We stopped by Trona Pinnacles on the way to Death Valley and did some scrambling to summits.
We made another side trip to Trona on the way to Death Valley this year. There were some big rockfalls evident from the earthquake that happened there some months ago. We scrambled to a few new summits and enjoyed the solitude until a convoy from L.A. arrived - nice timing as we were just getting ready to leave.
We headed to Death Valley and did the Sidewinder Canyon side slots again - this time going farther than last year, since Craig and Deb were not afraid to do a bit of climbing.
We had a bit of a scare when a significant rockfall happened just two minutes after we passed through a narrow section. It was sobering and we waited several minutes for the dust to settle before we hurriedly passed back through.
Got to see some really cool rocks in Mosaic Canyon. The Noonday Dolomite there is some of the slickest polished rock I've ever seen or scrambled on. We climbed several dry falls and backed off a hideous ridge of shattered shale. No one wanted to attempt the final dry falls. It was listed in the guidebook as 25 feet but looked higher to me and even though it was "only" 5.8, it had several bulges and sections of highly suspect-looking rock. The good sections of rock were slick, with very few holds and it was pure face climbing. We had time to hike the Mesquite Dunes later in the day.
We visited The Grotto on our last day and climbed some incredibly slick, water polished chutes. The last one was only 9 feet high but had me gassed. It was a super awkward size (between squeeze and full chimney), vertical and slicker than snot.
Deb and I made it up but Kat and Craig passed. Luckily, it was easier to get back down.
There were tons of slickensides exposed along the sides of the canyon but none as impressive as the one I posted last year.
We left for the Alabama Hills as weather started to move in with gusty winds and dust. Otherwise, the weather was perfect.