Lowest To Highest Route! Days 1-3

We’ve been excited to attempt the Lowest to Highest Route all year. It goes from the lowest point in the US, Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park (-282 feet/-85.5 m), to the highest point in the contiguous US, Mt. Whitney (14,505 feet/4,421 m). Along the way it crosses the Panimint Range and the Inyo Mountains. In other words: lowest to high to low to high to low to highest. A lot of climbing and descending is just the nature of an East to West trip in the basin and range. We initially hoped to do this in the spring, but it didn’t work with our schedules, and during the summer Death Valley gets way too hot. It is where the hottest temperature was ever recorded in the US (134.4ºF/56.7ºC). Even in the winter, water is a challenge — there is a 45 mile (72 km) stretch with no water sources. But, the stars finally aligned, and we are off on this exciting trip!

Day 1 – Salt Flats – Miles 0 – 6.2

Last night we stayed in a hotel in Lone Pine. We had a plan to get started early and be hiking before 12:00 pm. That didn’t happen. We were tired and it was raining, so it wasn’t until after 12:00 when we started hitchhiking to the start of the trail (we’re leaving our car near the end, and we’ll hike back to it). The hitchhike had the potential to be miserable. It’s a 2.5 hour drive that includes a few highway changes, each of which can mean getting out and finding another hitch. Fortunately, we were picked up after less than an hour by a very friendly family who was going to a campground near our start. We rode the whole way with them, and in the end they decided to drive us an extra 17 miles to drop us off in Badwater Basin. THANK YOU Hannah, MJ, and your kids!

We set out into the salt flats of Badwater Basin and watched the other National Park visitors fade behind us. Since we’re hiking a route instead of a trail, we don’t have a strict path to follow and we probably won’t see anybody else on this trip (except when we cross roads and resupply). The walking was completely flat and very easy for the first few miles. We even spotted a fox or coyote (couldn’t tell in the distance) on the salt. But after a few miles, it got difficult. The salt crust started to break, and our feet sank into mud below. It was like walking on snow. Fortunately we picked up some new waterproof shoes (HOKA Speedgoat 6 GTX) before this trip, so our feet stayed dry.

As the salt became hard to walk on, the sun disappeared and we found ourselves walking in the dark. We expected that, but it was still unnerving to not be able to see the ground where we were stepping and never know if it would hold or give way to muddy slop. Despite the challenge, it was a totally new experience so it was pretty fun.

Eventually we crossed the whole salt flat, and we pitched our tent shortly thereafter at the base of Telescope Peak, which we’ll climb tomorrow. This was a fun first day! For dinner we had beans and rice in a thick tomato sauce. Yum! -T

Day 2 – Climbing – Miles 6.2 – 20.4

We started the day with easy walking across alluvial fans sloping up slowly from the salt flats toward the Panimint Range. First we were off-trail, but then we had about 9 miles on a gravel road before making it to Haunapah Spring at the foot of the steep mountains. There are signs all around that say not to drink the water because of “illegal activity” discovered nearby. We read ahead of time that the activity was a pot farm discovered in 2018, and we aren’t too scared of what remnant chemicals might still be in the water 6 years later, so we drank it. We feel fine so far. At the spring we cooked up my Pumpkin-Chili Mac and Cheese for lunch, which was very good! This was my entry into a recipe contest Tim and I are having, and his will have to be remarkable to stand a chance!

From the spring, we headed off-trail and straight up the side of the mountain. The peak is over 11,000 feet in elevation, but we don’t have to make it to the summit. We’ll cross the ridge when we get a little bit above 10,000 feet, which is still a heck of a climb from an elevation if -282! We moved up very, very slowly, but continuously progressing. We thought we’d make it over before dark, but as the sun was setting we still had about a mile to go and we spotted pine nuts beneath a piñon pine tree! We discovered these last time we were in Death Valley (2015), so we decided that we should snack and set up camp — we’ll be fresher in the morning. -R

Day 3 – Into Another Basin – Miles 20.4 – 42.6

We woke up early to finish our climb to the ridge of Telescope Peak. It was hard! The slope got very steep toward the top, it was cold, and there was snow and ice. We took our time and took plenty of breaks since our bodies are adjusting to the elevation. Renee in particular experienced some mild symptoms of elevation sickness (short breath and a headache). Near the top, we spotted bristlecone pines, which were very cool to see because this species includes some of the oldest trees in the world — up to 5,000 years old! We have no idea how old the ones we saw were.

When we finally made it we were treated to a trail! That was a welcome change after so much time forging our own path. We descended for the rest of the day, from >10,000 feet to about 1,500. The trail (and then a road) took us past plenty of piñon pines to munch on, huge kilns that were used to make charcoal for mining from 1877-1880, and eventually to a campground with running water. There, I cooked up my entry into our recipe competition — Jamaican Rice and Peas. It was very, very good, but Renee’s was the winner. It’s hard to beat mac & cheese! As the sun set we found ourselves walking along an ancient and eroded jeep road in the next basin. It was easy walking, but we were exhausted from the hard day. We pushed on for a few miles in the dark and then called it a night. For dinner we had one of the recipes from our book: Creamy Spaghetti. Yum! -T