EISPIRATEN

While everyone else was plowing through ice and snow on Mt. Baldy, we headed to Death Valley. On Thursday, we hiked Corkscrew Peak via the south east ridge.
On Friday, we hiked Fall Canyon as far as the dryfall. Weather was nice and the views from Corkscrew were stunning.
My wife wanted to see the pupfish which were out in force. The boardwalk over Salt Creek has nice new interpretative signs.



The rest of the pictures are here:

http://richardk.smugmug.com/gallery/760 ... 9760_Pv76L

Richard,

Nice pictures - I so used to think the desert was not the place to be until I started doing the PCT in fall and winter - I have a new appreciation for it.

It's nice to see the Sierra's white capped in the background.

Since I have a bad knee I was wondering if you could tell me how the braces you are wearing in the photo below work for you?


And where'd you get them?
Thanks lilbimo

Richard: Nice pics. It rained/snowed the day I did Corkscrew a few years ago, so I'm going to have to go back sometime to catch those wonderful views you were awarded with from the summit. I see you got some shots of flowers, but how was the flower show overall in Death Valley?

Kathy

Wow. Thanks for sharing those pictures. Parts of Death Valley are really beautiful. Pretty soon, the flowers will be in full swing.

What a nice way to spend some time with the wifey.

BTW, what is the significance of the pupfish out there?

Kathy - The wildflowers were just beginnning to bloom. The peak is expected in 2 to 3 weeks. It should be an average bloom, nothing like the vast fields of flowers in 2005. We saw some small desert golds here and there. The Daylight Pass road had a lot of small yellow and purple flowers along the edge.

EnFuego - The pupfish survive in water 3 times as salty as the ocean. It is astonishing that they make it in such a harsh environment.

lilbitmo - My knee braces are the Cho-Pat strap. They are supposed to stabilize the tendons. You can buy them over the internet at http://www.cho-pat.com/. They seem to help. I spend a lot of gym time on the exercise bike to strangthen the quads. Strong quads protect the knees. I stretch the quads and hamstrings beore each hike and take 2 Aleve (not Motrin, Aleve lasts longer). As soon as possible after each hike, I fill 2 gallon baggies with ice and ice my knees for 45 minutes. Ice works!

cool photos

thanx for the TR! i love Corkscrew, it's probably my favorite hike in DV. i take that back, i have so many favorites in DV! heading out there this weekend, we'll see how much more of a bloom is going on in a week.

I camped in Furnace Creek last weekend with friends: it was a busy campground! But I was able to take a short hike up Titus Canyon, and get up to the dunes at Stovepipe Wells. I wacked my back three weeks ago jumping rope: I think I tore a thoracic ligament at the bottom right rib, so I am having to take it easy!



A few more pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kwhitmyre/ ... 418015600/

hope you don't mind if i tag along on your thread kgw!

spent the weekend hiking in Death Valley with Dave G and though our elevation was too high to catch the wildflowers we got in two nice desert peaks, Towne and Zinc Hill.

finally got my pix up:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ryan.norma8 ... ley3212209#

Great trip! And wonderful photos! I appreciate the virtual tour, Norma. I've been west, and I've been east, but I've never been on that road.