by James » Sun Jul 20, 2008 2:01 pm
Thanks to all for the great tips, the drive was great and all roads in great shape. That is until Wildrose road, which is a mess. Large potholes, puddles and generally torn up from last week's thunderstorms. Had to drive slow and careful through stretches. The pavement to the kilns is in great shape but the last two miles of dirt road to the kilns was rugged, large rocks and torn up. At the kilns, I took a look at the road up to Mahogany Flats and decided against it. I parked at the kilns and was glad I did, very muddy, steep, rocky on the way up. Closer to the campground was ok but down lower would have been trouble.
Great hike, great views, cool breezes despite 117 at Badwater. Sparse vegetation with wildflowers, bristlecone pines and deer (did not see any bighorns though). Highly recommend it, not many places where you can look down below sea level. Also recommend a truck for the road up to Mahogany campground. The hike up and down the road was the least fun part of the trip. However, hiking it was better than getting stuck on that road with a ruptured oil pan!