Death Valley Day (Thimble Peak and Funeral Peak)

pics by Harlan W. S.
March 29, 2008

Three days of antibiotics did wonders for my sinus infection.

I started in Vegas ~6:15AM, and started off with Thimble. To reach Thimble, head to Beatty on us95, then turn SW on route 374 toward Death Valley. Take the signed dirt road (on R) for Titus Canyon (call the Death Valley Park service or check the morning report to determine if this road is passable).

After Thimble, I went W down the Titus Canyon Road (one-way), then SE in Death Valley, to route 190 through Furnace Creek, then up SE to the turnoff for Dante’s View. If you are going to Funeral Peak, turn S (off 190) on the Dante’s View road, and after 7.4 miles on the pavement, turn L on the dirt Greenwater Road. Travel S an additional 15-16 miles on the dirt road, and park as best you can for the trudge to Funeral Peak. You might have to put your car up on the bank; those with 2WD need watch out for soft sand.

24k map with GPS trace for Thimble. It took me 49 minutes to reach the top	View back NE at my car in Red Pass.	First good view of Thimble to SW. The ridge looks impossible from here, but is greatly foreshortened in this view.
In fact, the blue dots in this photo show a nearly class 2 route to the top.	Flying monkey on top,	Corkscrew Peak to S.
	Milkvetch.	View NE.
View back SW at a cave.		My car in Red Pass again.
View out my windshield as I head down Titus Canyon Road. This is a great road, but watch out for all the runners and hikers.	24k topo with GPS trace for Funeral Peak. It took me 1h 53 m to reach the top. The first part of the hike is through blackbush scrub; the subsequent ramp is on scrub mixed with basalt boulders.	Purplemat.
Phacelia.	Painted desert evening primrose (note red spots).	Basalt rocks and paintbrush.
Wooly daisy carpet.	Checker fiddleneck. The plants were all on the route, but only those above 5000’ were still blooming.	The magnificent summit block of Funeral. How will we ever break through the cliffs? Actually, by this point you will be so bored with basalt-boulder-hopping, that you will jump at any chance to put your hands on rocks (to the left is a walk-up). The mountain is composed of late Pliocene basalts/andesites (1-4 million years old).
View NW to Telescope Peak.	View SW.	Death Valley from peak.
Broad-flowered gilia (thanks to Anya D for ID).
	View N.
	Fremont phacelia.	Hyacinth.
Primroses.	Phacelia.	Looking back W from parking area. This peak is a huge lump that keeps on dragging on, with perhaps 10 false summits along the way.
Pincushion.