Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Corkscrew Peak / Death Valley Buttes

Kevin, Richard, Tom - I appreciate all of this great detail! It sounds as if Tom's route up and Kevin's route down would make a great loop day. Since catpappy and I will be camping at Texas Spring, we'll have a lot more daylight to poke around the routes and explore a bit more than you guys who spend the extra hours driving up from the Ridgecrest area.

By the way, any snow on the peak? The last time I hiked DV in very early March, the snowline seemed to be at about 7500 feet, so I wasn't planning on bringing Yaks.

Also, anyone familiar with DV Buttes? It looks to be a short scramble, and I've read a couple of internet journals that say it's well worth the 3-4 hours or so spent doing it, but I'd appreciate any first-hand opinions. Most of my DV hiking in the past has been concentrated in the Panamint, Black and Greenwater ranges. I've done nothing north of Stovepipe Wells other than Ubehebe and Keane Wonder Mine, so I'm looking forward to hitting some new territory. This is one damn big park!

One other thing - the Albatross crash site near Towne Peak. Anyone done that trek? It looks like it would be a long day, but do-able in a day. My real concern is whether it might still be snowy at that elevation the first week of March.