Tuesday morning, January 24, 2012 -- I rolled at about 8 am. Heading down Highway 395, I discovered that there was fresh snow just south of Walker and off and on down to Mammoth. Arrived in Bishop about noon and did a pit stop at the Spellbinder for coffee and an email check. Back on the road to Lone Pine and then east on Highways 136 and 190. Telescope Peak was my primary hiking objective for the trip so that first day out my final destination was Wildrose Campground. I stayed on 190 until I reached Panamint Valley Rd where I made a right turn heading south. At the Trona Wildrose Rd. it’s a left turn heading northeast until you come to Wildrose Canyon and then the campground which is down low and still on pavement. I arrived at the campground at about 4 pm and was thankful to have an hour+ of daylight for cooking, replenishing certain vital fluids and getting situated. I was the only living soul in the campground that night.
Wednesday, January 25th – got up at 7 am (first sign of light) to a promising day and started to make coffee and breakfast. Packed up and headed up Charcoal Kiln Road at about 8:30 am and arrived at Mahogany Flats right about 9 a.m. The road is paved for a several miles but the last part is gravel. Near the end of the road, there is a fairly steep section and it had some snow on it. Kicked in the 4WD and fishtailed my way on up it. Paul’s words: “we were slip-sliding away.”
With ice axe, crampons and headlamp, I started hiking about 9:05 am. Trail had some snow in the beginning on the shaded north-east slope of what I will broadly call Rogers Peak but once the trail took me around to the south side most of the snow was gone. And the next four miles, heading due south, were uneventful – not very difficult and a beautiful day. The last mile to Telescope is steeper and retains its snow because of the shaded north slope. With about ¾ mile to go I put on the crampons and the snow got deeper as I progressed. The last quarter or eighth of a mile is pretty steep and there was a lot of drifted snow over the trail. I was able to discern the trail path without too much difficulty and summited at about 1 pm. I ate my lunch, signed the register and took some photos. I headed down at about 1:25 (the sun was already looking a little low in the sky) and retraced my steps without incident. Reached the trail head about 4:10 pm and then proceeded on down to Wildrose Campground for another relaxing night at a fairly low and warm altitude. Great hike! I did not see anyone all day (hurray!) nor did I see any wildlife (boohoo).
Thursday, January 26th – knowing that I was driving around the Panamint Range to Death Valley later that day, I was determined to get an earlier start and be a bit more efficient with my first hour activities. Rolled out about 6:45 and pressed the headlamp into service for about 20 minutes. Did all the normal morning stuff, packed up the whole farm by about 7:35 am. Arrived at the Wildrose Peak trailhead (right at the charcoal kilns) and started hiking about 7:55 am. It’s a fairly short hike and, compared to TP, not all that difficult. The neat thing about Wildrose Peak is all of the rose colored granite that one will see on the hike – it’s everywhere. This was a pleasant light hiking day with good weather. I saw about 6 humanoids on the trail as I was coming down and I arrived back at the parking lot right at noon. I ate some lunch, took some photos of the kilns and headed down to Stovepipe Wells.
Arrived at SPW at about 2:45 pm and did an email check. It’s free wifi for all comers there at the motel and there is a lounge you can camp out in just for that purpose. Now the caution – they get their link to the outside world via satellite and the internet is very slow. One could easily go and order and get your beer while a page is loading. Well, it was free!
I bought a park permit and hit the road (this territory was all new to me) about 3:30 pm. Headed south through Furnace Creek and then further south on the West Side Road to Johnson Canyon. Did a couple of minor detours to see things that looked interesting. West Side Road is well signed and I arrived at the Johnson Canyon road at about 5 pm, just before dark – I think part of the valley has to be within a couple hundred feet of sea level. I headed the Jeep up the 10 mile trek at about 5 miles (or less) per hour. It was a long drive and it was totally dark in no time. But before it got totally dark, there were some really sweet clouds to the south and a reflective sunset off of the clouds. And it was warm – mid 70s.
I arrived at the end of the road (about 3,880’ elevation) at about 7:30 pm in total darkness. And the frogs were in full croak mode (the road ends at a spring on Johnson Creek [my designation]). Did the reshuffle of gear and hit the sack. Rolled out at first light the next day and started walking up the Canyon about 9 am with no idea of where I wanted to go other than to Hungry Bill’s Ranch. I reached it in no time, feeling good and just kept hiking up the north fork of Johnson Canyon in the general direction of Panamint Pass. As I progressed west, I became infatuated with what I knew was going to be another incarnation of the infamous Unnamed Bump. So I pealed off to the north and summitted about 12:30 pm the elevation is 7,990’. I spent little time on top – ate a quick lunch and headed down. The canyon is tricky to hike. Trails come and go and in the lowest sections where the creek runs, the vines and willows and other pesky plant life grow in abundance. I got caught in one of these patches and was beginning to think it was the end to an otherwise charmed life. But I persevered and finally worked my way out of it – whoa, hope to never do that again. According to the USGS Panamint Quad, the hike looks to be about 10 miles RT and about 4,100’ elevation gain. And it felt every bit of that.
I arrived back at the Jeep at 4 pm. I took a moment to replenish some vital fluids, put 10 gallons of cheap, Reno gasoline into the tank and headed for Reno. I arrived in Lone Pine about 9:30 pm and took on a cup of store bought coffee and was back on the road quickly. I arrived home in Reno at 3am. Saturday morning.
June 4, 2013 by Larry Grant
Photos: Larry Grant at Wildrose Campground; Telescope Peak (photo by Larry Grant)