Death Valley

Death Valley is one of my favorite places on earth. It's a uniquely beautiful landscape packed with adventure and solitude. For my fiancée Josh's birthday last weekend, we made the long drive down to tackle a few peaks that had eluded us on previous trips, and I'm proud to say we finally made it to the top of Telescope Peak! Third time's a charm, apparently.

Telescope Peak is the tallest peak in the park, towering nearly 12,000 feet over Badwater (on the valley floor). The views stretch for miles and miles from the top (hence the name!), from the High Sierra and Whitney Range in the west, all the way to Mount Charleston, just outside of Las Vegas, in the east.

Pinto Peak is a little-climbed peak in the Panamint Range with a pre-California Desert Protection Act jeep road to the top. The old road is slowly being reclaimed by nature-- at one point, a three-foot-tall Joshua tree stands in the center of the tracks, newly joined this year by two smaller friends-- and meanders along several winding ridges to gain the peak. It's so infrequently visited that the original trail register from 1961 is still at the top, and only 15 or so people per year sign the new register even today.

Both nights we stayed up at the Mahogany Flats campground, which requires a drive up a steep, rutted 4x4 road. The campground is perched on the ridge between Telescope and Wildrose Peaks, and offers some nice, though wooded views east and west.

Now for the photos y'all have been waiting for-- sunset and sunrise from 8,133 feet. Props to Josh for finding a good vantage point for sunrise!