Back
from my fall desert trip.
What
a great trip this year. We extended the trip by over a week so we
could camp in Panamint Valley, West of Death Valley and explore those
things which have been our our list of to-do’s for some time. In
the past we had to drive from Death Valley which is about 50 miles by
road each way.
A
bonus was the military jets which used us as targets while flying low
over the valley. We had parked our 4 RV’s in a row along a turnout
in the road and I guess our predominately white vehicles made a
convenient target for the pilots to see. We were buzzed numerous
times and some at very low altitude. What a hoot! We also got some
good video.
An ancient geoglyph or rock alignment.
Overview of Panamint Valley from the old townsite of Lookout in the Argus Range.
The
downside of this week in Panamint valley was the 2.5 days of wind
which piled up sand around our rigs and got into every opening. We
eventually spent a day at the Ridgecrest Elks club blowing the sand
out of everything with my air compressor. Every lock, window, under
all the truck hoods, door hinges, etc.
While
in Panamint Valley we explored the town of Darwin (people still live
there), drove the back road from Darwin to China Springs and back to
Panamint Springs Resort in Death Valley. A very nice trip.
One
day we drove to the Owens Valley, West of Panamint Valley and visited
the mining camp of Cero Gordo located at 8200 ft above the valley. We
had made arrangements for a guided tour from the care taker. Many of
the old buildings still stand and some are being refurbished by the
present owner. The Silver and Lead mined at Cero Gordo were the
predominant reason for the growth of Los Angeles. Eighty Six pound
ingots were hauled by mule teams to Los Angeles for trans-shipment to
smelters in San Francisco for processing. The freighting was done by
Remy Nadeau of 20 mule team fame.
We
moved to Calico Ghost Town near Barstow for 2 days so we could
explore Inscription Canyon and all of its many petroglyphs. This
involved about a 100 mile round trip, most of it off highway. We also
visited the NASA display at the Barstow train station and well as the
railroad museum nearby. Both worth the visit. We also got to see the
worlds second largest meteor (6000 lbs) at another Barstow museum.
Ancient petroglyph in Inscription Canyon.
Petroglyph of Big Horn Sheep in Inscription Canyon.
We
moved on from Barstow to the BLM area near Tecopa, CA, our usual
stopping place after spending a night behind the Mad Greek restaurant
in Baker, CA. The BLM area allows us to circle the wagons as it is
not an organized campground.
From
Tecopa we visited Saratoga Springs along the Harry Wade 1849 exit
route out of Death Valley. We have been here before but this time we
wanted to look for ancient Indian village sites as well as check out
the mining areas. We did all of the above.
What 1.5 inches of rain look like at Tecopa BLM.
Armagosa River in Southern Death Valley crossing Westside Road.
We
planned to visit Galena Canyon in the South end of Death Valley but a
day of rain raised the level of the Armagosa River making it too
dangerous to cross with 4x4 vehicles so instead we drove to the
Ashford mine trail head and hiked 2.2 miles up canyon to the mine
site. Soon after we arrived it started raining so we took shelter in
the mine kitchen and had lunch. The rain stopped shortly thereafter
so we explored for a while before going back down the canyon to the
vehicles. This was my third trip to the Ashford mine and not one I
was planning to do this year.
Ashford Mine in Death Valley.
Tim exploring Phinney Mine in Nevada North of Beatty.
King of the Hill!
Old telegraph wire and pole on the line from Bullfrog to Skidoo.
No
trip to Tecopa is complete without a stop at China Ranch Date farm
for a date shake and we did that twice this year. The second time was
so son Tim could checkout a geo-cache high atop a mud hill near the
ranch.
Eventually
we moved to Death Valley and continued our exploring of mines, ghost
towns, and Indian relics and then ended up attending lectures and
events connected with the Death Valley 49er days.
DBRC (Desert Balloon Recovery Crew) haul of mylar balloons (33).
Campfire at Furnace Creek Campground.
On
Sunday Nov 13th we again drove back to Baker, spending
another night there before driving home on the 14th. We
never drive from Baker to Barstow on a Sunday afternoon as the home
bound Las Vegas traffic is a night mare. Much better to drive home on
Monday.
One of many great sunsets on our trip.
