panamintcity.com
(above) Steve in a February 2010 self portrait
Hello, everyone! My name is Steve and thanks for visiting my Death Valley Adventures site of trip reports and hiking blogs. I first visited Death Valley in 1997 and have been going back ever since with my family and friends. I was born in Marin County, California in 1974 and have lived mostly in Marin and Sonoma counties, just north of San Francisco. I was married to my wife Daria in 2007. For work I am a licensed Pest Control Operator, but my main focus in life is serving as a volunteer to help those who live in my community improve their lives through a worldwide Bible educational work that I am a part of. I give all credit to God for the creation of beautiful places such as Death Valley. When it comes to personal interests, hiking Death Valley is probably my favorite thing to do. I also am a published author of the novel "A Young Princess" and have released an album entitled "Rustic Peasant".
Here is a complete list of family & friends who have visited Death Valley with Steve: (47 people to date)-- Daria, Dave P & Alisha, J Silva, Justin N, John Leidel, Josh & Kimmi, Rob Ayala, Joe "Apocalypse", Ronnie "Willard", Tiffany, Annie & Jered, Lowell, Steve Sr. & Sally, Flemming, Jesse K, Anthony, Chad, George, Crissy, Beaver L, Ryan, Brandon, Loren, Tara, Fritz & Denise, Keegan, Cari, Kayla, Dallas, Candace, Sarah, Charlie, Caitlin, EB, James, Conrad, Shawn & Kathy, Gary "The Cat" K, Andrew, Steve M, Layla.
The original purpose of my Death Valley Adventures site (previously called DV Trip Reports) was simply to share pictures of my Death Valley trips with my family members and close friends. I wanted to share the beauty of what I was seeing and experiencing with them, and having this site proved to be very effective in doing that. When it came to selecting a name, I wanted to use one of my favorite places in the park. Some of my initial choices were taken, so I went with panamintcity.com (taken from Panamint City, a ghost town high in the Panamint Mountains). As a side effect of my building this site, members of the public began making use of my site to help plan their trips by seeing pictures of destinations they were considering. I knew that lots of people were using it when I began receiving multiple e-mails each week from people sharing kind words and thanks, and also from some who had questions.
(above) early version of the site's Main page
I am happy to hear that some members of the public are enjoying my site, however I ask everybody-- please DO NOT use this site as a hiking guide and do not attempt to follow in my footsteps to these destinations. If you are interested in visiting a location I have covered here on my site, you need to talk with park rangers at the Furnace Creek Visitor's Center. They are the proper resource and can help you determine if you are properly prepared, in good enough physical condition, and can safely hike in Death Valley. The bottom line is that people die hiking in Death Valley every single year. Many of them were not prepared for the heat or other difficulties involved in desert hiking. Death Valley is not like other national parks. There are only 2 maintained trails in the entire park and the rest of the time you are usually hiking cross-country routes through the rugged terrain of the Mojave Desert. Without the proper maps, guidebooks, assistance of park rangers, knowledge, safety precautions, navigational abilities, heat considerations, supply of water, hiking and/or climbing ability, and other necessary preparations, you could find yourself in serious danger. Believe me, I have hiked with people who have been in serious trouble in Death Valley because they were not properly prepared for all aspects of hiking. When you read any one of my reports, what you don't see is the 5-10 hours that I first invested in preparing for the hike by researching maps, reading guidebooks, scouring the internet for details, and talking with park rangers.
On the Main Page of my DVA site, you can find my Master To-Do List of 170 destinations I am hoping to eventually visit in Death Valley. If a link is highlighted, that means I have written a report on the destination to share my pictures and trip details with my family and friends. If a destination listed does not have an active link, that means it is a future destination. Much of my trip planning has been aided by the use of guidebooks, such as the two shown on the left written by Michel Digonnet. I am greatly indebted to Michel for providing such excellent resources. I am also greatly indebted and appreciate the help provided over the past decade by friend and park naturalist Charlie Callagan. Without the help of these two very knowledgeable individuals, as well as others inside the park and on Death Valley forums, I would have missed out on many great destinations in Death Valley National Park. So I wish to publicly thank everybody who has provided assistance.
(above) Michel Digonnet's two guidebooks-- "Hiking Death Valley" and "Hiking Western Death Valley". Click on book covers to enlarge.
There are also countless places within Death Valley which I have either purposely chosen, or been asked to leave off of my site. At the beginning when putting together this site, I decided to never share any photographs of rock art in the park or speak about places where it could be found. The purpose behind everything stated above is to protect the place that I love in the best way possible and not allow my site to be misused in any way. Please respect my decisions in this regard and do not e-mail me asking for locations, because I will not provide them. Also, please note that the canyons I have listed on the Main Page are all either officially named or informally named. An officially named canyon is recognized publicly by the park service and listed on topographical maps. Informally named canyons are named by park rangers, long-time Death Valley hikers, or labeled on geology maps, and include places like Grave Canyon, Sand Canyon, Palmer Canyon, Moonlight Canyon, Grey Wall Canyon, and Smoke Tree Canyon. The only canyon listed on here which I have named was Tunnel Bridge Canyon (co-named and co-discovered with Charlie). Not having ever read or heard anything about the natural bridge in this canyon we are referring to it as Tunnel Bridge Canyon while we search to see if the canyon has previously been named by archeologists, or geologists, or others. My personal policy is to recognize informally named canyons as legitimate and list them because it makes identifying them easier. Plus, I'm only doing this for fun, and I enjoy learning about and promoting the informal names. If you are unsure if a canyon name is official, simply look at either the 7.5 minute topographical maps, AAA Guide Map, Tom Harrison Map, or National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map. If you don't see the canyon listed on at least one of those, it is probably an informal name.
Lowell, Steve, and Eeyore welcome you to our Death Valley in this 1999 photograph:
Many of our Trip Reports come from places which involve driving on gravel roads. This is one example, taken at the start of Racetrack Road. Here's a challenge- try to find Eeyore in the picture:
At Furnace Creek we have played tennis and football, as you can see here:
It's always fun to cook at camp. Here Jered is cooking some hot links for some hungry hikers:
The good people at the Furnace Creek Stables take excellent care of their horses and offer awesome rides:
Video games have sometimes been a part of our trips, to give everybody a little bit of downtime. Here, the group is playing at Ubehebe Crater in the parking lot:
John Dobson's star program in late December of every year is something we always try to attend. In the past, we have helped as volunteers with the Sidewalk Astronomers group:
Texas Springs Campground is where we stayed at a lot during our earlier trips:
Camping at Wildrose the day before visiting Surprise Canyon:
PSR (Panamint Springs Resort) is a great place to camp when visiting Panamint Valley and Saline Valley. PSR has great WiFi service as well:
Camping at Mahogany Flat during July. The trees kept us shaded from the severe summer heat. The next five pictures give you a full tour of Mahogany Flat Campground:
Steve camping at Eureka Dry Camp at the Eureka Sand Dunes:
Camping at the Saline Valley Sand Dunes:
Camping out near The Racetrack at Homestake Dry Camp:
One night and morning we were caught in a flash flood at Stovepipe Wells campground. The green tent floated away with somebody still inside it, while the red tent floated about 100 feet downstream with an ice chest inside:
Flat tires are very common on the backroads of the park. It is important to be well prepared for this eventuality. We got this flat tire on July 16, 2009 while driving up the El Captan Mine Rd, which is off the Big Pine Road near Hanging Rock Canyon:
The next three pictures show locations in the park which we have left out of our Trip Reports. There are actually a lot of special places in Death Valley which we have either been asked to or choose not to talk about publicly:
John Leidel filming a music video for one of his songs in Death Valley:
Mahogany Flat is my personal favorite campground in Death Valley. It is generally open from March to November if there is no snow:
Nice parking spots with a lot of privacy in each camp:
Plenty of space for having a BBQ or eating a picnic lunch:
And there are incredible views from many of the Mahogany Flat campsites looking down into central Death Valley:
Tiffany volunteering with her college group from Chico State on an alternative Spring break trip in March of 2010:
Tiffany and Charlie working hard to close the old Eastern Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes Road during her volunteer week:
Camping down the road to Hunter Spring on Hunter Mountain on August 2, 2010: