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11/19
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 /

I climb the rock wall a wee bit as I try to squeeze past and above the reeds

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mc1-000009-reeds-wall.jpg Me, trying to figure out how to get through or around the thick brush that engulfs Monarch SpringThumbnailsYou can't see it here, but there's a thin layer of water on the ground under all the grass Me, trying to figure out how to get through or around the thick brush that engulfs Monarch SpringThumbnailsYou can't see it here, but there's a thin layer of water on the ground under all the grass Me, trying to figure out how to get through or around the thick brush that engulfs Monarch SpringThumbnailsYou can't see it here, but there's a thin layer of water on the ground under all the grass Me, trying to figure out how to get through or around the thick brush that engulfs Monarch SpringThumbnailsYou can't see it here, but there's a thin layer of water on the ground under all the grass Me, trying to figure out how to get through or around the thick brush that engulfs Monarch SpringThumbnailsYou can't see it here, but there's a thin layer of water on the ground under all the grass

To get past the head-high reeds near the spring, one must squeeze through narrow spaces between the rock wall and the reeds, or climb over the rocks a little.

The earth is wet and mushy in here, and there is sometimes water on the ground. I was afraid I that would sink in the mud when I couldn't stay on the steep rocks, but the reeds are so thick that they provide a layer on the ground that prevents me from sinking into the mud (if I walk fast enough).