Mt. San Jacinto Outdoor Recreation

I had a fun weekend hiking in Death Valley with Norma R. On Saturday we climbed Towne BM and then visited the Albatross crash site. Saturday night a weather front moved in, so we scaled back our plans a bit and climbed Zinc Hill near Panamint Springs. No precipitation, but huge winds meant we were nearly crawling at times along the final ridge. Pix are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21042415@N ... 736796727/

Dave, you and Norma have way to much fun, I'm jealous.

Once again, Nice Report and great pictures.

I'm healing up fast and cannot wait to get busy hiking again.

Thanks for posting.

lilbitmo

Dave:
Nice report and pix. It's amazing how well preserved and intact the Albatross is, especially considering it "landed" without a crew. Looked like a fun route up Zinc too. Beautiful colors in the rock out there.
Thanks for the report!

I thought that was your vehicle at the pass on Saturday - we climbed Pinto Peak across the way. Saturday night we stayed at the trailer park east of Furnace Creek. Sunday we drove up Echo Canyon and hiked Winters Peak.

Thanks lilbitmo. I seem to have incorporated your name into my hiking vernacular. I find myself yelling to my partners lately, "Just a lilbitmo to go!"

liktohik: Yeah, with the exception of the fabric which covered the control surfaces, the Albatross is in amazing condition when you consider that it's been perched on that slope since 1952. That's a lot of winters!

Tom: You must have been with that group of three cars I saw park across the highway right after we started up. Pinto looks like a fun hike.

Had a great time in the desert. Our elevation was too high for a wildflower display, but we got in two nice desert peaks and can now say we know what it's like to hike in 50 mph winds. Dusty and annoying!

Finally got my pix up:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ryan.norma8 ... ey3212209#

Dave: Great shots of the Albatross. Do you know the story behind the crash?

Norma: You have such an artistic flair to your photography! The nice composition of the shots of the rock color and formation, the texture of the clouds, those unbelievable dust devils...

I've always wondered what makes it worth the drive out there. Now you two have got me wanting to throw the family in the car and go. Thanks for the post.

z

Zip~ Here is a good story on the Albatross crash: http://www.arcassn.org/albatross.htm

April-May is a great time to visit Death Valley. I try to get my annual Telescope Peak hike in during that period.

z,
thanks for the kind words. i have only had a digital camera for a little over a year and i am having so much fun with it.

if you want to see the desert in a blanket of flowers go soon. the Furnace Creek area had a very nice display last year. if you would like to show the family some beautiful rocks, take them into the drainage below Corkscrew Peak. TH on Hwy 374 south of Daylight Pass. if your children like finding cool looking rocks it's an amatuer rock hounds paradise. if they have the interest to hike 8 hrs you can do the Corkscrew Peak hike. it's all cross-country so you would need to get info from trail reports. let me know if you are interested and i can help. another fun thing is to climb the dunes by Stovepipe Wells. also, driving through Titus Canyon and hiking in Mosaic Canyon near Stovepipe Wells are also highlights.

there is so much to see there, this is just a sampling...

Death Valley is pretty disappointing for wildflowers this year.
If you want wildflowers I would recommend driving along the 395 just north of Kramer Junction between Freeemont and Red Mountain.

Another good area for wildflowers is the lower Sierras including the mouth of the Kern and Bear Mountain areas(both near Bakersfield) and up to about 2500ft elevatoin.

But DV still has a lot to see and hike