SA Guide: Wildrose Peak

Route: Everytrail

Sometimes you just have to get away. And if a weekend is all you've got, then that'll have to do.

We felt the need for a re-infusion of nature last week so we planned a little overnighter to Death Valley National Park's Panamint Mountain Range. The Panamints run generally north-south, flanking the iconic basin on its west side, and boasting the highest point in the park - Telescope Peak, at 11,043 feet. 

We wanted a quick, easy hike to a spot with great views and solitude. The quick and easy part meant we'd have to skip Telescope this time (round trip - 14 miles), but we knew just where to find the views and hoped-for solitude, and in the bargain we'd get the chance to redeem a failed attempt at a mountain we had tried once before - Wildrose Peak.

Wildrose is located five or six miles due north of Telescope Peak in the Panamints, but is a much shorter hike (about eight and a half miles) and rises only to 9064' (of course, for people driving from sea-level in the morning and making the hike in the afternoon, nine thousand feet of elevation gain is still enough to fuel a headache or two, but if ya wanna dance ya gotta pay the piper). We knew this hike. We'd taken the trail about a year ago but were stopped at the base of the final ascent by more snow than we were equipped for. However, I remembered the rest of the hike as being spectacular, and was pretty sure we'd find several spots along the ridges which would make an enjoyable campsite for the night.

So we packed everything Friday night, and headed up Hwy 395 early Saturday morning. We arrived at the Charcoal Kilns around one o'clock and ate a full lunch before organizing our packs and getting ready to hit the trail. Frankly, I would have been willing to hang around a while longer to allow most of the day-hikers on this popular hike (the parking lot was nearly full) to return. But the cloud cover seemed to be increasing, we were both ready to go, and the trailhead was right there in front of us, waiting...so we set off.

We took things easy, knowing we only had a little over three miles to go this afternoon, and figuring that without a night of acclimation to the altitude it couldn't hurt not to press our sea-level lungs too much. The hike starts out climbing along a hillside before turning into a canyon that appears to lead directly up to the destination ridge. But the trail itself, after a fairly straight shot north up the side of the canyon, turns east and climbs steeply to meet a lower ridge at about 7500'. This area features some incredible views of Badwater Basin, about fifteen miles to the east and nearly a mile and a half straight down.

Soon the trail begins to circle its way back to the west as it climbs again toward the saddle just below Wildrose Peak. You meander through pinyon habitat with rock that is often fascinating for its color or composition, or both (hiking this trail includes a decent amount of walking over and through shaley debris, so for those like me whose ankles bear the burden of too many years of basketball, these sections call for caution).

Eventually the trail reaches and follows an east-west ridge that ends at the base of a steep, final ascent to the top. This is where we planned to make camp for the night. After considering and evaluating three or four possible sites we settled on one right along the ridge with tremendous views to the north and northwest over the Panamint Range, and to the northeast down into the valley toward Furnace Creek. If we walked a couple of yards we had views of Telescope Peak to the south as well. Even though a few pines provided a bit of shelter from the trail just yards away (it was not possible to put any more distance between our site and the trail) we hoped that the later hour - it was around 4PM - meant that there would be no dayhikers to worry about. As it turned out we saw no one else until later the next morning. We had the mountain to ourselves.

After making camp, brief consideration was given to the notion of setting off for the peak right away rather than waiting 'til morning. But our "consideration" ended up including far too much appreciating the view and napping to amount to anything more than idle strategizing, and soon the option was gone. So we spent the rest of the evening relaxing, making dinner and watching the sun set.

A few hours after nightfall Laura bundled up against the dropping temperature and headed out of the tent to answer the call of nature. After a couple of minutes she roused me with news that the clouds had cleared away and the sky was full of stars. We spent quite a while following satellites and shooting stars, and just enjoying an amazing celestial display on a moonless night. As we continued our neck-craning, trying-not-to-fall-over appreciation, a Western Screech Owl called from a nearby tree.

It was pretty much exactly what we were looking for when we hopped in the car earlier that morning.

End day one (Day two)

Info: Distance - 3.3 miles, Elevation gain - 1427' (steady up, with a steep section), Rating - Easy/Moderate (depending upon your tolerance for, or acclimation to, altitude, and whether you're carrying a daypack or something bigger and heavier)

More photos:

(All photos by Laura Camp. Use without permission is verboten.)