Death Valley - Pleasant Canyon & Butte Valley - April 2017 - PICTURE HEAVY & HD VIDS
After a couple months of planning and laying out GPS tracks, I completed a great trip to Death Valley National Park from April 20-23, 2017. Our group fluctuated between 2-5 people in the months prior to the trip and then we finally ended up with 4 rigs. As I was traveling from Orange County, CA, I made a quick trip to the Trona Pinnacles along the way. They didn't disappoint.
As I quickly learned, it's pretty much impossible to take a bad photo here. I ended up having the entire area to myself.
The obligatory square photo for my Instagram account (@4x4u4ya) when I got back to civilization.
I continued onward on pavement and filled up my 4Runner and two auxiliary 5-gallon gas cans in Trona before reaching Death Valley. I planned to meet up with my friend, JD, later in the day, so Day 1 was a solo day for the most part. I headed due north to Panamint Springs and jumped at the chance to hike the short trail to Darwin Falls. The hike was really easy and provided much needed shade in the last 1/4 mile of the hike. I highly recommend this visit!
The canyon to the falls is teaming with flowers and lots of lizards. I got my first ever glimpse of a chuckwalla who graciously posed for me.
I finished my hike, scored a free National Park pass from a family leaving the park, and headed to Emigrant Canyon to see the Charcoal Kilns, Roger's Peak, Aguereberry Point, and Skidoo before meeting JD.
The Charcoal Kilns are amazing to see in person.
I drove up the road to Mahogany Flat Campground and caught a glimpse of the snowy Roger's Peak. Unfortunately the road to the top is a service road with a locked gate.
I continued onward to Aguereberry Camp/Eureka Mine and Aguereberry Point which offered amazing views of Furnace Creek and Badwater Basin.
After playing phone tag with JD all day because of the poor cell service in Panamint Valley, we eventually crossed paths on the way back from Aguereberry Point. He told me to check out Skidoo while he checked out Aguereberry Point and the kilns.
Unfortunately I didn't take the correct route in Skidoo and missed the large mill but I did see other mines and crevasses covered by fencing. I wasn't disappointed.
We stayed at Wildrose Campground for the night. It's a nice spot with clean restrooms, trash cans, and potable water. I tested out my new home-made shower (built from garden sprayer system) in the morning which felt great!
Day 2 - We headed to Ballarat to meet our 3rd companion via a shortcut we saw the day before. The road was damaged but easily passable. Today's trip was to include Pleasant Canyon loop and spending the night at Briggs Cabin, if it was available. I really wanted to go through South Park Canyon and tackle Chicken Rock and Chicken Bridge but all of the research I had done in the prior months said that the road was closed.
Some road damage and beautiful scenery along the way to Ballarat
Ballarat general store
Poll dancing? Sounds like something best viewed on Election Day.
First sight in Pleasant Canyon was the Radcliff Mine at Clair Camp. There was a miner there cleaning up the place.
The World Beater Mine cabin was nice, inside and out.
We took an up-and-back trail to Cooper Mine along the way. The opening of the mine was very tight and a little foreboding.
We rounded the corner into Mormon Gulch and found Rita's Cabin. It was pretty scurvy.
Next up was the ridge-line trail to Roger's Pass and the viewpoint overlooking Butte Valley. It was a great trail filled with giant jackrabbits!
Just after Colter Spring we spotted Chicken Corner and Chicken Bridge and, best of all, no Road Closed signs.
After completing both obstacles, we noticed that Briggs Cabin's flag was up meaning that someone else was there. Bummer. We still checked out this amazing cabin but we had to head out back to Panamint Valley.
The rear of Briggs shows some of the elaborate plumbing. The fridge can be run off one small LP gas can.
And so we continued along South Park Canyon Road until we reached a clearing which offered a magnificent view of the Panamint Valley.
We decided to push south along Wingate Road and found a trail that led into Coyote Canyon, just north of Goler Canyon. It was a great campsite with plenty of shade and lengthy echoes. We put our propane campfire to good use.
Day 3 - After sleeping outside under the stars on a cot, instead of inside the truck, cleanup was relatively easy. We headed out to meet our 4th friend. We met at the entrance to Goler Canyon and headed out. The canyon was really easy to drive as either the park service or recent rains filled all of the difficult sections from the previous year with sand. There were no challenges until reaching Mengel Pass.
We detoured south on Lotus Mine Road and headed all the way up to the pass. What a great curvy road!
We then headed over to Barker Ranch and Myers Ranch. The flowers were in full bloom out here.
We rounded the corner and saw no flag on the Geologist's cabin and claimed it just before a group of Jeeps did. We all ended up having lunch outside in the parking area.
Once we put up the flag and were full of grub, we headed out to the Tin Cabin (Emmitt's Cabin) and the surrounding area.
This guy had seen better days.
We headed back to the cabin and then JD and I decided to hike to the top of Striped Butte. It was steep going but eventually we did reach the top. As expected, the view was incredible.
View of Geologist's cabin from the top of Striped Butte. I had to rest my camera on a rock to get a good shot since I was zoomed in as far as the camera lens could go.
On the way back down to our trucks we spotted horny toad lizard. I'm really digging my camera. It takes nice photos.
We got back to the cabin and had dinner and started perusing the books on the shelf and found this little gem of a biography, complete with lots of photos. Hilarious.
Day 4 - The last day of the trip for me, Steve, and Sean. JD was the lucky one who was staying in DV for another couple of days.
Group shot at Geologist Cabin
We headed northeast through Butte Valley and Warm Springs Canyon. This is Warm Springs cabin and the moat to get to it. The swimming pool even had a floating dead rat in it. Yum.
Next up was the Talc Mine. With a swift kick to the mine door, it opened up.
The mine is impressive with multiple tunnels.
I broke out my iPhone and shot a time lapse video from the lowest tunnel to the exit. It's a cool feature on the phone.
I was able to capture this Jeep limo using my iPhone panorama app. Weird.
JD headed back into Death Valley and so we said goodbye to him at the corner of West Side Road and Warm Springs Canyon Road.
The rest of us headed south on West Side Road towards Baker. Here is the Ashford Mill Ruins.
We headed out the Harry Wade Exit Route but took a detour through the Avawatz Mountains into the BLM and visited Bob and Ward's cabin. Someone had already claimed it (flag out) but we popped in for a quick sec to look around.
We found some cool orange hills too to play around on but they became too crumbly so I turned around before going any further.
After that, we reached Hwy 127 and the end of the Harry Wade Exit Route, aired up, and said goodbye to a great trip. I can't wait to go back again.
I remember being there as a young kid and was amazed by it.
__________________
"I hope yours took a bath once in a while, kid. This guy's armor smells like he lived in it."
―Han Solo to Luke Skywalker, while donning TK-422's armor.
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