Type of trip: Car Camping
Date: Feb. 13-15, 2016
People: Doug Ward, Gavin Shavey, Jason Adam
Good friends Doug, Jason, and Gavin from dorm room 52K urged this mid winter eastern sierra trip. We headed for Lone Pine on the Saturday of president's day weekend, stopping along the way to look at the joshua trees and pick up some firewood and souvenirs. Leaving the supermarket parking lot, a 2 inch diameter beetle crawled out of the firewood bundle and onto the car seats. Jason screamed and threw himself out of the car before it was stopped. He was sporting his brand new “Cali” beanie.
Alabama Hills far exceeded expectations. It was all of our first experience seeing Mount Whitney and the towering southern sierra skyline. It was no wonder that numerous films had been shot in this area. What a nice place to enjoy a campfire and beers.
The next morning we hiked around the area and went into town. We were planning to go to Darwin Falls that afternoon. In a gift shop, I found a Death Valley guidebook and looked up Darwin Falls. This was the smartest thing I’ve ever done. The book provided priceless intel that there is a second larger waterfall above the main falls.
When we arrived at Darwin Falls it was clearly blown with people. We sniffed our way around and up to the top of the second falls. This falls was absolutely gorgeous and nobody was there. The boys were fiending to get to the base of it. Sure enough, after some time investigating, we got to the pool of the falls and jumped in.
The remainder of the day was spent touring the empty roads of Death Valley. We camped back at Alabama Hills. Wind was heavy that night.
(Date posted: 2024-09-21)