Hike to Bighorn Gorge off of Death Valley Wash, Death Valley, CA

An Alluvial Fan is a place where for thousands of years rain has washed rocks down from the hills and mountains above it.  Since it rains so infrequently, and has heavy rains incredibly infrequently, the scope of time it takes to create some of the monstrously large fans in Death Valley is difficult to comprehend.

We noticed that on one side of Scotty’s Castle road was an alluvial fan that seemed to end high up on the hills at the beginning of a canyon.  We could only see a hint of a canyon, but that was enough for us to want to explore it.

In the photo below one can see the Alluvial fan toward the left, and then in the exact middle the entrance to the canyon that goes off to the left (photo after this one shows the canyon highlighted).  The fan itself is a lighter color than the surrounding area, indicating a different type of rock that is in it.  

 

With our newly-discovered powers of desert distance estimation, we thought it was about a mile from the road to the bottom of the fan, and then about a mile and a half from the bottom of the fan to the canyon entrance.  Then we’d walk a mile or so into the canyon and end up with a cool little 7-mile hike.

Actual distance:

Road to bottom of fan:  1 ½ miles

Bottom of Alluvial fan to canyon:  3 miles

Total Hike:  9 ¼ miles

We are learning that estimating distances in the desert is tricky.  Interestingly, we are getting real good at estimating our elevation gain for our hikes.  At the end of our hikes we both give our independent guesses about gain, and then compare those with our GPS.  We both guessed 1500 feet today and were right on the button. 

Because we had to hike almost 4 ¼ miles just to get to the mouth of the canyon we only went a bit of a ways into it—kind of disappointing after all of the work to get there, but we didn’t want to hike 10 or 11 miles on that rocky surface.  Plus, our friends Susan and Laurence were on their way to Death Valley to meet us that afternoon we went wanted to get back to greet them upon their arrival.

It was also a hard hike.  As mentioned, the total elevation gain for the day was 1500 feet, 1200 feet of that in the alluvial fan where the surface is nothing but rocks.  With every step your ankles turn and twist or slide.  Trekking poles are a must, as they keep you ankles and knees from twisting and turning. 

Happily for me, the more I do of these hikes that are hard on my feet and ankles the stronger they seem to get.  Dr. Byron Hutchinson in Burien, WA, who repaired my foot, worked a miracle for me.  I am so grateful.  Here is a shot of what happens with your feet and ankles for 9 ¼ miles on these surfaces.  This activity puts a lot of stress on all of those small bones, ligaments, and tendons.

 

In this photo you can see the surface for the 1 ¼ mile hike across the desert to the bottom of the fan.  It was rocky, with many small washes that had to be entered and exited, with effort.  It is slow going.  You rarely can see the washes until you are right upon them.  Then you have to decide whether to try to walk around them, up through them for awhile (only for awhile because they rarely go to where you are going), or cross them by going into and then out of them. 

 

Here is Vicky at the wash at the beginning of the Alluvial Fan.  At this time we thought we had 1 ½ miles to the canyon, when in actuality we had twice that distance to hike.

The walls/borders of the fan that can be seen in the first photo on this entry as a dark frame are actually about 20 feet high in many areas.  The first photo below has one highlighted, and then the second shows me walking next to it.  

 

You can see from this and the next photo that the walking surface is actually nothing but rocks.  The rocks are just the right size to be difficult to walk on—too large to make a smooth surface and too small to stay in place when you step on them.  Tough going, especially up 1200 feet in 3 miles.

 

 This was interesting--the trunk of a tree in the middle of this huge area of large gravel.  How far did it travel over these years, where did it originate?  We haven’t seen any trees this size growing in places where the wind and rain could wash it here.  And it was the only thing this size we saw—not even smaller branches that could suggest there were others.

The canyon itself was beautiful, and wild.  And dotted with caves that were filled with Mountain Lions that had their hungry eyes on us.  I know I am probably making this last part up, but it is where I’d live if I were a Mountain Lion.   And I would think we would make a delicious dinner. 

 

 

On our way back down we saw hawks circling high over us. We wondered if they knew something we didn’t, and that maybe my Mountain Lion paranoia wasn’t too far off.

In the distance we could see our truck by the side of the road.  We were tired, and I sort of wished it was our horse instead and we could just whistle for it to come to us.  Next time we get a truck we are going to pay extra to get this feature.

A couple of days later we bought a map of the area and saw that the place we went to was called Bighorn Gorge.  We didn't know that at the time--we thought we had discovered it ourselves!  Sometime we will go back when we have more time to explore it.