I had been waiting for this trip to go out since August 2012, when we received the syllabus for our First Year Seminar that said we were going out head out to Death Valley for our November camp out. It was supposed to be our service trip for the semester, restoring butterfly habitats. As it ended up, that weekend was the Grand Re-opening of a building, and so were pulling all their employees to help with that. We were offered traffic directing and trash pick-up as service instead, which our professor, Andrew Hollis, naturally turned down. Instead, we slept on campus that night, and went to Idyllwild the next night.

I then considered a Spring Break trip as an apprentice, but wanted to do WFR. So when I peer advised for the FYS, I hoped I might get a second shot at Death Valley, but Hollis decided to do Red Rock Canyon (NV) instead, so we could go rock climbing. So then I thought for sure I would do it for Spring Break. But I struggled with interest within the Trip Leader community and then again in the student body. But we got enough sign-ups in the last minute by extending our deadline by one school day.

The trip was 2 nights, 3 days. The great part from a Trip Leader’s stand point was that 4 of the 5 participants had never seen on an OP Trip, so we had a lot of wiggle room to make either a phenomenal impression, or a terrible one.

The trip itself might have been short, but we had a ton packed in over the course of 3 days. The first day, other than missing our exit on the highway forcing us to drive an extra 3 hours, we got to see Zabriskie Point. Zabriskie Point was particularly rewarding. After spending all that extra time in the cars, we really needed something to boost morale, and this stop was it. Aside from stretching our legs, it offered a chance for some pictures and scrambling. The golden rocks were really quite remarkable and the mountains in the distance looked like scoops of ice cream smushed together. According to our Trip Leader apprentice, we were really lucky it had rained the past 3 days, because the colors were much more vivid than when she had last come, since all the desert dust was washed off.

Then it was time to wrap up the day and head over to the campsite and make dinner. This ended up being a cool experience, because a couple of the guys had never helped out in a kitchen before and so they were super excited to help prepare the food they were going to eat later. They were also eager to help out with the cleaning. That was nice. J

The next day was our big day, and unfortunately our only full day for the trip. WE had planned a fairly intense 4-4.5 mile hike (total of 8-9 miles) up to Wildrose Peak. After an hour long drive up to the trail head, we had the opportunity to check out the Charcoal Kilns, a long row of impressive stone domes you can walk inside of, before the hike. The hike itself was interesting. It took about 3 hours to get up, and at one point we were hiking through snow that was about knee deep. It was a tough hike, but the group was determined to reach the peak (Wildrose Peak). On the way back down, it was really cool to see all the participants helping each other down the slippery snow. The hike down was only about 2 hours (maybe a little more) and we were all glad to reach the van and sit down.

Our next stop was the Artist’s Palette. For the most part this was just a drive through, but there was a point to stop, get out and walk around. Whereas Zabriskie Point was mostly gold, brown, and white, there were more colors here including some greens and rusty red. Another positive point for the trip leaders. We were racing time a little to get there before the sun set behind the mountains (way earlier than actual sunset unfortunately). But we made it, enjoying the colors in the last few minutes of light. Then we continued the Artist’s Palette drive through a twisty and at times somewhat tight canyon. We were making one last stop before going back to the campsite, which was to Badwater Basin, the lowest geological point in the U.S. It was a little crazy. By the time we got there it was pretty much empty. The moon was out, and so we enjoyed a nice moonlit stroll through the lowest valley in the U.S. Fortunately it was nice and cool that time of night and year. While we were walking around, we could see all the salt coating the ground, the last sign that there had been an ocean where the valley was now (or any water for that matter).

The last day of the trip was probably my favorite. We only had one big thing planned, and that was to go see the Mesquit Sand Dunes. We, however, had a secret weapon with us: boogie boards. We spent about an hour and a half sledding down the sand dunes. It was probably some of the most fun I’ve had on an OP Trip. After that we let people explore Golden Canyon on the way out before we sat down for one last lunch. The three trip leaders got together to discuss what went well and what could have gone better and to congratulate ourselves for a trip that went extraordinarily well.

Until Next Time,

Joe

(Zabriskie Point)                                                                           (Wildrose Peak)

(Artist’s Palette)                                                                          (Mesquite Sand Dunes)