Gary-Summer: November 17, 2021 -Death Valley: salt Creek and Ubehebe Crater

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

November 17, 2021 -Death Valley: salt Creek and Ubehebe Crater

Title: November 17, 2021 -Death Valley: salt Creek and Ubehebe Crater
Hike Info : Description : Background : Extra Photo's : Animals

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking
Trail: Salt Creek Trail
Trail head:Salt Creek Parking Lot

Destination: Loop
Distance: 0.91 miles ¹
Elevation Rise: 128 '
Descent: 129‘
Maximum Elevation: -191'
¹Data and maps are from Google Earth as I did not turn on my GPS

Hike Info:
Type: Hiking
Trail: Urehebe Crater and Little Hebe Crater
Trail head: Ubehebe Crater Parking Lot

Destination: Little Hebe Crater
Distance: 2.09 miles
Start Time: 1:27
End Time: 3:18
Travel Time: 1:51 (1.31 mph)
Moving Time: 1:15 (1.67 mph)
Elevation Rise: 572'
Descent: 576‘
Maximum Elevation: 2,885'

GPS Tracks

Car Mileage: 120 Miles

Description:

It is a special treat to be able to have a tent up only for privacy without a rain

Salt Creek Area

fly. When we went to bed, the moon brightened up the interior of the tent much better than a night light would have. But this morning when I woke up at 5am, there was no hint of morning, just bright stars overhead. I put on my glasses and gazed up at them, feeling very fortunate to be an audience for this show. I would doze and then awake to the beginnings of a morning sky, Finally around 6:30 I got up to find that a wind had come up to cool us down.

Sherri got up shortly afterwards and we had oatmeal. We put the camp away and went to the market to pick up ice. Then on to the Death Valley Visitor Center. We toured the museum-I was hoping to find out something about Jensen, but nothing there. We asked the rangers on duty some of our lingering questions:

Since we are going to the dunes and someone died there recently, what safety precautions should we have? He recites the normal stuff-water and don’t get lost, …
There is a road on the west side of Death Valley. What things of interest is there over there? Just the canyons up the side of the mountains.
Where can we find out about Jensen? Who? Unknown.
What scat did we see? Either a goat if large or rabbit. (Probably a rabbit.)
Is the leg we saw yesterday of a goat? Looks like it.

I suspect they were hoping that we did not have any more questions, which we did not. But we can see if we can be puzzled about other things today.

Old Stovepipe Well

We traveled up the road, turning off at Salt Creek. This is a spot where a variety of pupfish reside. We went on the mile or so interpretive trail which is built on a boardwalk. It was a nice leisurely walk. But we were disappointed not to see any pupfish. It was not from the lack of observation. They may have been hidden in the weeds along the edge or in another part of the creek.

We returned back to the car and continued on north. On thing which our Salt Creek venture did for us was to help us realize it is still pretty warm in the open sun. Our next stop is the Old Stovepipe Well area. We had hoped to hike into the Mesquite Dunes, but we were thinking this would not be fun under this sun. When we parked, two ladies were taking pictures. I took there picture for them. We chatted for awhile. They definitely are not hikers, but they wet our interest in going up to the Ubehebe Crater.

Ubehebe Crater

So off we went, 30 miles more to the north. The road is good and all paved, so we made good time. Several cars were already in the parking area. Our first order of business, after glancing into the crater was to have lunch. Once that got taken care of, we decided to hike up a little ways. Going counter-clockwise, we ascend up a steep, gravely slope. This is more plodding than a problem. But once we get the hang of it, we are able to look down into the crater.

Because of the gravel, Sherri is not wild about going on, but she does. Down a slope and up another slope gets us to the Little Hebe Crater trail. We take this branch off of the trail. It is a short ways to the Little Hebe Crater (what is a hebe anyway?). Sherri is content to look at it. I going around it-clockwise. It is a nice walk. A couple from San Jose is celebrating their birthdays today-we talk for a few minutes and I rejoin Sherri.

Sherri returning to parking lot

Sherri decides she wants to go back the way we came and is content to do it on her own. After considering this, I continue to go around Ubehebe Crater. The uphills, I plod up, meeting the couple again at the top. We talk some more about hiking-they think I am a fast hiker. I got them fooled.

Little Hebe Crater

I continue around. I am feeling better about my walking than I have in a long time. My stride has rhythm and a bounce, at least on the downhill slopes. And I am enjoying this time out, not because of being without Sherri, but because I am feeling good about my walking.

Gary coming in

By the way, the Crater is a wonder each side has different coloration, markings and erosion patterns. This bit of scenery helps in my feel good time. Towards the end of the circuit, it is uphill. I wonder what kind of hike is this where both the start and finish are uphill slopes? But it is a good walk and glad I did the whole thing.

We travel back to home, that is back to camp.

. The sun is starting to go down, lightning up the sand dunes. I can see why the dunes attract photographers in the mornings and evenings. We get back to camp at 4:29-yesterday we noted we should be trying to get back to camp around 4:30-accomplished. Sherri makes Frito boats for us. A satisfying meal. I spend the rest of the evening catching up on my blog entries. Then we go to bed at 8:00.

Background

Pupfish. This is an endangered fish found only in a couple of places in Death Valley. They are very small, about 1½ inches in length-sometimes growing to 3 inches. We were looking for something even smaller. Take a look at Wikipedia for more information.

Best Easy Day Hikes Death Valley National Park. We went on two hikes listed in this book on this day:

Salt Creek. The book has a pretty accurate description. If w had read it closely, we would have understood that we should not expect to see the pupfish in November.
Ubehebe and Little Hebe Craters. Pretty good description, plus added information about the volcanic geology of the area.

Extra Photo's