March 23, 2010

Death Valley: Titus Canyon

Jumping back a bit, while Amy and Nicky were here, we went to Death Valley. My mom and Blaine also joined us. We all piled in the Suburban and set off for our adventure. We got a fairly early start, it was about 9:00 when we left my mom's house. We entered the park via Bell Vista (from Pahrump). We first stopped at the Furnace Creek visitors center. We thought we'd make Nicky a junior ranger, but the program is geared for older kids. It wasn't a lost cause, we also found out Ubehebe Crater site was closed, Scotty's Castle was undergoing repairs, and there was also road construction. Figured, all would affect our plans, but we pressed on anyhow.

Our next stop was Titus Canyon. It's a deep, narrow gorge cut into the steep face of the Grapevine Mountains. The canyon is located on the east side of the park. It can be entered on foot from the west or by four-wheel-drive vehicle from the east. We came across it from within the park so we parked and hiked about 1.5 miles in. Mom and Blaine walked a few hundred feet and then turned back. Frank, Amy, Nicky and I continued onward, until Nicky showed signs of weariness.








You must keep an eye out around every curve. You never know when you might encounter a little monster... arrgh!






Livin' on the edge... AHHHHHH!


This one cracks me up. It looks like Frank wore him out so he resorted to crawling, really he was pretending to be an animal. A coyote, I think.


Here, he is climbing like a lizard.






Where's Frank?


Nicky found him.










Back to where we began.




Titus Canyon was a really neat sight to see. On another visit it we'll have to make the drive through the canyon. I'd like to see the rest of it.

2 comments:

Dave P said...

Those are some great pictures. I've been wondering if I should take time to visit Death Valley when I'm in Vegas. I'd love to see some of these canyons.

Kellee said...

Death Valley is a must see. It'll take a few trips (or days) to experience it all, but you could see the popular sights in one day.