Darwin Falls (Death Valley National Park, California)

After driving all the way to Death Valley for the half-marathon, I couldn't justify not doing a least a little hiking while I was there. Before leaving home, I had done a little research and settled on Darwin Falls as a destination. It's a short hike and I wasn't sure how my legs would feel after the long run. Besides, a waterfall in lush vegetation in the backcountry of Death Valley seems pretty out of place and like something worth seeing.

Departing Furnace Creek, where the race finished, I headed north on highway 190 and quickly came across a hitchhiking backpacker. As I've been 'that guy' before, I decided to offer him a ride. I told him that I was only headed up to the turn towards Stove Pipe wells, which is only about 15 miles up the road, but that he was welcome to hop in if it would help him out. Patrick, as he would introduce himself as, was ecstatic and jumped in with his pack on his lap. We spoke of trails in the park other adventures and life in general. He is a Chicago Cubs fan, which was almost a deal breaker, but seemed a good guy otherwise. As he got out of my jeep at the junction, I wished him well and told him to keep doing what he was doing.

Driving west towards the trailhead, I finally see the worn sign on the south side of the road just past Panamint Springs. A gravel road leads three or four miles up into the hills, finally dumping out at the mouth of a dry wash, where I park among a number of other vehicles. 

The trail itself starts following the gravel wash and as I encounter a few other hikers returning to the parking lot as I make my way towards the falls. An old pipe follows the trail along the western cliff, presumably carrying water from the springs in these hills back to the settlement. Soon the water from the springs starts to become a small stream and enabling the vegetation to grow thick and lush. The trail crosses back and forth over the stream and requires some rock scrambling over slick limestone before eventually reaching the lower falls.

The waterfall looks so out of place as it forms a narrow stream pour out of the cliff 30-ish feet above me, drops most of that distance before hitting a moss-covered rock and splitting into two nearly symmetrical streams just before hitting the surface of a large rich pool at the bottom. Some other hikers are making their way up the cliffside to the east in search of the upper falls. From my reading, it is every reachable with a short climb, but as my legs are still a bit unstable from the half-marathon I just ran, I decided that it might be best to leave that rock climbing to another day. I turn and head back down the wash towards the jeep. It was only a two-ish mile hike, but the scenery was well worth it, even on tired old legs.