Page 11 - Volume 14 Number 1
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Vivid wildflowers carpet the south slope in the northern portions of Death Valley. Ubehebe is a great hiking spot for both easy and strenuous hiking.
ride on a rough and challenging road, but the views within and beyond this deep, narrow gorge in the Grapevine Mountains is reward enough. Eventually, you’ll exit onto Scotty’s Castle Road, from which you can rejoin Highway 190 to continue to the park’s western edge. Stop for refreshments as you pass through Stovepipe Wells or Panamint Springs, but don’t linger too long. Slightly further west, Father Crowley Vista Point beckons lovers of aviation and believers in celestial visitors. Aviation photographers and plane spotters traverse the globe to set up their tripods on the cliff sides of Crowley. Abeam those cliffs, military fighter and attack aircraft dive steeply through Rainbow Canyon toward the dry lakebeds of Panamint Valley. They bank and strain under G-forces as they navigate between black lava flows and volcanic cinders into a twisting gorge often referred to as “Star Wars Canyon.” Small areas of designated airspace allow them to descend to low-level at near supersonic speeds. Often looking down on the fighters as they scream through the gorges and valleys below you, it’s a view no airshow can compete with! Search online for information sources about prime viewing times and use hand- held UHF radios for clues of inbound fast movers. Some spectators are
more into E.T. than F-22s and believe this area is ripe with proof of interstellar travelers. Their tripods, long lenses and lawn chairs tend to have a little more flair than those of traditional plane spotters!
Shifting Sands and Water Sources
After the adrenaline rush of Father Crowley Vista, head back east for a brief hike to reconvene with nature. Just before Panamint Springs, take the unmarked gravel road to Darwin Falls. From the trailhead, the scenery quickly changes from gravel dust to green and lush, along the 1-mile (mostly shaded) hike to this desert waterfall. A bit of required scrambling up rocks along the way keeps it interesting. No swimming is allowed though, as Darwin Falls remains Panamint Springs’ sole water source.
While DVNP is known for its vast salt basins and high peak overlooks, it also contains some expansive sand dune fields. The most accessible are the Mesquite Flat Dunes, near the geographic center of DVNP, where you can hike across the dunes while staying within a mile of the parking area. This dune field is popular for sunrise, sunset or full-moon strolls. For more aggressive dune hiking, be prepared and equipped for the
conditions and environment. For example, the Panamint Dunes are accessible only by four-wheel drive, followed by a 7-mile roundtrip hike.
How Low Can You Go?
Any visit to DVNP would be incomplete without setting foot on the lowest land in North America. Heading south out of Furnace Creek, take Highway 178 for a daytrip through the park’s most famous areas. Many sites along the way, allow for great opportunities to break up the drive with frequent short hikes. Golden Canyon, The Devil’s Golf Course, Natural Bridge, and Mormon Point are each unique experiences. Artist’s Palette is a 9-mile scenic driving loop through hills displaying many hues and bands of color.
The main attraction of this southeast section of DVNP is Badwater Basin. A sprawling salt flat, the basin’s lowest elevation is -282 feet MSL. Walking in the small briny pond areas is not permitted, but one can stroll across the salt flat for miles. Arrive early, as temperatures can reach dangerous levels by midmorning out on the dry lakebed. The salt left behind when the water evaporated a few thousand years ago is up to 5-feet thick in places. Badwater Basin is one of the park’s many areas where extremely low elevations rise quickly into towering mountains. Virtually right across the highway, tourist peer down at the salt walkers from the nearly 5,500-foot elevation of Dante’s View. The rising sun reflecting off the white salt flat and illuminating this steep rock face make for spectacular morning viewing and photography.
Wildflowers and Racing Rocks
Of all the fascinating features of DVNP, perhaps none is more mysterious than the famous sailing stones of Racetrack Playa. Getting to them is an adventure unto itself. We headed northeast on 190, then up Scotty’s Castle Road to where the
JANUARY 2020
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 9