Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2007: Death Valley National Park bikepacking / Day 6, morning: A walk down upper Monarch Canyon to Monarch Spring for drinking water 19
Dramatic views down into Death Valley from above the drop-off at the end of Monarch Canyon reward those who persist in pushing their way through the head-high grasses around the spring on the way there.
- Looking down Monarch Canyon from the drop-off at the end of the road by my campsite
- At the bottom of the the drop-off in Monarch Canyon, I look back up the trail that I came down
- Standing at the bottom of the first drop-off in Monarch Canyon
- Interesting drainage erosion in Monarch Canyon just below the first drop-off
- Another view of drainage and rock layers in Monarch Canyon
- A little further down Monarch Canyon
- I pass the old Indian Mine site on the way down Monarch Canyon017-indian-mine
- Close-up of what remains at the old Indian Mine site
- Descending Monarch Canyon beyond the Indian Mine site
- Me, trying to figure out how to get through or around the thick brush that engulfs Monarch Spring
- I climb the rock wall a wee bit as I try to squeeze past and above the reeds
- You can't see it here, but there's a thin layer of water on the ground under all the grass
- Coming out of the reeds at Monarch Spring for a moment to look back up-canyon
- Bushwhacking my way through more reeds
- Once beyond the bushwhacking zone, I note that some of the brush looks greener than the rest
- The end of upper Monarch Canyon overlooks Death Valley below
- Looking down the 100-foot drop-off at the end of the Monarch Canyon
- Having now seen the entire stream from Monarch Spring, I start walking back and stop at the best spot that I saw for pumping water
- The stream from Monarch Spring should provide fairly decent drinking water once filtered