A recap of events (Nov 2017): Death Valley and Red Rocks again

My brother and his friends had three main goals for visiting Death Valley: hike Telescope peak (tallest point in the park), see the Mesquite Sand Dunes at sunrise, and visit The Racetrack (known for it's "sailing stones"). It turns out these were probably the most extraordinary things you can do while visiting Death Valley (and it happened to be my first visit and my 29th National Park).

We camped at Wildrose Campground the first night after getting in close to midnight (check out the "hidden" Wildrose Rd if coming in from the south, a dirt road but in decent shape and saves some time from the Google Maps route). This was also the first free campground I've found at a National Park and it's quite nice (a bit windy at night sometimes). We drove the 9 miles or so to reach the trailhead for Telescope Peak in the morning. The road gets a bit gnarly the last mile or so; high clearance seemed like a requirement (but you can add this mile to the hike if you can't make it all the way).

The Telescope peak hike is 13-14 miles round trip with a gain of about 3200ft topping out at 11,049ft. Starting early is key and the last few hundred feet were frosted over during our hike in late November. The views are some of my favorites from a peak:

We moved campsites after the hike to get closer to the Mesquite Sand Dunes, staying at the primitive Emigrant Campground. The sand dunes were mostly for the photographers in the group to get their sunrise pictures, so I was happy to sleep in that morning. Two more joined us for the drive to The Racetrack and with four cars, we repacked so we only needed to take the two SUVs (with full spare tires, a key requirement). And so we would embark on a bit of a ridiculous drive into the middle of nowhere.

Something to keep in mind is that once you start driving on the dirt road to get to the Racetrack, you're at least 100 miles from the nearest service station, so if you get a flat or have any car issues, it can be a bit of a nightmare. Granted, there's always cars driving on the road, so you could probably hitch a ride back, but getting your car out could be a terribly expensive ordeal. Having said this, it was a bit stressful when I got a flat tire after getting too close to a corner...

Luckily, I wouldn't get another, but it made the rest of the drive there and back a bit anxiety-inducing to say the least. It would end up being a small price to pay for the reward of seeing and camping near the Racetrack:

The group of rocks known as The Grandstand on the playa

The sailing stones, check out Wikipedia for an explanation

Primitive sites a few miles past the Racetrack 

Needless to say, out there the nights are exceptionally dark

This was quite the first trip to Death Valley. My expectations were far exceeded and it's become a very special place. A place like this comes alive when you take the time to take in everything around you. It's pretty easy to reach a peaceful mindset when you're here. My next stop would be climbing at Red Rocks yet again with a buddy from Sacramento.

This time at Red Rocks, I joined my buddy and his sister/brother-in-law at the main campground near the climbing area. The nights would be chilly, but pleasantly bearable with a camp fire each night. I had one of my most enjoyable days of climbing at the Stone Wall off the second pullout in the park. We were sharing the wall with a few friendly groups and a photographer in the group was kind enough to share the pictures he took of us climbing:

Kevin taking in the views 

Kevin was killing these 5.10 routes

Wasn't feeling up to lead some 5.10 routes, but had a blast on top rope

Kevin taking in the astounding sunset

During the last picture, I was up on my last route so I could clean up our gear and rappel down. This moment, being up 80ft or so, clipped into the anchors, and this stunning sunset happening around me was overwhelming. It's one of the many reasons I fell in love with climbing. It's become one of the most intimate ways to experience the outdoors and there's a lifetime's worth of learning ahead of me.