mojave trip - day 2
This post is part 2 of the "mojave-trip-2008" series:
We awoke this morning to a gorgeous view outside the hotel window (in Primm, NV). The storm that passed through overnight flooded Ivanpah (dry) Lake, and the distant Clark Mountains received a fresh blanket of snow. Unfortunately, the storm that passed through brought a cold front behind it, and it was 30F that morning.
We headed south to the Teutonia Peak trail head (4 miles round trip), where the additional elevation resulted in the temperature dropping to 24F. However, ignoring the cold, the harsh winds from the previous day were thankfully gone, and the landscape was absolutely gorgeous with about an inch of snow covering the desert flora. As the name of the trail suggests, it climbs, at first, gradually, and then more steeply to the 5755ft summit of Teutonia Peak. The first 1.5 miles or so were fairly easy, even with the occasional icey patches, however once we reached the steepest portion of the trail, it was mostly firmly packed snow, and was rather slick. Rather than slipping (and potentially falling onto cactus), we opted to turn back. It was still a really nice trail, and the snowy landscape was definitely a different view of the desert that contrasts with expectations.
After a brief stop at the Kelso Depot visitor center (which had some nice exhibits), we continued south to the Kelso Dunes. David & I proceeded to hike all the way to the summit of the tallest dune, which was about 500ft. While much of the walk out wasn't too challenging, the final ascent was a bit rough. It was both steep and excessively windy, which also made it very cold. The views from the summit were quite awesome though, and well worth the trip. Roundtrip took us about 90 minutes, with a few brief rest stops along the way.
Pictures are posted here.
This post is part 2 of the "mojave-trip-2008" series: