The Lowest-to-Highest (L2H) is a backcountry hiking route between Badwater and Mt. Whitney. The 135-mile route, created by Brett “Blisterfree” Tucker, is an informal, unsigned linkage of existing trails, roads, and cross-country travel. I started my unsuccessful solo attempt on October 6, 2016. Death Valley is spectacularly hard and draws the delicateness of life into focus.
Thursday, October 6 – When I Crush Millions Of Salt Castles and Get Dehydrated
Friday, October 7 – Tough Climbing and Turn-Arounds
Saturday, October 8 – More Playa Views, Hitchhiking and Cowboys
Must haves:
~Sunbrella
~Plastic bucket for food cache (to protect from coyotes and such)
~Water caches (panamint playa, saline valley road)
~Loved the gaia app for navigation (donate for L2H data!)
Rethink:
~Water Capacity. I had 6L capacity but at my snail’s pace I wish I’d had more. On the first day I started with 4L and it was not enough.
~Physical Shape. This route is hard even in peak physical condition.
Awesomes:
~Mt. Whitney Hostel in Lone Pine
~Dow Villa Motel in Lone Pine (courtesy parking lot)
~Restaurant at Panamint Springs Resort
Unfortunates:
When I was caching water, I stopped at Panamint Springs Resort. I asked about staying there as well as leaving a resupply box. Some hikers are allowed to leave resupply boxes there. I was told that I couldn’t leave my resupply box because they don’t even have room for their own supplies. I was laying on the charm thick but I couldn’t break through the ladies’ cranky exterior. Three days later when I was on foot/hitching, a Panamint employee marched across the road to my hitching location and told me “get the fuck out of here.” See my blog post for more of the story. Bottom line, I had numerous unpleasant interactions with Panamint employees and I hope that a better bridge can be built between hikers and Panamint Springs Resort in the future.
Other L2H Blogs/Resources
Technical route info here
April Trips
October Trips
Journey Return 