Corkscrew Peak!

On our way there (we usually drive 190 East through Panamint Springs) we stopped in Ballarat to see some wild Burro's. Needless to say, I was excited. I feel so special when I am graced by the presence of desert animals. But just as we stopped to say hello to their sweetness, Steve began to notice he had been taking photos of wild burro sex, HA! It was hysterical-I felt like I was on the Discovery channel, one dude was on it!

We arrived into Death Valley around 11 am. Corkscrew Peak is located in Northeastern Death Valley. There is a fee upon entering the park. They use the honor system. Pay the damn fee cheap-skate, it's bad karma (I had to remind myself to do this, or Steve reminded me). There's not really an assigned parking area, we just pulled off where we saw the sign. It's a small area that only totally fits about 3 cars. You won't find many people there, though so don't stress.

We arrived to see a the corkscrew peak a ways off in the distance and no clearly marked trail. I remember reading something online about the trail that said 'stay right of the peak', so we headed East (this is true) and scrambled over some rocks. All of this was really easy and fun and relaxing. It's about as difficult as walking down the street. There is a very faint trail I noticed that we began to follow. You have to follow it so closely though. One glance away and it's gone! Although I wouldn't have been bothered having to make my own path, it was nice knowing we were headed in the right direction and had half a shot at making it to the summit (I am notorious for getting 2/3 of the way there and heading back down).


As we continued to follow the dim trail, we saw a few people who were on their way down. They asked if we had hiked it before, we replied, "no." They said they hiked about two-thirds of the way and then turned around because it was too steep. I secretly got excited because now I knew I was in for a challenge for sure.

Motherfucker-this was a tough hike. At about half way, the trail begins to get steep. Not too difficult, but you definitely have to be in shape. Not only was it steep but it didn't let up at all. There were tons of switch backs, craggy looking loose rocks,and one hard to follow trail. As we approached the summit, I'll admit I got a little terrified. STEEP, STEEP, STEEP. There is nothing between you and a few hundred feet drop. It's the vertigo that gets me on heights, that's all. I think most people wouldn't have too much an issue with it. The wind began to pick up, which became a huge pain in the ass, not to mention it was frigid. Finally, we reached the summit-it looked like an old fortress-medieval-ish and like someone had blasted off half of it. It's very beautiful once you get there and well worth the hike. The views were blissful. Totally what I live for. I feel it so deeply, being up there looking down. I daydream about moments like this constantly. It's such a satisfying feeling being somewhere you love and knowing there's no where else in the whole wide world you'd rather be.