Malpais Mesa, Mt Palmer and Wahguyhe Peak in Death Valley

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Snow Nymph
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Malpais Mesa, Mt Palmer and Wahguyhe Peak in Death Valley

Post 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.
Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


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Trekker
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Post 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:
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Post by ifernau »

You got some great views. Love those dunkeys :)
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Snow Nymph
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Post 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'
Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


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Snow Nymph
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Post 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"
Last edited by Snow Nymph on Fri Apr 28, 2006 7:23 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


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Post by Mtflyer »

Great pics SN, nice seeing you again.
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Snow Nymph
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Post 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]
Last edited by Snow Nymph on Tue May 02, 2006 10:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


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Post 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?
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Post by Rosabella »

Oh!... I forgot to ask about the bumper sticker - it's GREAT! :righton: Do you know where a person could find one?
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Post 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:
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