Page 1 of 2

Malpais Mesa, Mt Palmer and Wahguyhe Peak in Death Valley

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 11:05 pm
by Snow Nymph
Part 1 - Malpais Mesa, SW of Olancha

Photos: http://community.webshots.com/album/549785670iiCUQL


I drove to Olancha Thursday night and camped at Santa Rosa Flats (~6,400'). Friday morning I dayhiked Malpais Mesa to the high point, Rosa Peak (7,731'). I wanted to do an easy hike to warm up for Mt Palmer the next day.

After the hike I drove to Beatty, NV to meet up with Astrohound. After an unexpected detour, and showing up an hour late, we caravanned 20 miles on the Phinney Canyon Road.

Wednesday Trailtrekker e-mailed, asking for directions to the trailhead for Grapevine and Wahguyhe. I told her we were going there too (to do Mt Palmer). MtFlyer arrived just ahead of us. Trailtrekker and SDsierrahiker showed up around 9:30. We had fun around the campfire and hung out til after midnight.

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 2:22 am
by Trekker
Great views; looks like on a clear day they would be fantastic. Sierras on one side, Telescope on another; must be cool see snow covered peaks on either side! :thumbsup: On the panorama view, that looks like Cirque on the far left, but you must have better eyes than me; I can't make out Langley!

Those look like shell casings on the ground; target practice from the planes, maybe? Couldn't tell what they were made of, or how big. That's my guess, anyway!

Looking forward to the rest of the weekend's pictures! :righton:

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:10 pm
by ifernau
You got some great views. Love those dunkeys :)

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 7:53 pm
by Snow Nymph
Trekker, The shell casings (or whatever they are) were about 4" long and 1.5" diameter. They were scattered all over the summit.

ifernau, they were so cute! They were on the road and ran to where they felt safe. We stopped and took pics, and they just looked at us. On the way out (:) we saw 13 of them! :D


Part 2 - Mt Palmer (7,953') in the Grapevine Range

Photos: http://community.webshots.com/album/549778245wHFvZQ


Blue skies, light breeze, awesome views and a great workout! Everyone I talked to said Mt Palmer (7,953') was hard because of all the ups and downs along the ridge. 11 miles and 4589' el gain/loss. Started at 6880', summit is 7,953', high point is 7,980'

Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 7:33 pm
by Snow Nymph
Added the elevation profile from Astrohound :eek:
Image


If you don't see the profile, right click on the broken image and "view image"

Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 11:16 pm
by Mtflyer
Great pics SN, nice seeing you again.

Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 2:54 am
by Snow Nymph
Part 3 - Wahguyhe Peak (8,628') in the Grapvine Range, Death Valley, CA

Photos: http://community.webshots.com/album/549782200eqsDOP


Woke up to snow! Snow in the desert in April??? :retard: Wahguyhe was in the clouds, but we decided to do it anyway. MtFlyer wanted to explore the Coso Range so he left us. Visibility was low, and we couldn't see too far ahead. We finally made the peak, was looking at the charred register can, then noticed it had a hole through both cans and the glass jar. Just then we heard thunder and scrambled to get off the peak. On the way down we stopped at the 130 year old Von Schmidt marker. The post was placed in 1873 to mark the CA/NV border, but was about a mile off. They didn't have funding to fix the mistake, so on the map, you'll see the Von Schmidt line. We descended a different, not-so-steep-but-still-steep slope.

Trailtrekker and SDsierrahiker left. I wanted to check out a mine that TT & SD found the day before. By the time we left, the sun was shining. I also stopped by Rhyolite since I had a little daylight left.

A fun 3 day weekend![/b]

Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 5:45 am
by Rosabella
Great pictures, Snow Nymph! I'm so envious... this looks like a trip I would definately like!

Obviously the one mine with the rails was not blocked-off; how far in were you able to go?. The ceiling of the mine shaft seems fairly high to allow astrohound to stand... was it that high all the way in or just at the entrance?

Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 10:22 am
by Rosabella
Oh!... I forgot to ask about the bumper sticker - it's GREAT! :righton: Do you know where a person could find one?

Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 8:10 pm
by ERIC
Yeah, where does he get those done at? I love that type of sticker and would love to make a few similar ones if I can to distribute to you guys. :cool: