Lowest Peak in the Park - aka Into the Owlsheads (Nov 2021)

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I have no better way to describe this trip than Michel Digonnet has so expertly done in Hiking Death Valley. One read of this, and I was sold - it was time to visit the Owlshead Mountains.

At the south end of Death Valley, between the imposing Panamints and the mysterious Avawatz Mountains, the land gathers up into a colorful aggregate of low ranges collectively known as the Owlshead Mountains. Believed to be the eroded and partly collapsed remnant of a once much taller range, they consist of a roughly circular arrangement of hills surrounding two dry lakes. The name is said to have been inspired by the resemblance of Owlhead Peak's outline to the head of an owl. It is a coincidence that decades later, after the area was fully mapped, the shape of the range also turned out to look like an owl's face, the two dry lakes depicting the eyes.

Far from main lines of travel, accessed mostly by long primitive roads, and eclipsed by more formidable neighboring ranges, the Owlshead Mountains rank among the least visited in the park, which makes for superbly secluded hiking. Because it takes so long to drive to the few areas accessible by car, and even longer to walk anywhere else, to amortize your driving investment it is best to come here for a few days.

Total immersion in the Owlshead Mountains is pure bliss - you may well encounter more wild burros than humans.​

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We arrive - our first trip of the fall/winter/spring season to Death Valley - and I remember immediately why this time of year is one of my favorites!

Wandering Rocks and Lost Lake - Owlsheads #1​

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Wandering Rocks and Lost Lake - Owlsheads #1​

 

...Before we get to the day's story, a few questions are worth considering:

1. Are you a serial under-achiever?
2. Does the thought of hiking Telescope Peak - Death Valley's highest summit - make you snuggle deeper into the couch?
3. Is even getting second place just a little too much effort?

If so, I've got something right up your alley...

Lowest Peak in the Park - Owlsheads #2​

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Lowest Peak in the Park - Owlsheads #2​

 

...It was at the mouth of the second canyon that we had a discussion I'd never envisioned having while out on a hike in the middle of the desert: I mentioned the possibility of @mrs.turbodb continuing down the wash - following the original route - to Harry Wade Road, while I headed back across the alluvial fan to the Tacoma, before driving to pick her up.

Neither of us liked this solution - splitting up with relatively little food and water generally being a bad idea - but we both knew it was probably the right call given our location, energy levels, and the amount of water we had left.

With that, I poured some of my water into her Camelbak and handed the GPS to @mrs.turbodb - making sure she knew to follow the route east rather than take some random path - before I headed south toward Owl Hole Springs Road. Knowing that her route would be quicker, I also told her I'd start up the wash along the trail if she wasn't on the road when I got there....

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Low on Water, We Split Up in the Desert - Owlsheads #3​

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Low on Water, We Split Up in the Desert - Owlsheads #3​

 

...Having covered only a few miles since sunrise, our final two stops were half-an-hour north on US-395, in Big Pine. The first was an installation that I've wanted to check out for quite a while - the Owens Valley Radio Observatory.

...and then, as we took in the enormity of the equipment, it began to move!...

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Owens Valley Before Lunch - Owlsheads #4​

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Owens Valley Before Lunch - Owlsheads #4​