Golden Canyon Trail, Death Valley NP

 

Golden Canyon Trail was our final destination and our final hike of the trip, and what a way to end an incredible journey!  This hike is a little further, a little hotter and a lot more difficult than the natural bridge hike, but oh so worth it!

Most of the hike was fairly easy, but once we got toward the top, it got a lot more fun!  There were no high cliffs or scary drop offs, just some fun lightly technical climbing.

When we made it to the top, the views were incredible!

And the red cathedral we had been hiking toward was right at our finger tips.

We rested in the shade of the cathedral for a few minutes and enjoyed some cold water before heading back down.  Heading back down might have been even more beautiful than the climb up because we had beautiful, 11,000 foot telescope peak in the background at every turn.

A short ways back down the trail, our trail connected into the trail to Zabriskie Point, where our whole Death Valley adventure began several days ago.  It seems so fitting that this will be our final hike, and our final destination in the valley.

When our hike was over, we headed back to our same warm camping area as last night.  High wind advisories are in the forecast, so we will say goodbye to Death Valley NP in the morning with fond memories of an incredibly beautiful place.