Diet Taco... trying to keep things light

@MonkeyProof, no I actually don’t mount my InReach and instead carry it in my pocket at all times when I’m out camping/exploring solo, including while I’m driving. I started religiously carrying it in my pocket after two closely spaced events.

The first was reading of a TW member who managed to dislocate their shoulder near Mengel Pass (IIRC) after having left their vehicle for a moment to take a photo just a bit up a hillside. The second was not but a few weeks later I noticed myself standing on the edge of a steep embankment around Owlshead when taking a picture while my truck stood idling nearby with my InReach sitting in it. It occurred to me I’d feel especially stupid if I fell down the embankment and fractured a femur only to realize at the bottom that my satellite comms were up in the unreachable truck. I’ve got a dumb habit of wandering much further from my vehicle than I first expect to if I have a camera in my hands…

I can imagine folks that subscribe with a tracking plan might want to mount it, but I just manually send updated positions through the day rather than using a tracking plan.

 

ohhh...something to seriously consider!

 

Just because I found his thought process so interesting, I'm going to post a link to the last time Ken explained this. Note his three preset messages (which I now also use, modified slightly), which can be sent "for free"/as many times as you want even on the cheapest plan. Like Ken, I carry the inReach with me at all times, because it's not the truck that I'm worried about being stupid.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...eep-things-light.409330/page-63#post-25770633

 

I do have a vehicle mount for my InReach mini. I use the a Garmin spine clip mount on a ram ball and a Taco Garage DMM to keep it on the dash and connected to a charger cable. This allows the GPS to keep a position fix at all times and keeps the internal battery topped off. I find this a convenient way to carry it around while I’m driving. If I’m getting out of the truck, it goes on my person like Ken and Dan. I will admit to stepping away from the truck without it for short distances but my adventures are mild compared to these guys.

 

Apologies, I see I must have missed this way back when and never replied!

The cutback at the top was probably a good six feet or so.

The white/gray color is actually the natural color of that rock! The surrounding surfaces are covered in desert varnish which gives them their darker colors. Many rocks in Death Valley that are not subject to frequent washing by running water develop desert varnish on their surfaces. Pick up a random dark colored rock outside of a wash and split it with a geologist's hammer and you'll likely discover the inside is actually quite a bit lighter. Often an apparently very dark brown rock is actually light grey on the inside if you split it open. This is also what gives many petroglyphs their contrast and estimates of their age can be made based on how much new desert varnish has grown over them.

 

Death Valley - Part 3 (Dunes)
October 2021

I also did a nice dune hike as well as passed by some other dune systems along the way. First, and most obviously, are the hard to miss Eureka Dunes which I first caught sight of in deep twilight on the first night as the last bits of storm raced away to the east. Not visible in this many minutes long exposure were flashes of lightning illuminating the distant clouds. The dunes look rather soggy...

Freshly Washed Dunes
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By the afternoon of the next day their surface had dried out quite a bit. In harsh afternoon light the Eureka dunes are quite striking against the Last Chance Range.

Brilliant Dunes
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And my favorite view of the Eureka Dunes is actually from the mouth of Dedeckera Canyon.

Twilight Dunes
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I also did a nice hike out to the so called "hidden dunes". One can see why they are called "hidden" given the view from the trailhead:

Well Hidden Dunes
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But after a pleasant walk across open desert the view opens up. And I once again had a camera with IR capability so I decided to have fun with that.

Infrared Dunes
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One nice thing about shooting in IR is that there is essentially no scattering in the sky such that even in midday the moon pops out nicely. And dunes are great for abstracts, and sort of look lunar when still damp, so you know...

I am an Arteest!
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I decided to bypass the dunes to the left such that I'd have favorable footprint free views as I returned over them. Just a bit past where the above photo was taken, walking on the bottom of a wash trapped between the edge of the dunes and the hills, I unexpectedly spooked a Great Horned Owl that was resting in the shade of a creosote bush. I attempted to get my camera out and set up without disturbing the owl further, but after just 30 seconds it took flight again and I only got a very blurry shot I won't bother sharing.

Dunes are of course full of all sorts of fun compositions. I spent a lot of time experimenting, most of which were failures I won't torture anyone with. This one wasn't too bad:

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I had a pleasant lunch near the top of one of the higher dunes not far from this spot. From the storm the day before there was wet sand quite shallow below the surface and the ripping winds had sculpted it in many locations. None photographed particularly well though.

Later as I hiked down the ridges of the dunes back towards my starting point I was treated to something fairly remarkable. Well, maybe boring to many folks, but exciting to me since it vividly illustrated I had something quite backwards in my head.

Where do those dark swirls come from?
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If you've spent time on many dunes, and especially Panamint and Eureka, you've probably seen dark grains mixed in with the light grains. Frequently you'll see the dark grains sorted from the light grains in ripples. Other places you'll see anomalous patches of dark grains on the leeward slip slopes of the dunes. I had always in my head assumed this was because the dark grains were heavier than the light grains and thus got left behind in wind storms. Most of the dark minerals are denser than the lighter silica grains so this all seemed to make sense.

Well like many sensible sounding narratives when it comes up against actual data it turns out to be entirely wrong...

Despite the previous day being extremely windy it was almost perfectly calm for my dune hike. But there were occasional breezes, and as I walked along one ridge a breeze generated some small whirlwinds that produced a phenomenal effect:

Saltation Sorting
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Be sure to watch the HD 1080p version of that to see what's happening best. So yeah, I had that entirely wrong. It is actually the dark grains that are moved most easily by the wind! It isn't just density of the material that matters, it is size as well, and of course these darker minerals are likely to form significantly different sized grains than the lighter silica and so their density is somewhat irrelevant. As you can see in the video (and hear as there is actually audio there) it really does not take much wind to move those darker grains.

Sand grains that bounce along the surface are said to be "saltating" and that's what's happening here. They are too heavy and the wind too weak to be transported by "suspension" such as in a dust cloud and they aren't just "creeping" which is essentially rolling along the surface. With saltation they not only bounce, but each time they bounce they can kick more grains enough above the surface that they begin to saltate as well. It creates a sort of chain reaction and so actually saltation is one of the most important transport modes in dune movements. And here we can see how the dark grains clearly preferentially saltate at this wind speed compared to the lighter grains.

Well, that was worth the whole trip really in my mind...

But still, even the dunes when static are quite pretty:

Hidden Beauty
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So I managed to check off another Death Valley dune system, one I'd been meaning to get to for quite some time. But on my way out I'd pass a third for the trip, the often overlooked Saline Dunes. I've camped by the Saline Dunes a handful of times and as the springs were completely overrun I did so again for my last night so that I'd be in position for some morning twilight.

Pre-positioned for morning
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The Saline Dunes are quite low, rolling dunes. As you can see in the photo above they really don't stand out much at all even when camped right next too them. I've heard them described as "oceanic" which fits them quite well.

Waves of Sand​

What is impressive about them is that they are right up against the incredible eastern escarpment of the Inyo Mountains. Once you hike out onto the dunes and look back you are treated to an impressive sight.

Crashing on the shores of the Inyos
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And that was a nice end to my trip...

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Thumbs Up!

 

Two thumbs up! And you tricked me into learning something.

 

That Saltation Sorting of sand video was neat!

 

Death Valley - Day 0 & 1
December 2021

Yeah, yeah, this report is a little late...

Back in early December Omicron was just starting to ravage Europe and just getting a toehold in the US so it seemed like I could squeak in a trip before things got exciting again. Usual up at 4 am in Baltimore and leaving Vegas by noon. Camped just above Hole-in-the-Wall. Had attempted to plan a shot through the wall with a particular background via Google Earth but the elevation data wasn't good enough and the view was obstructed. Plus it was overcast and likely overcast and sprinkling in the morning so no colors. Wandered about to take a photo anyway.

Hole in the Wall
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Morning was indeed cloudy with minor showers dashing about the area, but it appeared the precipitation was clearing out and I hoped for a dry hike to Slit Canyon for the day. This route had some minor climbing as well as some steep bypasses so I brought along climbing shoes and some new super compact trekking poles. It was a nice hike across wide alluvial fans to the canyon mouth which is closed by a tall fall bypassed to the right. The bypass was pretty mild but having the poles was nice. The canyon is named for a nearly straight tight section a bit further up the canyon from the entry fall.

The Slit
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This was the one spot with a bit of climbing as a ten foot or so dryfall blocks the way. Climbing to the right of the fall (left in the above photo) was not bad with a few well placed bomber handholds and decent footholds. The climb starts from a shelf above the wash floor that made the actual climbing perhaps seven or eight feet. Climbing shoes made easy work of it but were probably not really necessary at all.

Further on the canyon comes to a very tall dry fall and by now, despite what the weather had looked like earlier, it was sprinkling steadily and a small rill ran down the polished chute of the fall from earlier precipitation.

The Fall
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This huge fall must be bypassed just a bit down canyon. The bypass features some steep sections and loose gravel that were annoying and tiring, but especially with a trekking pole did not seem precarious. The view down canyon from near the top of the bypass was worth the climb as well.

The Bypass
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Above the fall the canyon continues through tight gorges and narrows but nothing particularly tight or knock your socks of impressive. It was a pleasant walk in terrain made more interesting by the clouds and sprinkles. The rain became more insistent and I was not looking forward to down-climbing wet polished stone. I found shelter under an overhang and ate my lunch taking a photo from my dry spot.

Lunch View
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One notices different things hiking down a canyon than up which means I'm rarely disappointed with out-and-back canyon hikes. Just above the big fall and slightly below the turn off for the bypass was a nice view featuring the gently tilted strata of the area.

Above the Fall
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Getting back to the minor fall at the Slit the rain had stopped for awhile and with a steady breeze had mostly dried already. Nonetheless I managed to sit right in a puddle at the top and so got to do a good chunk of the rest of the hike with soggy undies. The down-climb was easy with just the usual awkward "where the heck is that foothold" moment of concern.

Nearing the end of the hike views opened through Hole-in-the-Wall and the rain had brought out some vibrant colors in the vegetation.

Hole-in-the-Wall View
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There were no more sprinkles for the rest of the afternoon but the clouds hung on to prevent any sunset. This was agreeable to me as I was still rather tired and enjoyed a leisurely afternoon and evening in camp reading and napping. Despite being skunked on sunsets and sunrises, as well as getting some unexpected mid-hike precipitation, it was a delightful first hike of the trip.

 

Better Late Than Never!!

Glad to read a post from you!!

 

Death Valley - Day 2
December 2021

The next day broke to clear blue skies (not even any clouds for an interesting sunrise). The plan was to climb a barren ridge for a colorful view and potentially descend via a different route to make a loop through an interesting canyon (though I wasn't sure the descent would be doable).

The hike started with a leisurely stroll through lunar badlands.

Possibly the Moon
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Route finding would be critical as the heads of many canyons are simply to steep too climb. The drainages are so sinuous it can be hard to tell where the one you are in will actually end up. Following way points and tracks from aerial imagery and topo maps got me headed up the correct path.

Sphinx Possibly Buried Here
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Wandering along what might be termed a "pass" at the head of the drainage I picked what I hoped was a useful draw to the left.

Looking back down what is hopefully not a dead end
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The gully sides often dropped low enough to look over the wall into adjacent gullies. At one point I decided I needed to switch to a different gully. A bit further up that one I found another opportunity to jump back into the original one. It is a bit of a maze in this area. Eventually, however, I manged to climb out of the crumbly badlands and onto a more solid surface with a hint of vegetation. This area was covered with spines of interesting minerals.

I'm not a geologist, but I believe this is called a "mineral"
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Much of the slope was a slippery gravelly surface that feels as if you are going to slide down at any moment. It wasn't hard to find areas where the slope was not particularly steep and trekking poles made it straightforward to gain the ridge. Continuing up the ridge brought me to a somewhat windy lunch spot with a nice view.

View worth the walk
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One can probably guess what famous tourist landmark this ridge lives above based on the colors.

Yes, it really is that blue...
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After lunch I hiked just a little further up the ridge to evaluate my hoped for descent into the head of an interesting canyon to make a loop of the hike. Even with trekking poles it just looked a bit too sketchy for my tastes. So I opted to return the way I came and managed not to get lost in the maze of badlands on the way back to the truck.

The weather called for mostly clear skies in the early evening such that temperatures could drop followed by wind and potential showers in the early morning. I decided to treat myself to a night in the hotel in Stovepipe rather than spend a cold windblown night in the truck. After having a burger and checking in, I decided to try for a sunset shot. There were only the gentlest wisps of cirrus in the sky to give just a hint of color.

Devil's Cornfield
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With no need to scurry to a camp before dark, I stayed and enjoyed watching the extended deep twilight that makes the desert so surreal.

Desert Twilight
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Excellent as always. Your mineral looks like calcite.

 

I swore I would never miss the DV region. Then I look at images like yours and my mind starts to question it.

Nice shots.

 

^

 

Yes, Ken. They let me out of the box.

Your thread makes me a better person. Now more than ever. Rationality and beauty all in one packet. Thank you.

 

Death Valley - Day 3
December 2021

I woke up snug in my room at Stovepipe and indeed it was chilly, windy and sprinkling outside. The clouds cut out any possibility of a nice sunrise and the clouds weren't stormy enough to be interesting either. So I had a leisurely breakfast and waited just a little for the weather to clear a bit. With the recent precipitation I decided I should alter my original plan to hike a canyon that likely involved somewhat trickier climbing and bypasses than Slit Canyon had. Instead I figured I'd explore a road that in all these years I had managed not to drive up and then do a mellow hike up a uninteresting wash to a very interesting side canyon.

The drive was pleasant and not far up a side canyon was one of the larger arches in the park. Amusingly I managed to trudge right past it without noticing it! Had to double back after realizing I must have gone too far.

I'm renaming this Hidden Arch since I blundered right past it...
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The road continues a number miles higher into the mountains and ends at an old mine site. I must admit that early in my Death Valley explorations I found old mines very interesting. There are some that are real gems to be sure (pun intended). Many, however, are just partially collapsed buildings turning into rodent dens combined with a number of scars on the landscape. I'd characterize this one as such, but it did result in the presence of a nice road!

More interesting was a side road to a high point with potentially interesting views. On this day, however, views were constrained but the clouds were putting on a nice light show.

Storm Passing
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The drive down was easy and I passed by Stovepipe again to have a snack and check out of my room. From there it was not too long a drive to a very unpromising looking broad wash.

An Uninteresting Beginning
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After a bit of walking the wash narrows down and on one side I noticed perhaps the sketchiest chock-stone arrangement I've ever seen.

Precarious
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Further up the wash a dark cleft to one side hints there might be something interesting here after all...

Perhaps just a dryfall...
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Indeed this proves to be more than it first appears, with some ducking and shuffling to enter.

Bridged Entrance
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Beyond the entrance one enters one of those magical hidden places that make one keep coming back to Death Valley. It always feels like there is more to discover here with persistence.

Hidden Wonders
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And that was the perfect way to end my trip.

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I have thoroughly enjoyed each of these posts. That chalkstone is fantastic, and I wonder if it's still wedged there. A little erosion on the side and it was likely to go boom. Someone should investigate ...though I suppose that would require open roads.

I'm also assuming that the "uninteresting beginning" was the spot along the side of the road where we passed your truck as I was headed home with a blown transfer case?

 

Thanks for posting Ken!

Regarding your hike to the colorful overlook... I've been scoping out a hike for this winter, not to the exact same spot (the ridgeline view looks amazing but is probably a bit farther and higher than I'd probably enjoy) but to some mine workings and a slot canyon in the watershed just to the south of the one you followed. I'm unable to discern if that is open to the public; I see some fencelines/gates on the satellite maps, which appear wider that would be used to discourage vehicle traffic alone. I don't know if you would have taken the same route for your hike, but it looks shortest to me, so I'm curious: were you able to begin hiking from the paved road, making use of the old mining road to reach the badlands? Do you know if the barriers are posted against trespassing?

---

Also, on a totally different topic, but one which is frequently discussed on this thread--emergency satellite communications--I ran across a description of an emergency in which satellite coms were used while I was doing some leisure reading the other day... thought I'd share a summary.

My choice of leisure reading materials is a bit on the esoteric side, so this one comes from a recent NTSB report regarding a boat that caught fire several hundred miles off the coast of California. One of the boat occupants activated both a PLB and an InReach device. Based on the limited details we can compare the two types of devices, not in their ability to operate in limited-sky situations as previously discussed, but in how they effected the rescue in this particular case. And if nothing else, it gives me an excuse to launch into speculation, which I seem to really enjoy.


The report doesn't make clear which device was activated first, but given the urgency, they were likely activated in quick succession. PLB activation is quick and straightforward, but I don't know how to work an inReach so here's what the report said there: He used the SOS button on his SEND, a Garmin inReach, with which he texted, “Fire.” The vessel's EPIRB was also activated, but that's mostly a red herring to our story because its alert wasn't received until half an hour after the response was initiated, and the report doesn't specify which if either of the beacons assisted the responding aircraft in locating the vessel--I suspect the gigantic boat fire provided primary guidance there. (And as a sidenote for our case of interest, EPIRBs are probably irrelevant in the canyons of Death Valley... unless you've arrived there in a crashing aircraft. Correction: make that a sinking boat.) The inReach was quickly lost overboard so it could not be used for further communication, while the fire and subsequent loss of power rendered the boat's marine radio(s) inaccessible then inoperable throughout the emergency.

Geolocated alerts were received by both satellite systems within a minute of each other, so in this case clear-sky case, it seems that neither afforded a significant advantage over the other in terms of acquiring the necessary satellite signals. The PLB alert was routed directly to the Coast Gard entity that would effect the response. The inReach alert was routed to Garmin, but there was a 6-minute delay before the alert was relayed to the responding Coast Guard entity. A fixed-wing aircraft was dispatched one minute after this, and efforts were begun to vector a nearby commercial vessel to rescue the stricken crew.


That's it for relevant factual info in the report, but so as not to leave you hanging, the aircraft reached the boat in about three hours and dropped emergency equipment to the crew, who had retreated to a lifeboat tethered to the burning vessel. The aircraft loitered to monitor the situation, and airborne rescue was put on standby. A second aircraft later relieved the first to keep watch until the arrival of the responding commercial vessel. The fire eventually diminished to the point that the crew were able to re-board and extinguish it, although the boat's interior was completely destroyed, so the crew remained stranded and possibly unable to communicate. (I suspect they had or were airdropped a hand radio, but it's not mentioned.) The commercial vessel arrived nearly 9 hours after the emergency had started and rescued the crew, while the burned boat was eventually recovered by a different company boat.


Here's my take on it:

1. Both the inReach and the PLB worked quickly and effectively

2. Although inReach communication chain was five minutes slower to actually alert the responding entity, the ability to transmit the message "Fire" with this platform likely played a major role in the response. We don't know what the response might have been in the absence of the inReach alert, and in this case I'm sure the crew would have been rescued safely had only a beacon been used. But my understanding is that efforts are made to confirm the plausibility of a PLB alert via its registered points of contact prior to initiating a rescue. The arrival of a second SOS alert from the same location may well have expedited this, but in this case the second alert also provided unequivocal confirmation of a specific type of emergency, presumably triggering the fastest and most appropriate response. This seems by far the most important advantage of the inReach. When minutes count, I'd rather the next one be spent calling up a helicopter pilot instead of calling up my mom. Or, if the emergency calls for something that's not a helicopter, I'd rather they find that out from me instead of a helicopter pilot.

3. The above advantage is only afforded if you are able to enter the additional information into a tiny device with no keyboard, which might not always the case. Even if you aren't impaired in that ability, if you are on a boat being consumed by flames, you would probably really wish the device had a keyboard at that moment.

4. The inReach has the further advantage of offering two-way communication during the rescue, but not if it falls into an ocean.

5. The above is a bit facetious, but does highlight two key advantages of the PLB, which I'll agree are of limited relevance to back-country rescue: First, a marine PLB is designed to operate even if it is dropped in the ocean. Second, the PLB's continued operation provides continuous tracking, both via satellites as well as a directly to a responding aircraft, allowing you to be located even if you are in motion, or the device can't determine its GPS location. This is most critical for recovering individuals adrift at sea after a vessel has sunk, thus individual PLBs are a recurrent plea from the NTSB following cases where rescue craft are unable to locate survivors before they succumb to drowning or hypothermia. But perhaps there might be cases of back-country emergencies where it would be prudent to make way towards civilization while rescue is en route, and a PLB might offer a slight (but not exclusive) advantage there. Although... any case I can imagine where I'd be driving or walking with an activated PLB, I'd be seeking cell service to relay information I could have typed into an inReach.


This has me again pondering the purchase of an inReach. Although as someone who also enjoys sailing in addition to scrambling around in canyons, and who definitely hates monthly charges, I certainly don't regret buying a PLB.

 

Yep!

I did not take that route because as I understand it the area is still is posted against trespassing (I did not go up that route to check though). Also the head of that canyon is the same very steep terrain that I opted not to hike down from the ridge to make a loop after I saw how steep it is, so I wouldn't recommend anyone trying for the ridge go that way. I instead took a route that went more to the north for a less steep climb terrain to the ridge. I do know at least one person in the past got permission in advance to explore that slot canyon, no idea how you go about that.