Callahan's Re-Opening for 2008?

I just saw this article recently about the possible re-opening of Callahan's for 2008.  It looks like they are really going green with this project as they are installing the largest solar power water heating system in Southern Oregon.  Cool!  They also mention in the article that they will continue to provide hikers a hot shower and allow hikers to camp out on the front lawn.  Let's hope that they can finish up construction by next July when the first hikers start arriving.

Third Day in Death Valley

Our third and final day in Death Valley was short since we had a long trip back to San Francisco ahead of us.  All of us pitched in to prepare and cook a nice breakfast, and then we packed the Green Tortoise for our departure.  We made our way back towards the Stovepipe Wells Sand Dunes, and at Stovepipe Wells, we took a route south towards the Panamint Mountains into Mosaic Canyon.  One of our guides had told us that this canyon was extraordinary, and that it was his favorite part of the entire Death Valley trip.  Our bus arrived at the unpaved parking area, and we were turned loose for an hour and forty-five minutes to explore the canyon.

I began walking up the canyon with Bettina and Tineka.  What the three of us noticed right away was the smooth, polished marble that lined the canyon walls, obviously the result of years of violent rushing water through the canyon.  It was pleasing to run my hands along the walls as I climbed through the canyon.  On either side of me the walls of the canyon climbed a steep, yet climbable grade to lofty perches above.  I would have enjoyed climbing the walls, but fear of having to scale my way back down them prevented me from doing so, and besides there was a lot of canyon to explore.

Occasionally the narrow wash offered smaller offshoots to explore, but I was feeling more inclined to walk the main wash along with the others in my party.  The canyon eventually broadened out to provide an open, sweeping view of the mountains, whose many gullies fed this wash.  In a driving rainstorm, I can imagine this wash being a wide, shallow, yet violent confluence of silty brown water getting ready to scour the narrow channel that I had just climbed.  Again, there were more choices for exploration, but I stayed on the "main path."

The canyon narrowed again, and the walls and chutes were again lined with the polished marble rock.  Climbing up area required steadiness, patience and a good handhold, since the rock (although dry) was quite slippery.  Large boulders obstructed the path at times, yet narrow passages circumvented these obstacles.  

Finally, my time to climb had come.  The path hit a dead end (a huge rock), and about 25-feet above the canyon continued.  The rock had plenty of handholds and a scaleable pitch.  I began to make the climb up the rock as Tineka and a guy named Jim watched.  My foot slipped once, but I had three other points clinging to the rock.  However, it was enough to make Jim and Tineka to backtrack to safer, alternate path up to the top.  At the top, I sat down on a rock and pulled out my lunch and waited for other members of the party to join me.

After eating my sandwich, I continued further up into the canyon.  I had only another 20-minutes of time remaining before I was going to have turn around again to make the journey back to the bus.  I climbed, twisted and turned up trough the canyon until I came to a serious dead end.  Here, there was a wall of rock at least 30-feet in height, which appeared to be a spillway for the mad rush of water that comes down this wash when it rains.  

Second Day in Death Valley

As with my first day in the park, day two involved exploring two more unique geographical features: Ubehebe Crater and the Stovepipe Wells Sand Dunes.

Ubehebe Crater is located in the northern part of the park at 3,000-feet above sea level.  The crater is actually called a maar (good Scrabble word!) which is produced when ground water comes in contact with magma or lava.  The enormous pressure causes such an explosive force that it heaves lava, rock, dirt and sand skyward, scattering its debris wherever wind and gravity take it. Amazingly, there are another dozen or so smaller maars, including Little Ubehebe Crater, which surround the larger crater. The guide told us that when this area was formed, it was like popcorn kernels popping underground.

The bus pulled up to the rim of the half-mile wide crater, and our options for exploring the crater was walking down into the crater, walking the rim of the crater or both.  I was game for both options.

The 770-foot descent into the crater was fast and easy, but mushy.  Pumice and scree on the main path collapsed with each step, filling my shoes with a lot of loose gravel and dirt.  At the bottom of the crater, I emptied my shoes of dirt and marveled at the reddish-orange wall of rock, whose deep gullies have been carved by rills over the years.  Behind me, the smooth slopes were layered with dark pumice.  The bottom of the crater was flat and home to several hardy plants.

After 15-minutes of photographs and rest, I began the arduous climb out of the crater.  The tread was soft and each step leading out of the crater sank in six inches or so - I found that it was easier to step in depressions left by others ahead of me. At times, the surrounding landscape looked other-worldly, like I was on another planet.  The smooth, dark slopes were dotted with smaller rocks and supported very little plant life.

About 30-minutes later, I along with several others from the tour bus had reached the crater's rim, where we began a clock-wise journey around the crater.  The day was perfect for this walk: sunny, a slight breeze, 70-degrees and not a cloud in the sky.

  

The rim hike kept a safe distance from the edge of the crater, but there were a few areas where slight mis-step would spell certain death.  Looking across the crater, the tour bus was but a small, green box in the distance, and hikers climbing out of the bottom of the crater looked like ants  crawling on a hill.  The size of this crater is amazing.

Rounding the rim, I came upon Little Ubehebe Crater.  I could see hikers were exploring the crater, but as for me I was out of time - I was running late getting back to the bus.  Perhaps another day, I will see Little Ubehebe up close, however, I was certainly not disappointed with my journey around the bigger crater.

The bus next took us to the Stovepipe Wells Sand Dunes. These dunes are nowhere near the size of the Saharan dunes seen on National Geographic Explorer shows, but at 14-square miles, one can escape into rolling sea of sand.

  

The bus parked on the side of the road, and told us that we had 2-hours to go exploring. There was no main path into the dunes, just a short scramble over gravel and small rocks and into the soft sands. It took me about 15-minutes to realize that I could (no, should) walk barefoot into the dunes. I sat on the shaded side of a dune to take my shoes off and I felt the how cool and delicious that sand felt under foot. Walking was an even better experience as I felt the sand massaging my feet with each step.

 

I explored the dunes by myself.  I felt like I needed an opportunity to get away from the rest of the group and go out on my own.  I took many photographs, especially of those dunes without footprints.  I wanted a "pristine" shot, but I found it difficult since so many others had walked on the dunes earlier in the day.

 

I climbed to the tops of high dunes, and I watched children and parents tumbling and rolling down the dunes.  A nude woman and three of her companions walked by carrying a long red banner.  I don't know what they were up to, but my guess was that it was some kind of art project.  There was so much to see with the dunes casting shadows on themselves and the grey, red and lack mountains standing tall in the background. No wonder I've seen so many photographs from this place - it is a brilliant subject for camera's eye.

I walked east of the rest of the group and over to some smaller dunes.  Very few people wandered over in this area, which made it great for pictures.  The sun was getting lower on the horizon and the shadows grew longer and deeper - more photos.

  

Two hours were up and I headed back to the bus.  I wish I could have stayed until sunset to see how the light would have played on these dunes. I also wish I could have walked more on the dunes, perhaps farther to the southeast towards the Devil's Cornfield.  If only I had more time! Maybe another day.

Friday Arrival in Death Valley

On a Green Tortoise bus with 35 other people, I arrived in Death Valley National Park - this was my first experience here. For years and years, Death Valley was a national monument, but in 1994, President Bill Clinton signed the California Desert Protection Act, which brought Death Valley up to National Park status and allowed for more funding and protection.

Death Valley is bordered by two mountain ranges with the Panamints to the west and the Amargosas to the east.  Apparently at one time, the valley floor was under 2,000 feet of water, and geologists have been able to locate areas where water used to lap up against the surrounding mountain ranges.  Now the floor is one large beautiful basin of fans, sand dunes and salt flats. 

The bus pulled up to the popular tourist destination, Zabriskie Point, around 9:00 am.  We took our time to make breakfast and pack our lunches, and then it was off to the overlook at Zabriskie Point.  What a great view!  Looking to the West, in the foreground was the Furnace

 Creek wash, which is filled hills and rocks carved by rills created by rains and smoothed by the wind.  Noticeably among the hills was Manley

 Beacon and the cliffs of Red Cathedral.  In the background, lay the white flats of the valley floor and the Panamint Range.After taking a few pictures, I hit the trail with Bettina from Germany and Tineka from the Netherlands.  The trail (Golden Canyon Interpretive Trail) followed a few washes and at one time took a switchback up a hill. Again, the trail crossed and followed various washes and climbed along the shoulder of Manley Beacon.  

The trail then descended to an intersection with a quarter-mile side route to the Red Cathedral.  We took the side route up to Red Cathedral, which followed a wash up to a narrow dead end.  Had we more time, it would have been nice to explore the area under the cliffs, but we had to get back to the bus.  

We went back down to the main trail, and walked 3/4-mile down to the trailhead and bus.  It was interesting to see that at the end of the trail someone had the bright idea to try and pave a part of the wash (perhaps for vehicle access?), which could not have lasted long. It seems that the powerful waters of the wash eroded it a long time ago - thank God!

Following our hike, we boarded the bus and traveled down to Badwater Basin, which is the lowest point in North America at 282-feet below sea-level.  On the eastern cliffs of the Amargosa Range, the park had placed a sign indicating where sea-level is, which brought some perspective to our depth in altitude.  

I had an hour and a half to explore the Basin, so I left with Bettina and Tineka again to walk out on the salt flats.  To say that they are flats is deceiving, since hexagonal salt plates seem to have collided into other plates, making the floor uneven.  However, as we walked out further onto the flats, it smoothed out more with only a lip of salt creating the hexagonal patterns. The sun made the floor bright to the eyes, yet it certainly contributed to its stark beauty.  Had I more time, I would have liked to walk the entire flats  up to Stovepipe Wells Village (future hiking idea???).  

We got back on the bus and traveled to the Furnace Creek Campground for dinner and a night's rest. The day was surreal, since the scenery was so different from what I am used to seeing in San Francisco.  Nonetheless, it was refreshing.  More about Death Valley tomorrow.

Back from Death Valley

I just got back from Death Valley today, and I had a great time.  Over the next couple days, I will be making posts of each of the spots that I visited.

Unfortunately, this most recent trip I took did not involve much long distance hiking, but I think all distance backpackers can appreciate the beauty of the outdoors.  Besides, since there is such little water, I am not sure how much distance backpacking can be done in Death Valley.

Going to Death Valley

In a few hours, I board a bus to go to Death Valley.  There will be all kinds of activities including taking a dip in Hot Springs, sand skiing and of course, hiking.  The unique opportunity in this trip is the hiking, since many parts of Death Valley are inaccessible to hiking during the hot months of the year.  I hope to see some bloomage, scorpions and whatever wildlife presents itself.  I imagine that I will meet some pretty cool people on this trip.  I will post more on Monday.

Point Reyes Recap II

Sunday

Matt was the first to wake and wander around the campsite.  I crawled out of my sleeping bag and into the cool air to join him for a peek at the beach.    Eventually, Allana came out, and we made breakfast: Oatmeal and tangerine slices.  Everything

 with was covered with a thick layer of dew, and we waited for my tarp and the tent's rainfly to dry out a bit.

We left Wildcat camp and hiked up towards Old Out Road, and along the way, we paused to enjoy a scenic view of Wildcat Lake. The trail was a long steady climb, and it was easy to see why it is called the Old Out Road, since there were exposed remnants of broken asphalt along much of the trail.  

We continued our upward ascent to the Alamea Trail, lined with bayonet fern and meandering beautifully through dark, verdant forests.  The sights of banana slugs, orange-bellied newts and mushrooms drew our attention and caution with each step. After hiking steadily for over an hour and climbing over 1000-feet, we stopped on a high, flat, open stretch of trail for a well-deserved rest. Despite being warm and sweaty, the weather was cool and delicious and perfect for the rest stop.

The last quarter mile of the Alamea Trail descended down to an intersection with the Ridge Trail, which lay at the base of a Fir Top, a 1,324-foot peak.  We headed southeast on the Ridge Trail, climbing and descending along the high ridge separating the Olema Valley (and the San Andreas Fault) from the the Pacific Ocean.  

The Ridge Trail intersected with the Bolema and the Lake Ranch 

Trails, and we continued our trek south along the Lake Ranch Trail.  One highlight was Mud Lake, which lay nestled to our right.  Mud Lake was more of a swamp with green blooms covering the water and tan reeds rising up along the lake's edge.  

The Lake Ranch Trail then began a long, yet anticipated steady descent towards the coast, offering sunny views of a foggy California coast.  As we descended, the lush ridgetop forests gave way to drier, lower coastal scrub brush and brambles.  Soon we encountered the same stretch of Coast Trail that we had hiked a day earlier and the first hikers we had seen since Wildcat Camp earlier in the morning.

We were back on familiar trail, and we were anticipating the vistas overlooking the Pacific. The fog had burned off more, and we enjoyed clearer views of the coast and the sea. We took a lower fork of the Coast Trail, which was an even more dramatic and precarious walk than the higher fork we took the day before.  One surprise along the way was a garter snake taking advantage of the open skies to sun himself. The sight of the garter was certainly not a pleasant surprise to Allana, who had been in front of Matt and I and setting the pace the entire day. After the snake sighting, Matt and I took the lead for much of the trek back toward the parking lot.

What a great 24-hours in Point Reyes.  My only regret was that we did not spill of Alamere Falls. The good news is that Point Reyes is so close to San Francisco, and I know that I will have the opportunity to see the falls up and close one day.  Perhaps I should head back in February or March when the river will be swelling with water.  

I was happy to spend time with my friends Matt and Allana, whom I got to know better.  I've heard it said that "spending one day on the trail with your spouse or partner is like spending five days with them in the real world."  It was fun to hear Matt and Allana find out things about each other that they didn't know (the trail does that), and through this whole hike, I enjoyed getting to know them.  Hike on!