Trails like this are out there. You just have to go. Photos: Katie Ferraro
Editor’s Note: This feature is part of The Inertia‘s Money Spotlight, an initiative that explores how money impacts surf and outdoor culture. We’ll be releasing a feature each day this week with money on our minds, so check back daily.
At 21, I never saw backpacking in my future. Now, 10 years later, I’m in love with it. Raised on a horse farm in Michigan, I grew up appreciating nature and being outside, but my version of camping? Glamping to the extreme. Last May I went tent camping for the first time, in one of the most magical places: Yosemite. The next thing I knew, I had a backpack strapped to my back through Kings Canyon–and from that moment on I’d never be the same.
I’ve been staring at my new Osprey backpack for months, a gift from the same person that took me on my first trip. It hangs in my bedroom — one of the first things I see every morning — and I’ve been dying to use it. But winter.
However, I live in California, not near the frozen, cold waters of Lake Michigan anymore. California is blessed with these wonderful things called deserts. I wrangled three of my favorite people to adventure with and we planned the perfect winter (or early spring) trip. We decided on Death Valley National Park. And for this particular project, I had to do it for less than a hundred bucks.
Under $100 for the trip but the views are essentially free if you’re willing to walk.
We chose the Cottonwood-Marble Canyon Loop route, a solid 26 miles of desert diversity. Our first lesson came quickly once we turned off highway 190, just eight miles from the trailhead: Ford Fiestas are not off-road vehicles. A patch of long puddles greeted us at the beginning of the access road. Red flag. We weren’t sure how deep they were so we made the only logical decision at the time: go around. What we didn’t know is that plan B lead us through some very deep, mucky mud. At this point, my friend and I had been up for almost 24 hours straight (we’re both super busy with careers), minus the quick snooze we took at some random turn-out 70 miles out, so maybe we weren’t quite thinking straight. It seemed like a very logical option. Until we got stuck. Badly. (Note to self: when the people of the internet recommend SUVs to access the trail, listen to them!)
Yes, rack it up as part of the adventure. All we could do was laugh. Solid friendship for sure. Luckily for us, some fellow adventurers with a truck and a tow strap were able to pull us out of the mud. Then we waited to be rescued by our two friends we were meeting in their Jeep. We parked the car off the main drag, hopped in the breakfast buffet train at the local restaurant for $7, and continued on with Day 1.
Due to the late start and the fact that we now had a suitable off-road vehicle, the four of us decided to forgo parking at the suggested parking lot and drove in a few miles further. We ended up leaving the Jeep in a spot that wasn’t necessarily a traditional parking lot, but we joined with the other people parked there to start our journey. After we unfolded from the back of the Jeep with all of our packs (it was a pretty tight squeeze), we started hoofing it.
Most of the first day was spent traveling down the faint desert road, rotating through direct sun and shade the entire time. It wasn’t super hot, but we took advantage of the shade for our lunch break. I always bring Clif bars and peanut butter and jelly to eat throughout the day — simple, light, and cheap. Between bars for two days and a few PBJs, I spent about $15. Try beating that budget in Los Angeles!
The scenery got interesting when we arrived at the actual trailhead about eight miles in–that’s also where it got confusing. We used the AllTrails app to navigate, which ended up being really important through the rest of our route. The app is free, all we had to do is download the route ahead of time (nothing that affected the trip budget).
What was most unexpected for me was to see leaves on the ground and greenery. However, I soon realized the foliage was buzzing with life because Cottonwood Springs was flowing. We set up camp near an old tree just above the spring (note to readers who aren’t above taking advice: don’t set up under a tree…condensation can end up making things miserably soggy in the morning).
In true desert fashion, as soon as the sun went down it got cold, at least Southern California cold. I went freeze-dried for dinner. Mountain House Beef Stroganoff, which I picked up at REI for $9. All I had to do was boil some water (my JetBoil got the job done in 60 seconds), pour it in the bag, let it sit for a few minutes, and boom! Delicious meal. Rookie mistake: should have packed some hot tea!
So worth the price.
It didn’t take me long to seek refuge in my sleeping bag. I borrowed a 29-degree bag because if there’s one thing I’ve learned about camping and backpacking, the warm bag is key. Something that I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to, though, is stripping layers to keep warm while sleeping. But it makes a huge difference. If you’re too warm in your sleeping bag and start sweating, it’s hard to get warm again after you catch a chill.
We were greeted by the sun the next morning after sleeping through sunrise. We used the water we had remaining to make coffee and oatmeal for breakfast. I picked up a package of Alpine Start Instant Coffee from REI that came in individual servings–super convenient and cheap (about $1/serving!). The oatmeal was a community share. Before we started out for the second day of our adventure, we refilled our water (I was carrying about 2.5 liters) using my Grayl filter, which ended up being the right move because there were no other water sources along the trail.
Having the app for navigation proved again to be imperative for day two. For most of the way, there wasn’t really a distinct trail; it was more of a choose your own adventure situation. We knew what general direction we needed to go and periodically checked the GPS along the way. Most of the journey, we were steadily climbing, but didn’t know it until we turned around and saw the progress we’d made. It was pretty wild. Almost as wild as seeing a small pack of horses off in the distance. It explained the galloping I’d heard the night before. My whole childhood I’d been surrounded by horses, but I’d never seen them in this environment. Wild, unbridled, and completely independent. It was pretty surreal. Two worlds colliding.
Seeing wild horses made the trip memorable, but day two on the trail constantly surprised us with its diverse views. From saddles to deep, rocky canyons that made a labyrinth of narrow passages along the trail, there was always a different scene. During day two, there wasn’t much shelter from the sun, but the weather was on the cooler side. I was wearing my favorite Columbia half zip fleece most of the day. I wore leggings, my normal hiking go-to, but for Death Valley this choice was a blessing. We had to navigate through a lot of spiky vegetation that was low to the ground which may have ended poorly sans covered legs.
Death Valley National Park is not what we expected.
Okay, if you’re looking at this from a hardcore perspective, the Cottonwood-Marble Canyon Loop was a pretty leisurely hike. However, the last mile or so was another rocky access road that was less forgiving. I obviously love to hike, but there’s something so sweet about knowing that you’re almost back to the car. Mostly because my favorite post-hike/backpacking tradition is chugging beers and scarfing bar food at the nearest dive we can find to celebrate.
My introduction to backpacking has been so rewarding for so many reasons. There aren’t many trips you can take in Southern California for less than $100. Even with gas ($20) and post-trip libations ($30), I was able to easily do this trip well under my budget.
My favorite part of being in nature is slowing down. Cell service is shoddy or doesn’t exist. It forces you to be present. I’ve learned more about people on the trail, not to mention the road to the trail, than I have in most any other situations. Especially living in Los Angeles. And walking for miles with a pack on your back containing everything you need gives you a lot of time to get to know yourself, too.
