Telescope Peak (11,048 ft)

Route: Shorty's Well to the summit and back

5/29/05

31 miles Roundtrip
11,567 ft gain (11301 + 77x2 + 56x2 = 11,567 ft)
Starting Elevation at Shorty's Well: -253 ft
Summit Elevation: 11,048 ft

Temperature in Death Valley (Furnace Creek) at 4:00am: 92 degrees
High Temperature Previous day: 114 degrees

Log

04:27am - Arrived at Shorty's Well
05:42am - Started Hiking
08:52am - Reached terminus of the spring water
09:56am - Reached the lower mine then crossed the stream
11:29am - Reached the top of the ridge West of point 5303
03:55pm - Reached top of Telescope Peak's north ridge
04:41pm - Reached summit of Telescope Peak
04:52pm - Left summit
08:19pm - Dropped back into South Fork Hanaupah Canyon
01:18am - Returned to Shorty's Well

Stats

Time from Shorty's Well to summit: 10 hrs 59 mins
Time on summit: 11 mins
Time from summit back to Shorty's Well: 8 hrs 26 mins
Total Time on Hike: 19 hrs 36 mins

Notes

From Shorty's Well (along the Westside Road) you hike up a dirt road (seemingly forever before you reach the mountains) to Hanaupah Cyn.  Most people drive up this road as far as they can before starting their hike (but then you don't get to say you started from Shorty's Well).  The canyon has 3 forks.  You want the south fork.  Follow remnants of the old road.  There is a creek here that is fed by a spring (Hannaupah Spring) which I believe flows year round.  There is no running water beyond the spring.  Shortly before reaching the spring you turn to the North and climb out of the canyon up onto the ridge that divides the middle fork and south fork.  This is on the north side of the creek.  Note: Near the point that you head out of the canyon is an old mine (the reason for the road) on the opposite (south) side of the creek.  Getting up onto the ridge requires ascending a scree slope.  If you're lucky enough to find the ducked route you can avoid some of the scree.  There is a very light use trail on the top of the ridge.  Once on the ridge you simply follow it all the way up until it intersects with Telescope's north ridge and the normal trail.  As I recall, there are a number of places on the ridge that might make nice camp sites.  Some areas further up are forested.

Depending upon the time of year, the top can get icy requiring crampons.  Trekking poles are quite helpful both down lower in the scree and in the snow.

Gear

Brought trekking poles.  These seemed quite helpful for the steep terrain
(both up and down) and provided extra balance and safety in the snow.

Though I knew there was snow, I opted not to bring any crampons/ice axe.