Furnace Peak - Death Valley NP (2024-April) : DoubleTap

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Video of my ascent of Furnace Peak (1,800ft) in the central region of Death Valley National Park in April of 2024. It was a tremendously windy day but turned out to be a really fun Class 2 peakbag.
I parked right off Hwy 190 on the north side directly across the exit of Twenty Mile Canyon Road. There is a very large shoulder here with room for plenty of cars. I then headed northwest up and down over multiple washes to the west side of Furnace Peak as the topo map looked the least steep on this side of the peak. However, the ascent was very harrowing as the terrain was very hard packed sand with tons of small rocks and pebbles on top that moved under my weight. Microspikes really helped here but there were a few times where I was holding my breath when taking big steps up hoping I would not slip as any fall here could be very dangerous.
Fortunately, I was able to get up on a ridgeline at ~1,500ft where the terrain became a lot gentler that took me to the top of Furnace Peak. The final summit block is a little challenging given how steep and hard packed the terrain is. In addition, every rock I touched on this peak was jagged and painful to grab so I was very glad to have climbing gloves on when grabbing any hand holds.
On the final ridgeline to the summit I noticed a small wash to the south that looked a lot gentler and hopefully more stable. Turns out it was and the final 200-300ft of this wash was extremely fun Class 2 terrain. With hindsight as benefit I would have ascended via this wash rather than the sketchy west side approach. Turns out this stable Class 2 wash was one of the most fun descents I have ever had.
This is a great short peak to bag especially once you know the secret of the Class 2 stable gully/wash. Plus, the gully/wash had tons of beautiful wildflowers in it and the views from the top of Furnace Peak were amazing.
Peakbagger.com trip report and GPX points from this hike can be downloaded at www.peakbagger.com/climber/as....
Contents include:
0:53 Hike Info (Distance, Elevation Gain & Profile, Time, Available Water, Climbing Class, Loose Terrain, Overall Rating)
1:03 At the Trailhead (Hwy 190 @ the Exit of 20 Mule Team Road)
3:07 Starting the Sketchy Ascent (West Side of Furnace Peak)
5:10 Furnace Peak Summit View (1,800ft)
5:32 Funeral Mountains (Schwaub Peak & Pyramid Peak) View
7:05 20 Mule Team Canyon View
7:39 Starting the Descent
10:21 Top of the Class 2 Stable Chute
13:12 Steeper Section of the Class 2 Chute (but Stable & Fun!!!!)
16:59 At the Bottom of the Class 2 Chute
17:19 Pink Cactus
18:13 Back at the Car
18:45 Hike Info
18:55 Trailhead Information (Road Conditions, Car Requirements, Parking, Bear Boxes, Bathrooms, Trash Cans, Water)
19:05 Trail Information (Water, Snow Conditions, Microspikes, Mountain Bikers, Crowds, Off-Leash Dogs)
19:15 Hike Route (Google Earth)
19:25 Hike Route (Topo Map)
19:35 Directions from Las Vegas, Pahrump, Lone Pine, and Bishop
20:00 Music Credits
20:10 End