Death Valley / Hiking Telescope Peak

Day 4 in Death Valley National Park | Hiking Telescope Peak | Charcoal Kilns | Camping in Wildrose Campground | January 2025

We woke up early, well before sunrise in Wildrose Campground. We had left the van in ‘drive mode’ the night before so all we had to do was take down the window covers and then drive up the road to the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns, where I would begin my hike. It was very dark when we reached the kilns and my headlamp made the massive structures seem very spooky in the dim light. I finished packing my hiking pack, took Charlotte on a short bathroom break, then got Jess and Charlotte back to bed…no sense for them being cold in the dark when there’s a warm bed. I then set off up the road on what would be a 16ish mile hike to the highest peak in Death Valley and my 12th Ultra Prominent Summit: Telescope Peak.

The actual trail is only about 14 miles, but the final mile or so to the ridge line and campground is steep, rutted, and rocky, and definitely not for the van. I made good time on the road…not that there was anything to see in the pre-dawn dark…and as I reached the end of the road and start of the trail, the dawn started to break and I was rewarded with an excellent sunrise coming up over the mountains and Death Valley to the East. And fortunately, the trail stayed on the East side of the ridge, so I got to see the sunrise in its entirety.

Unlike my last several mountain hikes, this was on a well established trail. The grade was steady but not too difficult, and I was rewarded once again with pinon berries. But they somehow tasted different than the New Mexican variety I had enjoyed. Sweeter? Bigger? Hard to say, but they made for a much enjoyed trail snack.

I made good time and reached the first saddle by 8 after two hours of hiking. There are two other minor peaks along the ridge and I decided to tag the one on the way up, and the second on the way down. I stashed one of my water bags at the saddle (I had brought more than enough) and then cut cross country towards the summit of Bennett Peak. From here I had some of my first peeks of the High Sierra to the North and West. Snow capped peaks forming a long line far in the distance.

I continued cross country down the opposite side of Bennett peak until I met back up with the official trail. This section was relatively flat and easy going. There were small patches of snow and ice in the shade, but never enough that I felt I needed to break out my micro-spikes.

At around mile 7, the trail started the long climb up to the top of the peak. Fortunately, the trail builders out West believe in switchbacks and it was just a matter of controlling my breathing and taking it slowly. At just above 11,000 feet at the summit, I never really felt any form of altitude sickness – though I’m not sure if that’s because I’ve been ‘training’ with my last peaks or if 11,000 just isn’t enough to trigger that response.

I passed from pinon pine, through a grove of very large and twisted bristlecone pine, and finally to the treeless talus slopes. There is one small false summit that I fell for, but the true summit is a relatively flat walk beyond it that was a relief after pushing up the switchbacks. But it was also cold and I quickly stashed my bag just below the summit in a windbreak to eat lunch. Unfortunately for me, while I had brought my soup, stove stand, stove, pot, and spork…I had forgotten my fuel. And I’ll be honest, stomaching cold Campbells soup was probably the hardest part of the hike.

After my less than appetizing lunch, I returned to the summit where I had 360* views. The mountain ranges are new to me, so I could only point generally to what I thought would be Mt. Whitney, Mt. Charleston, and maybe San Jacinto. The summit register also had a Beanie Baby classic monkey who posed with me for my official summit picture. I left him at the summit though…sure hope he wasn’t one of those super rare Beanies…

The route down was quick and easier, but windier and I left my windbreaker on for the duration. I passed by two or three couples on their way up. According to the ranger/volunteer I had spoken to the day before, the summit is fairly popular and probably gets at least one visitor a day. When I reached the saddle where I had stashed my extra water, I pushed up the opposite slope to my final summit of the day: Mount Rogers. This summit has an FAA radar station at the top and wasn’t especially scenic, but it did have a road leading back down to the campground. So rather than backtrack to the trail, I just followed the road.

I made decent time and soon was on the final road walk from the campground back to the Charcoal Kilns. I passed the vehicles that the other couples had driven up and was honestly surprised that a Toyota Corolla had made it as far as it had. Before long, I made it back to the van and a very full parking lot. Overall, I hiked 17 miles in just over 8 hours which I think is an excellent time, I even surprised Jess with how fast I had made it. You can see an AllTrails recording here.

Jess had managed to get enough cell reception to accomplish some tasks on and off through her and Charlotte’s relaxing day, so we opted to just return to Wildrose Campground and stay one more night there before leaving Death Valley.