Death Valley March 5th-7th

[ExploreTheEast]

I had the chance to make it out west this past weekend, and I just wanted to share this photo with you guys. It's not really that great of a photo, but it says alot.

I've been to Death Valley before, and it's usually a dry, hot wasteland of a place. Each time I'd ventured out there, I always left saying "Why the hell did I come here?"

Well, a few weeks ago, I was thinking about all of the rain that SoCal has been getting, so I made a call to the park office, and they confirmed that they've got more than 4 times their average yearly rainfall in the last 8 months alone. I booked a flight to Vegas, and the next thing I know, I'm driving and hiking around Death Valley, in one of the most beautiful desert blooms I've ever seen. To put it bluntly-- There's not much "Death" going on in the valley these days. If things keep up, they might have to change it to Life Valley.

So this photo is just my tent Sunday morning, pitched on a ridge at the mouth of Fall Canyon. I keep looking at it today, in between glances out my office window here in Manhattan, where it's currently snowing sideways.



Anyway, just wanted to post this in case anyone was interested in visiting Death Valley, because I think there'll be more "life" going on there than in the northeast for at least the rest of this month.

 

[Maddy]

What a beautiful picture!
Thanx.

 

[audrey]

Little Bear and I will be there in May. I hope there are some flowers left for us!
Beautiful picture! I walked Fall Canyon last year, but didn't make it through the narrows, time and companions not allowing. I've always loved Death Valley the few times I've been, if only to say hi to the Salt Creek pupfish!

I'm hoping to try a new canyon and also a summit. I got a book called "Desert Summits," and the possibilities are mouth-watering.

 

[arghman]

wow, I am envious -- please post more pics if you have any. were there ocotillos in bloom?

 

[ExploreTheEast]

BTW, the trails at Point Mugu SP were super--highly recommended for hiking, running, or mtn. biking if ever you're in the area.

Point Mugu's trails are really nice! I was there for the first time this past November, here's a photo from the trails:

http://www.exploretheeast.com/favorites/?30.jpg

arghman, I wouldn't know an ocotillo if I ate one, but I'll see if I can conjure up a couple more decent flower photos. There was definitely a huge variety, but the ones that struck me as the most amazing were the armies of yellow and purple that just took over entire hillsides. I felt like if I stood there long enough, they might start growing off of me!

 

[ExploreTheEast]

btw, thanks for the kudos guys. It's not often that I get to take photos like this, so I wasn't even sure if I liked them. I'm glad someone does! lol

Peakbagr/Darren, I'm going to post these three photos in this thread, they're small, but I don't want to take up too much server space, so I'll delete the posts tomorrow.

 

[ExploreTheEast]

One more of mine.

 

[ExploreTheEast]

And my girl took this one.

 

[WalksWithBlackflies]

I was in Vegas the week of Feb 20, and was surprised how green everything was. The areas I hiked were still a couple of weeks from full bloom, but sporadic areas were covered in flowers. With the black-rock hills, it looked more like Hawaii than Nevada.

 

[Tim Seaver]

Nice pix!

I am dropping everything to head out this Saturday to Death Valley ( and Joshua Tree, and Anza-Borrego State Park ) for 10 days of photography.
The peak of the desert bloom is supposed to be mid to late March in "deva".

It's supposed to be the "bloom of the century", or at least in the past 8 years,or in "modern history" depending on who you ask or what you read, but the park rangers seem pretty excited about it ( there was an article last week in the NYT)

And if I need a little winter "fix" , 11,000' Telescope Peak is the highest point in the park, still covered in snow

Death Valley Wildflower Report

 

[Tim Seaver]

Stinkyfeet:

Nice photo! We were in Southern California from February 20-28. for a week-long trail running event.

What was the name of that event, again?



Glad to hear you found some sweet trail runs.