to recent weather reports. we had a group of 12 people hiking - one of the largest I had hiked with. we only got off intended route on a couple of small occasions and everyone managed to arrive at summit within a short time of each other - congrats to everyone for summiting. we had enough time left and Tom G showed us to the hellfire wreck which was not too far off the summit. it was my first plane wreck and was amazing the carnage from where the plane hit. as we were headed down the sun actually came out for a short time. as we got off mountain and were crossing the bajada back to the vehicle the snow started. the snow got pretty heavy and I was glad we were not any later than we were. everyone made it safetly back to vehicles without too much trouble.
due to the heavy snows we decided to move camp down to Ballarat. my vehicle was still back at Wildrose so Sierragator and I arrived in camp later than everyone else. it was fun too see all the vehicle - they were all parked in a close circle with room for mine to fit in - it reminded me of circling the wagons from the western days. after dinner and camp setup it was time to sit be the fire and enjoy some after hike festivities. there was plenty of wine, laughter, pictures and warm fire. went to bed much too late and daylight came way too early.
Sunday morning some of were going separate ways.
joe and sooz were going to Indian Wells to explore for petroglyphs
sierragator decided to hike corkscrew since it was on his way home
lewis and randi were going to explore a canyon and then drive home
SnowNymph, Norma, Tamara, Rainboze and I decided to hike Argus Peak.
Trekker joined us but opted not to summit that day.
We got a late start - hit the trail at 1045 - later than I have ever started hiking for a summit. I did not bring a headlight - so I knew I had to stick to a certain turnaround time. we all 5 made summit before 200 and enjoyed some fun and pictures on the top - it took us less than 2 hours to arrive back at the car. the trail was in good condition - we had some new snow on the north side and on the boulders near the top. everybody did a fantastic job of negotiating through this potentially slipppery stuff.
sitting at home on a Monday evening - will go through pictures by tomorrow. already I am thinking of the next peaks I want - I am hopeless. "the mountains are calling and I must go"
thanks again everyone for making a great Topix trip