Corkscrew Peak And Ubehebe Crater

BOU AVENUE
Corkscrew Peak And Ubehebe Crater

On 27 December 2019, Zosia Zgolak and I ascended Corkscrew Peak in California's Death Valley National Park. We got our inspiration to climb this attractive mountain from a trip report by Bob Spirko. Due to some unexpected road closures in the park, we were forced to camp east of Daylight Pass just outside the park boundary in Nevada the previous night. However, this set us up nicely for an early start on Corkscrew Peak.

The most logical starting point for Corkscrew Peak is a small pullout along Daylight Pass Road about 13 kilometres east of the junction with North Highway or 15 kilometres west of the park boundary sign (if needed, a pit toilet is located at a fee station 1.9 kilometres west of the pullout). There is even a sign here pointing to Corkscrew Peak. The most complicated aspect of the entire ascent is the nebulous beginning. From the sign, there is a cairned route to follow, but it is not particularly obvious and goes in a somewhat counter-intuitive direction at first. I suspect that most people, like we did, just make a beeline for the peak and hike over the first few swells before stumbling onto the cairned route a few hundred metres from the pullout.

Once Zosia and I gained the cairned route, we followed it up a wide wash and into a shallow canyon (Spirko eschewed the cairned route and took a more direct line to the peak which entails more off-trail travel). We then escaped from the canyon at an obvious break in the cliffs and picked up a good trail climbing up the east ridge of Corkscrew Peak. Though long, the trail leads all the way to the summit without any complications. We encountered some snow on the upper mountain, but there was not enough to hamper our progress. After taking an extended break at the summit, we retraced our steps down the mountain and followed the cairned route in its entirety all the way back to the highway pullout without a hitch.

	This highway sign is the most logical place to start an ascent of Corkscrew Peak.
	After hiking over some undulating terrain, Zosia finally stumbles onto a good trail leading to Corkscrew Peak.
	Zosia enters a wide wash which appears to emanate from a drainage to the east of Corkscrew Peak.
	Following cairns in the wide wash eventually leads to this shallow canyon.
	A cairn marks this spot where the route leaves the canyon and begins climbing in earnest.
	After climbing out of the shallow canyon, Zosia finds a good trail to follow.
	Zosia continues to follow the trail up the east ridge.
	Sonny approaches a short cliff band along the trail partway up the mountain. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia is barely visible at left as she climbs up a snowy section of trail on the upper mountain.
	Some impressive rock formations guard the summit block.
	Zosia stands under a natural arch not far below the summit.
	Zosia hikes up the final slope before the top.
	Sonny and Zosia stand on the summit of Corkscrew Peak (1765 metres).
	The view to the south includes Badwater Basin (left of centre) which is the lowest point in North America and Telescope Peak (right) which is the highest point in Death Valley National Park.
	Mesquite Dunes can be seen at far left in this view to the southwest.
	The bulk of the Grapevine Mountains stretch away to the northwest. The mountain at left with the snow-free cliffs is Thimble Peak. Just to the right of Thimble Peak on the distant horizon is Grapevine Peak, the high point of both the Grapevine Mountains and the much broader Amargosa Range.

A ridge-walker's paradise!

Snow covers the tops of several unnamed ridges to the east.

Zosia signs the summit register.

What an amazing view!

Zosia begins the long but easy descent.

An absolutely fantastic hike from start to finish!

Total Distance: 11.8 kilometres
Round-Trip Time: 5 hours 55 minutes
Net Elevation Gain: 962 metres

GPX Data

Finished with Corkscrew Peak, Zosia and I next drove to Ubehebe Crater at the end of pavement about 10 kilometres west of Grapevine Ranger Station in the northern half of the park. The big volcanic hole in the ground is very popular with tourists although most do not bother to venture very far from the parking area. Braving a rather bone-chilling wind, we circumnavigated the crater rim in a counter-clockwise direction. While it would have been nice to take a closer look at Ubehebe Crater's smaller sibling, Little Hebe Crater, or to venture further into the inviting hills to the south, daylight was fading fast, and we simply did not have enough time to explore the area fully.

	Zosia stands near the western rim of Ubehebe Crater.
	The hills to the south of Ubehebe Crater invite further exploration.
	Little Hebe Crater is the smaller sibling of Ubehebe Crater.

Simply amazing scenery!

Shadows begin to creep across the landscape to the east of Ubehebe Crater late in the day.

This is looking down at the bottom of Ubehebe Crater from the northern rim.

After completing our breezy walk around Ubehebe Crater, Zosia and I ate an early dinner in the warmth and comfort of our car at the parking lot. Despite an already full day of hiking and exploration, our most challenging adventure of the day was still ahead of us--a very long and bumpy drive in the dark to Racetrack Playa (more about this in my next trip report).

Aptly named Teakettle Junction is located about 32 kilometres south of Ubehebe Crater along Racetrack Valley Road.

Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak