"A winter storm system came in a day earlier than forecasted, making this a more exciting outing than expected. I set out at ~7:30a from Thornndike CG to flurries but conditions steadily deteriorated over the rest of the day with temps in the teens, 30-40 mph winds, and marginal visibility. Some parties turned back. Another group decided to shelter in their tent in the middle of the trail. Only about 3"of snow at the summit, but very inhospitable conditions and no views. Fortunately I brought enough layers to stay reasonably comfortable throughout the trip." — klotito • Dec 27, 2020

"7.15.2020...Telescope (11,331’), Bennett & Rogers Peaks, solo. Telescope is the Highest peak in the Panamint Range and in Death Valley, CA and a lot of other amazing Mtn stats. 13 miles, 4,200’ gain, 5:37hrs including :25 min on top and stopping to take pics since it was my 1st time. I was shocked My Kia Soul made it to Mahogany Flats Campground. Telescope peak is a giver. The route is a mellow, wildflower lined trail along the crest of an expansive ridge with views 100 miles in all direction. You can see the Sierras, Spring Mtns. and all of Death Valley. It had a pretty meadow section too (Arcane Meadows). I was surprised to see lizards and cactus at such high elevation. I didn’t get started til 12:40pm and it was 92 deg at the trailhead (8,100’). The heat was oppressive, especially on my way back when I tagged the 2 bonus peaks. The 2.5 liters I had was barely enough and I had to ration towards the end. I was attacked often by big chunky black bees when scampering through the Lupines and wildflowers. Not sure why they were so aggressive. Actually, the theme of my trip was animal attacks. An unknown animal took off with one of my Luna Sandals in the middle of the night ($100 sandl..." — paula.raimondi • Jul 15, 2020

"Drove in from Las Vegas on Friday night, and camped at Mahogany Flat campground (8,133' elevation) the night before hiking/summiting. Windy as heck at the campground! Road from the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns on up was kinda rough. Glad I have a 4x4 HCV, it would have been dicey in a lower-clearance vehicle. Some serious (6-8" deep) washboarding on the last mile or so of the road. Started on the trail to Telescope Peak at 6:23 AM. Reached the summit around 10 AM. Was back down to the trailhead (and logged in the register) at 1:32 PM; a 7 hour hike. Not too shabby for my first ever solo out-of-town overnight road trip and out of town solo peakbagging attempt! The weather was clear and gorgeous - not too warm, not too cold. Only windy on a few bald spots at the saddle before the ascent to the peak. A very well-maintained trail. Poles would have been nice for coming down off of the switchbacks right before the peak - it gets a little slippery with the loose gravel/dirt. This marks #16 of my LVMC Classic 50 peaks. I'd do Telescope again; it was a very nice hike. Gorgeous views - sunrise over Death Valley is amazing. " — psychikingjes • Sep 22, 2018

"California. Parked at first campsite after charcoal kilns. What a horrible road! Walked the rest up to the trailhead. Camped on the ridge before the top. Lots of wind at night. Hiked up the day after in the morning. A group of 3 young and 2 lesser young men at the top. They pointed out Mt Whitney in the distance." — Pieter • Aug 12, 2017

"After a long long drive from Ridgecrest through the Pantamint Valley and then over Towne and Emigrant passes, we spent the night at Wildrose campground. Drove up to Mahogany Flats early and summitted around noon. Epic views back to the Sierra and down into both valleys. Wind picked up significantly on the way back but we made it back without blowing off the mountain :)" — edg • Apr 5, 2015

"Drove up from Las Vegas at 2am. Started the hike at 645am & followed the trail to the saddle between Rogers & Bennett. From there, we hiked cross-country up the sometimes snow-covered slope to Bennett Peak. After quickly signing the summit register, we continued down the ridge, back to the trail & up to Telescope Peak. Due to the VERY cold temps and the long drive back to Vegas, we did not also do Rogers on the way back, as we had originally planned. I doubt the temps got over 40 today & there was a steady, biting wind the whole time. Yuck!" — Kevin • Nov 16, 2014

"View was pretty hazy due to the fires in San Diego, just a few patches of snow left, which came in handy as I gave myself heat stroke from being too warmly dressed, not from the weather - doh!" — HikerDan • May 16, 2014

"Climbed this along with Rogers and Bennett on a very cold and blustery day. Rather impressive hoarfrost on all of the vegetation lasting until 2PM. Very beautiful with all of the snow and well worth the trip." — Irrationalist • Apr 26, 2014

"This was an epic hike with Tim "AS73" Slaby and Randy "Thunder-4" Fleet dedicated to the memory of Tim's dad, James Slaby. We started on 5/31 at Badwater Basin, the lowest spot in the US at -282 feet, and then drove up past the Charcoal Kilns to the Mahogany Flats campground where we camped overnight and started up the trail at 0700. Took our time to get to the summit and made our way back down the hill pretty quickly. Total trip time was 7 hours. The temps were ideal -- 50's when we started and 70's at the summit. Probably a bit warmer near the bottom on the way back down, but by then it wasn't a factor. Great time with great hiking buddies!! Here are our tracks on EveryTrail: http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=2158450&code=0a75c246ea7649978ca655e55f729b88" — FlagMan • Jun 1, 2013

"After about 10 things went wrong in Domelands, we decided to scrap all our plans and just head to Death Valley for the rest of the weekend. Totally different hike from last time, probably the ideal time of year to do it. Passed an old man on the way down who looked like he was about to die, turns out he had started at Badwater that morning! Very impressive." — Christopher • May 26, 2013