Death Valley National Park
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"At over 3.4 million acres (93% of which is designated wilderness), Death Valley is the largest U.S. National Park outside of Alaska. This vast park protects the lowest place in North America, expansive salt flats, rugged mountains, deep and winding canyons, rolling sand dunes, spring-fed oases, important historic and cultural sites and endangered plant and animal species." https://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/basicinfo.htm
Death Valley National Park should be on everyone's bucket list of national parks, and after visiting in March 2024 I can understand why. My original plan was to summit Telescope Peak, at 11,048 ft. the highest point in the park. However, given trip reports of ice requiring crampons and a recent forest service report of people getting helicoptered off of the peak, I changed our plans. We would start at Charcoal Kilns, the approach to Telescope Peak, but steer off for the lower Rogers Peak. It was a nice clear day with favorable temperatures. Although we had crampons, the snow height surprised me. After ascending for a few hours, the snow depth was at least 4 ft., and as the snow is melting, we post-holed often. Once we reached the service road gate for Rogers Peak, the previous tracks we were following were gone. Now the snow height would definitely hold us back. Given the difficulty of the snow and the effects of altitude on my partner, we elected to turn around. Death Valley is a wonderfully diverse national park that I would like to visit again.