Corkscrew Peak

Death Valley National Park

(map link)

(Not all of Death Valley National Park requires a fee, but this is within the old monument area where a fee is required.) There is no official trail up Corkscrew Peak, but it is sufficiently striking looking that someone decided it needed a roadside sign. I parked beside the sign where I found one of the many thin trails that converge onto a well worn use trail that climbs to the top. It's almost as good as an official trail. I was being promised morning weather including a chance of snow. I could believe it the day before as I explored Rhyolite under thick clouds, but I did the morning trail finding under an arc of solid blue.

A very visible use trail going off to Corkscrew Peak in the distance.

A couple puffs of cloud appearing over the top of Telescope Peak, far across the huge valley.

The route drops into a wide wash where I could see remnants of trails from previous years. They all go the same place, into a short canyon with vertical walls. Wind was picking up and feeling a bit cold, so the canyon looked nice as protection from it.

Into the wash aiming at the distant dark line of canyon. It's a long way through the wash. The peak is to the left and there do seem to be a few more clouds popping up at the fringe.

Walls along the canyon are just tall enough to be very confining.

Not too far along, there was a line of rocks and multiple cairns to signal it was time to leave the canyon. I headed up the chute of a tributary wash over the only class 2 spot on the entire hike. I was back to being exposed to the wind as I followed the trail up the ridge.

The tributary area where I left the canyon.

The very obvious trail up the ridge to Corkscrew Peak might as well be official.

I stopped and snacked and pulled on more clothes while huddling behind a rock in the wind. I even pulled on the "crawling gloves", cheap gardening gloves with plastic palms, in hope of them doing a little something. Usually there would be something better, but there is a certain momentum to what's stuffed in the pack and they got pulled out for backpacking a while ago.

Looking back under an increasingly cloudy sky.

Close enough to wonder about that last bit up the peak which does scramble up in the rocks through the cleft on the right as expected.

The wind was increasing and I pulled on the rest of what might keep me warm. It was a bit concerning that there was nothing more except a space blanket and I was still climbing. Coming down had a promise of misery and hopefully nothing more.

A sort of garden found when only natural irrigation by a desert is available.

Every time I looked back over the valley, it seemed to be a bit more full of dust. It started wtih a small, localized, but thick spot of dust and just kept building. It was not the day to be down in the valley. It wasn't doing well for my views, either.

A little bit of dust kicked up down in Death Valley.

The dust storm builds in Death Valley.

The last steep climb included a few extra trails, but was still requiring little to no thought about the route. I found a window and some larger rocks to shelter from the wind and just a bit more to go to actually be at the top of the mountain.

The big window near the top of Corkscrew Peak.

The wind didn't seem quite so bad as I climbed the last little bit to the peak. On the other hand, the snow actually materialized. There wasn't much of it, but it was unmistakable.

Panorama of the dusty valley from near the top.

Official National Park Service register at the top.

The new view to the north.

I was here in my "barefoot" shoes. Been wearing them over these far-too-rocky-for-real-feel routes, but they seem to be taking the tough abuse and my feet are happy again in the morning.

And after a little bit of huddling behind the summit block, I headed back down again. The precipitation was only expected early in the day, so the skies cleared as I went. It didn't get anywhere near as clear as when I started, though.

It's a long way down, but it is less and less steep.

Looking back at the peak. The long way down is just symmetry with the long way up.

Nearing the end of the canyon portion of the hike.

Good light for Corkscrew Peak on the way back.

Colors in the small canyons the trail passes on the way back.

I had to do a little thinking in choosing which trail to follow back. I wasn't quite on the same path as my way out, but very close, and I got directly to the car once more.

Back at the sign pointing the way for the birds.

*photo album*




©2022 Valerie Norton
Written 22 Mar 2022