Miss the first part of the adventure? Check out A Death Valley Spring Part 1 - Echo Canyon!
Day 4
Sunrise over Echo Canyon found Ashley and I enjoying breakfast with a view and sipping coffee as we decided on the plan for the day. Due to running around looking at campgrounds the afternoon we had arrived, we had not visited some of the "quick hit/touristy" places we had thought we might check out. Since we were close, we decided the first order of business for the day would be a quick walk up Natural Bridge Canyon. This is a popular and short walk up a shallow canyon with strikingly sheer walls, culminating in an impressive natural bridge spanning the canyon. We pulled into the parking lot and found a place to slip in between the passenger cars and motor homes and started up the trail. A quick and easy walk up the wide wash brought us to the natural bridge, an impressive arch of rock towering almost 40 feet above the canyon bottom forming one of the largest natural bridge arches in the park. On the north side of the arch you can still see a deep recess about 8 feet above the canyon bottom where the old channel had been before the natural bridge was carved. Since the walk was so short, we continued up the canyon until the 15 foot dry fall that ends the exploration for all but the most prepared rock climbers. Above the bridge we were treated to several sloping dry falls and chutes to scramble up, all surrounded by "dripping wax" mud features and a few intriguing side canyons. We paused to admire the dry fall at the end of the canyon, but a drive through Titus Canyon and a hike up Fall Canyon (the trail-head of which is conveniently located at the exit of Titus Canyon!) were on our list for the day so there was no time to waste! Leaving the foreign tourists to their chest mounted GoPros, we descended the canyon and returned to the truck.
The Titus Canyon road is one way heading east for much of its length, only the last couple miles from Scotty's Castle Road to the mouth of the canyon are open to two way travel. In order to access the entrance for our drive we would need to travel within six miles of Beaty on the highway we had entered the park by a couple of days earlier. Because the price of fuel in the park was just this side of astronomical, we decided it would make sense to take a quick detour into town to top off the tank. Having completed this task we hit the road a little after noon, anxious to complete the drive through Titus Canyon so we could explore Fall Canyon on foot. Despite having read some information on the Titus Canyon drive previous to the trip, we were quite naive on what the canyon had in store for us...
The first part of the road went as smoothly as expected. After a brief stop for a picture at the Titus Canyon sign, we followed the washboard dirt road across a vast scrubby plain, eventually climbing some gentle hills up to a low pass with some beautiful views of the surrounding peaks and valleys. Since the book had not mentioned anything about two passes we assumed that we had reached the pass referenced by the author. Continuing down a few broad switchbacks into the valley below, we commented on the steep, narrow switchbacks of an old mining road across the valley. The mood was light and something like "look at those switchbacks, glad we're not going up there!" was uttered. A couple minutes later we passed the first troubling sign, an older Toyota pickup high centered on the downhill roadside berm just above a tight switchback. Wondering why anyone would park in such a position we drove alongside the vehicle, only to realize that whoever had parked it there hadn't done it by choice. The drivers side front wheel was at a rakish angle in the fender, with untold damage in the control arm area it obviously wasn't going anywhere soon. How they were going to remove the disabled rig is a problem we couldn't solve, and the "oh @#%&" moment that must have coincided with the incident is one we didn't wish to imagine. A few turns later the truck started to point directly up those steep switchbacks we had been laughing at moments earlier and the realization of our miscalculations began to sink in...
The climb up to Red Pass was certainly memorable. The road sits perched on a steep hillside, with breathtaking vistas down below into the canyons, if you have the confidence to look down that is. Although not bad enough to cause any problems for the truck, the switchbacks and turns were tight and steep. One particular hairpin bend around a point with significant exposure featured a nice slick rock incline polished by countless tires where any slippage would be particularly unpleasant to imagine. Switching the truck to auto 4WD, just in case, we continued up to the pass. As breathtaking as the road up was, the view from the pass was magnitudes greater. Unfortunately the small pullout at the top of the pass was already filled by a couple of rigs, so we had less time to enjoy the sights than we would have liked. The drive down the backside of Red Pass was equally as daunting as the climb, featuring hairpin switchbacks, sharp drop-offs, and spectacular views thousands of feet down into the canyon bellow. Reaching the old mining town of Leadfield, we were finally able to relax a little. Ashley's fear of heights had been alive and well on the pass, and I was glad to have a break from the concentration of driving on such roads. Taking advantage of this opportunity, we parked the truck and took a minute to get out of the car and stretch our legs.
We would have liked to explore the ruins of Leadfield some but time was not on our side. The afternoon was quickly passing and we were not even close to ticking off our goals for the day. Climbing back into the truck we continued to descend into Titus Canyon and before long found ourselves entering an ever tightening set of spectacular cliff walls. By this point we had agreed that, being so late in the afternoon, we did not have time to hike Fall Canyon and give it the exploration it deserved. Instead of driving out to the Racetrack that evening, we decided to rearrange our plans and instead spend the night at Marble and Cottonwood canyons, returning to the west end of Titus Canyon (via the two way road from the highway of course) to hike Fall Canyon the next day. Although we had wanted to spend more time in the Marble and Cottonwood area, we knew we couldn't fit it all in as we had originally hoped and this seemed like the best option to salvage time where we really wanted it. With this decision made, we relaxed our pace and enjoyed the amazing scenery the canyon presented around every bend. After many stops to examine the tight walls, wildflowers, and vistas of the Titus Canyon narrows, we emerged from the shadows of the gorge into the light of the expansive alluvial fans and paused to stretch our legs at the parking area. In spite the damage done to our plans and our lack of mental preparedness for the journey over Red Pass, Titus Canyon proved to be one of the most spectacular drives of the trip and I hope to repeat the journey some day!
It was well past 3:00 when we turned off the highway at Stovepipe Wells. On a hunch we turned down towards the "airstrip" and were rewarded by the entrance to the dirt track we were searching for. Driving past a sign proclaiming the presence of sand holes and poor traction for the next few miles, we started off over the flat, sandy washboard towards the mountains. Other than a mild sand hole at the entrance to the road, the warning of sandy conditions proved to be overly exaggerated, although the potential for trouble would be great if the wind picked up or you strayed off the security of the traveled way. Finally leaving the washboard behind for a smoother ride up an alluvial fan we found ourselves at the base of the mountains and the entrance to the canyon. Here the road took a swift turn for the worse, and we found ourselves jostling over large rocks through the wash bottom and weaving our way through boulders, brush, and narrow canyon bends. This was definitely the rockiest road of the trip and going was slow. Adding to the adventure was how obscure the road became at times as it wove in and out of the wash, one such location required a pause to determine where the road had disappeared to before continuing!
However, the roughness of the road was offset by the equally impressive scenery we passed through. The canyon wash had cut a massive winding gap through the first row of mountains guarding a surprisingly large and flat basin created by the confluence of Marble and Cottonwood canyons. We passed the faint "road sign" demarcating the fork in the roads and, taking the right fork up Marble Canyon, soon found ourselves at the end of the road. From here on the canyon is a wilderness area, so we parked the truck and set out for a much needed stretch of the legs in the setting light. We were both tired from a long day of off road driving and the stroll between the striking rock walls of Marble Canyon was a refreshing change. Shaded in the cool darkness of the canyon at dusk, we wound our way through its bends and marveled at the convoluted rock formations that appeared from around every turn while the peaks along the rim of the canyon glowed in the warm sunlight of the setting sun.
Unfortunately our time in Marble Canyon was destined to be short lived. After spending around 45 minutes exploring, the growing dusk forced us back to the truck to find a camp site before darkness fell. We paused to give encouragement to a couple wondering if they had found the right road for Marble Canyon, and then continued back to the fork in the road. Taking the road up Cottonwood Canyon we soon found a nice campsite below the striking conglomerate wall of the wash and set about making camp, cleaning up, and getting dinner going. Soon we were joined by a group of five or six bats that darted around us and the truck as they hunted for their dinner, even leaving streaks in the dust on the truck as they skimmed the hood. As quickly as they had appeared the bats were gone, and we were left to enjoy our dinner alone under the clear desert sky.
Day 5
After a quick breakfast we set out for a short walk before returning to the Titus Canyon road for our much anticipated hike up Fall Canyon. The warm morning sunlight shone down on us as we strolled up the sandy bottom of Cottonwood canyon, following the two track road as it meandered in and out of the wash. Soon, a small but intriguing side gully appeared a few hundred yards away on the opposite side of the drainage. My proposition to explore it was quickly seconded so we cut across country and worked our way up into the boulder strewn gully. The shallow side channel wound its way through the hills in bends alternating between sheer conglomerate cliffs and gradual scrubby hillside. Large boulders were scattered frequently throughout the reaches of the drainage and we quickly were forced to scramble up and around these obstacles. After spending half an hour working our way up the gully it was time to head back to the truck and hit the road. The drive out of the canyon was uneventful and pleasant and before we knew it we had returned to the washboard of the sand flats. We (somewhat) unintentionally blew through the final sand hole at a good 35mph, leaving a cloud of dust billowing behind us, and returned to the highway, anticipation of the afternoon's hike high on our minds.
