Down to the Valley: Embracing the Desert Trail from the Mojave Desert to Badwater Basin

Always enjoy reading your trip reports, Drew. I only get to backpack in desert landscapes every few years so it’s a treat to be able to read these and sip coffee while I watch spring snow blanket the valley floor in western Montana. Your reports have me itching to plan a trip for this fall or next spring to the desert.

Thank you.  Really appreciate the inspiring report.

Nicely written – thanks!

I like freedom from the “tyranny of goals.” How un-American.

Great story and photos.

Question: “a scoop of the brown water to my lips revealed it to be merely murky, warm, and unrefreshing, but not actively poisonous.” Does taste tell you enough to know the water is not arsenic? or something else?

@AK Granola – per Wikipedia, arsenic has a mild slightly sweet taste, making it ideal for poisoning annoying spouses and rival claimants to the throne. So my taste test was of little value. A better measure of potability is the presence of algae and bugs in the water – if they can survive, you probably will too.

Having experienced the yummy deliciousness of date shakes while in civilization, I can only imagine how even much more sublime they would be in the midst of a desert backpacking trip!

Great trip report!