Death Valley Jan 2012

[tim]

I took a trip out to Death Valley with my twins this week and camped at the Racetrack for 2 nights. On the middle day we climbed most of the way up Ubehebe Peak, which had great views of Saline Valley as well as back down to the Racetrack. Weather was excellent for hiking in the day (around 60 degrees) but cold overnight, especially Wednesday morning when it was 24 degrees at 7am. The main problem with the Racetrack Valley area in winter is that it doesn't get sun until about 8.30am, so it stays cold for a long time. We had spectacular sunrises and sunsets and loved the remoteness of the area, though the 30 mile drive on washboarded dirt roads was a bit of a drag (I certainly wouldn't have enjoyed driving both ways in a single day, and the area was definitely at its best in the early morning and late evening). However, its nothing like the dire warnings that the rangers give you that you'll never be able to get anything other than a jeep down the road (we took our minivan, which has AWD but didn't need it) The campsite is OK for the middle of the desert - people have obviously taken a lot of time to clear the sites of rock and its popular - there were two or three other groups there both nights.

View into Racetrack Valley

Racetrack sunset

Racetrack sunrise

Climbing Ubehebe Peak

Saline Valley

Racetrack from Ubehebe Peak

On the Racetrack

Grandstand

Grandstand at sunset

Moving rocks

[RoguePhotonic]

Ubehebe Peak is a nice hike. The first time I tried climbing it we took the trail to the left at the top of the switchbacks which led us up to the false summit.