I got walloped by a...

Pineapple Express! 

After hiking in Fall Canyon, I heard the forecast of impending monsoons and wind. At this point I figured staying below sea level in an area known for mud slides and flash floods might prove (at times)  I'm not the sharpest pencil in the holder.

So... I ran uphill with Barley to beautiful (yawn) Kingman, AZ. It's pouring Niagara Falls here. 

I scored the Gun Show rate at the local Days Inn. Don't tell the hotel owners my stand on weaponry. They might chase me down with two smoking barrels. 

Who knows where I'll be mañana. Hopefully somewhere Pineapple Express proof. Probably not at the Kingman Gun Show.

Be safe and keep your powder dry,

Jeff

From Dante's View Peak...

(don't you just love names like that) it's another 4 miles of ridge top scrambling (uphill both ways-really) to Mount Perry.

At 5,750' this ain't no Everest. However, the big sky views and abundant oxygen provide plenty of "oos and ahs." 

I'm not sure about Sherpa guides here. Google it. 

Today's Body Count (other than my own) was one skittering lizard and one flittering bird.

Did I mention it was quiet too? 

Wind and rain in the forecast of Death Valley.

Not screwed this time...

By Corkscrew Peak. Today, there was no wandering around. The cairns guided me up and all I had to do was chase them. Kind of like a bloodhound on a scent!

At 5,801 feet, it's a Colorado anthill. In Death Valley, it's a challenge. (3,300 feet elevation gain in a scant 4 miles). 

OY! I was shvitzing! (Sweating). 

In the most populated state in the U.S (California has 38 million denizens) I saw one lizard, one chipmunk and one fluttering butterfly. Madame Butterfly is now mounted on a pin and can be seen in Barley. Only joking. I may be a lot of things, but I am no lepidopterist. 

Look closely. That's standing water in Death Valley. Surfs up! Dude!

This is one mountain worth the shvitz labor to ascend. 

Good night once again from below sea level,

Jeff