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Death Valley march 2011

 
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RedRoxx44
Queen of the Walkabout




Joined: 15 Jan 2004
Posts: 1167

PostPosted: 12/12/2011, 1:45 pm    Post subject: Death Valley march 2011 Reply to topic Reply with quote

Part of my 2011 recap---


Drove right into the path of the Cali express storm---dark clouds, cold and snow. This altered my plan of starting out with a backpack into the high country and instead we decided to go in at Beaty, Nevada, avoiding some high Ca gas prices and hopefully most of the storm went south.
The skies were beautiful and the desert mountains had fresh snow. We stopped at Big Dune, an ORV area, but with the wind and weather the duners' had stayed home. The sand dunes were small but pretty with, well, one big dune.
I had a photo field day and then we moved on. We stopped at the touristy ghost town of Rhyolite--very interesting glass bottle house and the usual building skeletons. Not so usual the background of snow and white out skies.

We tried for the Titus canyon drive, then to hike Fall Canyon, but the park had closed the road. We drove on another road out of Rhyolite to some canyons in driving snow. We finally decided to head lower to get out of the weather, it was beautiful but not what I wanted to camp in at that time if I had a choice. In Death Valley proper it wasn't even raining, and sun was here and there.
We drove up Echo Canyon to find a place to camp. I had not been there in years and forgot how pretty it is. The canyon narrows and winds around and has lots of interesting tortured rock most of it limestone. We camped past the old mine camp. We wandered around that before nightfall. The next day we hiked in the area to some petroglyphs; the guide books are coy as to where they are so I will be the same. Very abstract,and a lot of them.
It was very cold, for Death Valley; we took a rough road out a little ways then hiked to a ridge line mine with a winch and furnace still in place. Excellent old burro trail to follow, and great views of the colorful fractured mountains. At least the sun was out and the wind not too bad.

We drove out and decided to hike a nearby slot canyon sort of off the radar. We drove to the Hole in the Rock--impressive mudstone cliffs, parked, and hiked a ways up "Slit Canyon". There are pour offs, some you can scramble and some you can bypass. It does have a tight straight portion thus it's name. It stayed pretty narrow at times and the walls rose to an impressive almost 500 feet before we were done. It was getting late so it was a race to the car to find a camp before dark.
Morning it was getting warmer and it was beautiful wandering about the Red amphitheater taking photos. Off we went again, for a sort of frustrating day. I wanted to hike Fall Canyon again, when I got there a multitude of vehicles, so I turned around and we decided to try for another off the radar canyon in the Tuchi mountains. We didn't have a topo for this area, and failed to find the narrow colorful canyon with many climbs. We did find a beautiful colorful mud walled canyon and we did a wide loop. The alluvial fan hiking here is very tiring, although can be rather interesting as the landscape here is so deceiving with distance and time.

With the weather warming it was time for the main event-- a return backpack trip up to Panamint City in Surprise Canyon. I knew Brian would enjoy this unique mining historical place and it's beauty. He isn't fond of backpacking but this is also unique---lots of shelter options up there, so you can go very minimal if you want.
It was sad to see the burned remains at Novak camp--they had cleaned it up but the huge tree skeletons were depressing. George and Rocky Novak are running the general store at Ballarat, as I understand it, so not sure if their claim is still active.
We car camped the night to set out in the morning. The first part you are in a small valley by a running stream with a path that darts through the brush given life by the water. Then the walls tighten and turn to a white marble, small falls and you are scrambling and doing some fancy moves to keep from getting wet. Your feet will for sure. This water source is the amazing Limekiln spring, as you get closer the vegetation is very thick with low willows, grapevines and the like. The old road is mostly overgrown and the pathway is splintered with hikers seeking the path of least resistance. It's wonderful to hike by the sound of water in this desert.
The valley comes again, walls tall and showing some colors and erosion. We started seeing snow patches on the north facing slopes. The old Panamint City of the 1870's starts showing up in the rock walls of old buildings, a foot or more thick and excellent sharp corners and placement of the rock. No roofs etc remaining but the rock work is quite impressive and there is a lot of it as you look.
Mine tailings are also seen, some fairly high up on the canyon walls. The area is now graced with junipers and small cedar trees, and is quite scenic. The more modern cabins and workings soon come into sight; but the first thing you see is the impressive red brick smoke stack of the old smelter, tall and straight and silent. I had in mind a place I wanted to stay from my previous visit here, a cabin I had visited before. We made the final steep approach to the cabin tucked away in the small trees. Various vintage trucks and a D8 Cat on the way. The "Castle" is a nice older cabin, good stone and large timbering for a good core. People have cared for it and made it very nice. Brian wasn't looking forward to staying in a "mouse trap" as he called it but changed his mind as he examined our quarters. Good working stove and wood, swept clean, beds with clean sleeping bags laid out over them. No mice droppings. Running water from a weather proofed spigot right out the kitchen door, from the spring uphill. A leaky addition could be observed by a solid glass door someone had brought up there. Outside the side porch the outdoors tub with the big drum just uphill where you filled it with water, built a fire underneath then filled the tub with your hot water for a bath. We didn't have time to try it out.
We were tired and set up in the house--- we walked down the hill to locate an old trail to one of the original mine workings that helped establish Panamint City. Wow, an approximately 125 year old trail with no to little maintenance and it was just wonderfully level and in great shape. In one place rocks were carefully stacked 20 feet high in a arched dam like configuration to handle a steep gully crossing. The mine workings had some pretty walls and ornamental ore. Two levels of tunnels revealed some scary deep shafts untimbered and no ladders. The upper tunnel had huge hand hewn wood sections to stabilize the high ceilings.
The next day we set out to explore Panamint City modern and the Wyoming and Hemlock mines, the major producers of the day. Most of Panamint City was hype, but some silver was shipped in famously huge 400 lb ingots to prevent theft. The other cabins were looking a bit run down. The smelter tower is a work of art. The outer is simply a facade for an inner chimney which allowed the condensation of the super heated metals to settle out. The foundation is immaculate carved blocks of granite. We then went to the first major tunnel, probably over a 1000 feet long and very straight. We saw a few bats, small and in deep hibernation all spread out.
We walked up the road to the higher tunnels and the old tram. The fun began as we got into snow, higher up drifts up to three feet easy, at times we broke through to thigh deep. The tramway towers are something to see with their hand center cut wooden beams, ax marks still visible and carefully notched and bolted together. Great views of the mountain valley here, with vivid blue skies and drifting cloud banks.
From the highest Wyoming tunnel a burro trail takes off to the lower tailings of the more remote Hemlock mine. I stopped partway as the narrow slippery banked snow was too much for me. I explored some rock work while Brian went on. He said the trail became very sketchy with washouts and he had to cling and climb through tree branches to make it. The Hemlock had old workings and did not seem to be reworked. He descended a little ways in one shaft on over 100 year old ladders, he said in very fine shape--hand notched rungs---not weathered and no broken sections. The shaft seemed to be over 100 feet deep and he went down maybe halfway.
We worked our way back down a lot more fun taking giant steps in the snow. Although short in distance, high in elevation gain it was slow with the snow and tunnel exploration.
We were sad to leave the next day. We saw no one else although the cabin logs reveal pretty steady visitation; the regulars, then folks who seek it out as a destination. A lot of the snow had melted on the trail and it was quite warm at the car.
Now south, toward one of my more favorite areas----Ibex.

Initially we delayed looking for a spot on the map called the Panamint Crater with a labeled shaft in the middle of it. We didn't have adequate maps and with active mines and mining roads all over the place we were defeated. We moved on driving into the evening and car camping off the very same road a poor woman got turned around a year or so ago, following her car's GPS trying to get to Trona through the military base. The road ends in 25 miles, but at that time it wasn't signed as such. She got her car stuck in a animal burrow hole and was stranded 5 days in August. She had her young son with her who died from the conditions. She was found also in bad shape. Now several signs indicated deep sand and road ends in 25 miles.

Finally some spring flowers near the Armagosa River bed, which is usually dry but has some pools of water. Daisies were scattered about in the flats in the thousands. We approached Saratoga Spring, along the black volcanic slopes the purplish blue scorpion weed and hundreds of the Desert Five Spots. We hiked to some old Talc mines in this area we had not been to before.
Some interesting working with open stopes and extensive tunnels. I like the landscape here, very stark with multi colored low hills, creases and folds in the landscape and very little greenery.
Onto camping near the Ibex dunes. The low sand hills with more vegetation near the dunes holds a wonderful secret for the geology nut. Many types, sizes and kinds of magnificently colored and weathered rock. It's amazing. The exposed rock may be pink, black, bluish, green, red whatever. It might be smooth with small polished areas, or delicate fins cut by the wind and sand. It might be rough and chunky with multiple types of rocks intermingled. I took a lot of pics, of course you cannot take these rocks home, in the park so there they must stay.
Made a quick evening jaunt to the edge of the dunes. The next morning I walked out for the morning photos, then Brian joined me to see the big talc mine behind the dunes. We drove out that day, I was very sad as it always seems there is so much more to see and do here and I accomplish so little it seems. I go back to so many of the same places but this is one that you could really spend a lifetime in to delve into it's secrets.


pics---
http://www.arizonahikers.com/forum/modules.php?set_albumName=albur98&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php
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Anne





Joined: 07 Dec 2011
Posts: 8

PostPosted: 12/20/2011, 10:30 am    Post subject: Reply to topic Reply with quote

Beautiful Pics! I loved Saratoga Springs when we accidently ended up spending a day there a few years ago. (We'd spent the night on the road and thought we'd "see what was there"--we spent the whole day walking around the old mining equipment). The springs themselves look just like the Serengeti in Africa. Did you see the dynamite shack at the first mining ruins?It's just a metal box set into the hillside to the right of/sort of around the side of the valley from the mining structure. Cool
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wanderingsoul





Joined: 19 Jul 2004
Posts: 2285
Location: Gilbert AZ

PostPosted: 12/22/2011, 11:20 pm    Post subject: Reply to topic Reply with quote

Again great shots. Interesting to see snow on the sand. When I think of Death Valley I only think of Hot and Sand.
The sand looks so pristine that it almost doesn't seem real.

Especially liked the waterfall and the ice picture. Leave it to me to see things that are not... the ice picture reminded me of an comic ant eater head with snout. But it was really pretty.
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