Death Valley, and unfinished business. And a testament to Garmin Etrex Legend.

slightly off topic – but not entirely so.

Death Valley is really nice this time of year, not too hot, not too cold, and not crowded, although Stovepipe Wells was fully booked. We just tent camped 5 nights in a row, Panamint Springs, a place near Goldbelt Springs (north of Ulida Flat), Lower Marble Canyon (joins Cottonwood Canyon), Willow Springs (Gold Valley), and Warm Springs (on our way over the Panamints). Other than Panamint Springs, these were back roads, two of them very much so – no passing cars = no rescue. Did not see Bighorn sheep but did see quail, jumbo quail (need to check the Audubon book for real name ), hares, rabbits, chipmunks, ground owls, bats, crows, misc other birds, lizards, etc. Also saw, for only the 2nd time, the striped hummingbird that we first saw up near Rae Lakes in the Sierras. At Warm Springs it was so quiet that a hummingbird sounded like someone farting.

Some roads were very challenging in a few spots, most were OK and some were gravel but absolutely great. And do stop at the cafe in Shoshone if you are passing through. And the county hot pool baths (and showers) in Tecopa are a great way to freshen up and relax when on the road, $5 per head.

The most amazing thing was that I have been married for 31 years and had no idea that my wife would be up for 4WD-ing up some nasty looking rock filled piece of crap that used to be a road over Mengles Pass, heading to the Goler Canyon. You just never know. We did get stuck, and a 6 ft long solid steel prybar, with a rock as a fulcrum, was just the ticklet for solving the problem. That and removing the rear hitch-mount tire carrier. Next time that tire goes on the roof with the other spare.

We also did Grotto Canyon in DV, my wife, adult daughter and I. I must say that 70 ft of webbing came in handy going up and coming down. And body anchors, which I learn’t about on this forum. We had fun solving three dryfalls. The fouth one was too tall, so that was our turnaround point.

Part of the trip was unfinished business – last year Judy and I hiked a long way up Marble Canyon, but we had to turn back for lack of any overnight gear (food, sleeping pads, water filter etc). We really wanted to find out how close we had come to Goldbelt Springs. So this year I loaded up the GPS with the back road approach to Goldbelt and a down canyon hike from Goldblet to Cottonwood. Then we drove in to near Goldbelt, via Racetrack Valley road and Hiden Valley, then I hiked to the historic site to verify it, then we retreated to camp overnight. Next morning I bade farewell to my wife and daughter, trusting in GPS and the “hike down canyon – you can’t get lost theory”. I drove back out and around to the Canyon mouth, and up a ways, then up-hiked the last 45 minutes, and finally found my two ladies. What a relief. It turned out that last year we made it to within 3 miles of Goldbelt Springs.

I had pre-programmed the GPS with the route out, and the wife used it successfully to check on progress with esentially no training – a testament to a user friendly device – as my wife has no patience for electronic gizmos.