Wednesday Morning… Bugging out…

Wednesday, dawn, Panamint Springs Resort...  near Death Valley…

We (I) awake with the sun… with dawn… I arise first and stoke the fire and make coffee…. The others follow… This morning is different… this is our last morning, for this trip… out last breakfast…

As we rise, we start to break camp… packing things in vehicles… even while making breakfast… while drinking coffee…  

A bit after 9:00 (am) Steph and I bid farewell, and head out, to the main road, then east for a mile, then south, to Trona and Ridgecrest…   The Sierra passes have not thawed out in the last 5 days, so our options are south to Walker Pass or Hwy 58 over the Tehachapis or North to Hwy 88 and Carson Pass…  We came via Carson Pass… we will leave via Walker Pass… 

But first we have to drive through Trona… Trona is Keeler, if Keeler was successful, and still had a lake based soda plant… but was still an alkali washed mean little town…   I have been here before… I took photos of railroad locomotives… today we see railroad locomotives, but we don’t stop.

Beyond Trona we find Ridgecrest, a Navy base… (The Naval Weapons Center) and another mean oasis in the desert…  We pause for gas in Inyokern just beyond… 

Today, we choose Walker Pass… up, over the divide, to Lake Isabella, down the Kern River Canyon.  Steph and I were here in July, with the lovely Tina… to scatter the ashes of my parents… I have a history here… but again… we don’t  stop… 

We emerge out of the Kern Canyon, into the valley of the San Joaquin…. Passing through Bakersfield…  beyond, to Hwy 5, the great northern road of the great valley of California…

Steph is researching Karl… we are finding many facts about Karl… 

It is a fast run north…  Too fast over Pacheco Pass… I get a chance to meet a nice CHP lady and receive a ticket for 75 in a 65 zone… 

We reach home about 4:00…  I take a shower (much needed… after 3 nights in a tent in the desert  I smell much like a smoked skunk…) then, go to work… I have a meeting… we meet… I come home, read email and blog for the first time in 4 days…  Then bed… bed is welcome… but not as much as might be expected…

I am thinking of the next adventures… some of which might include the desert….

Another Day in the Valley of Death…

Again, it started with dawn, and sunrise, and all that romantic crap…   But it fact, it is spectacular waking up in the desert…  But I wrote about that yesterday, and writing about it again would be repetitive…

Again, a fire, coffee, and breakfast from a dutch oven…  I may have searched out Karl, and introduced myself to him… our now minor deity.  

Today, we are on a quest… we are in search of the remains of the Death Valley Railroad… so, having watched the sunrise, cooked and eaten breakfast, and made some small effort to clean up the remains, we again headed east, over the mountains to Death Valley… (for we are camped not in Death Valley, but in the Panamints, to the west)

We reach Death Valley, turn south toward Furnace Creek… then up Furnace Creek Wash, detouring up 20 Mule Team canyon, up, past a band of wild flowers, out of the valley, out of the park, to Death Valley Jct…. Home of the Amargosa Opera House, and the terminus of the Death Valley Railroad. 

Of course, the railroad is missing, having been abandoned in 1931, the tracks removed, the rolling stock sent to New Mexico…  But  we are not deterred…  The community is interesting as well… centered on a hotel, the Amargosa Opera House & Hotel (and coffee shop) and its associated buildings… it is town… there is a closed garage (across the street) ,  a cemetery up the road, and a few houses…  We explored a bit, but much was locked up, or marked no trespassing, so our explorations were limited…  

We headed south out of town… to the cemetery, then, off, into the desert on an unmarked road, in search of the railroad, and the town of Ryan…  History suggests that there were two Ryans… each associated with a Borax mine owned by Pacific Coast Borax… we are in search of “New Ryan” but end up heading for “Old Ryan” instead.…  The mine at Old Ryan, the Lila C was recently sold on Ebay… 

We headed across the desert… looking for the railroad grade… spotting it only occasionally… heading cross country up a shallow wash at one point, without success, then returning to the dirt road… heading towards the hill that we suspect hides the town…  We are not “lost in the desert” for we have researched the area, and the railroad, and we have maps… lots of maps… old maps and new maps, but not the Google maps we used when researching for we lack Wifi in the desert.

Eventually we determine that Old Ryan and its Borax mine (not to be confused with New Ryan and its Borax mines) is not behind the hill ahead, but to the right, somewhat southeast if our target…  The mine tailings might be a hint…  As we approach we find the railroad right of way, an embankment, about 10 feet  tall, surprisingly hard to spot when looking across the desert floor.   The embankment is tall, its sides steep, and the top narrow.  Narrower than expected…  I have driven right of way’s before… in lesser vehicles than Klinger the mighty jeep… on narrow gauge right of ways… and this, at this point was standard gauge, presumably 18” wider… but today, this time, I am not willing… the others concur, (they don’t call me chicken and do a stupid dance… I believe they see visions of digging out with tiny shovels) and we follow the right of way rather than drive it…   

We follow it south and east, and eventually reach old Ryan… but the here, the right of way is washed out… and the significant features are tailing piles, some (lots of) old rusty cans, and little else… We find the Bat caves… the mine mouths now concrete culvert sections with iron bars…   I find a 14” square bolt, with nut… I take it… I will use it on my caboose… but that is a story for another place…

Back to the Jeep… back down the mountain… back toward the opera house…. Then, west, along the right of way… several times we take dirt roads to the south… each time we find the right of way, but find it too narrow and too washed out to drive on…   Sadly, the railroad right of way would be our way to New Ryan is impassable,  narrow and washed out at regular intervals… 

Eventually we abandoned new Ryan,  at least via the right of way, find a road in from below with a view of the town, which is marked closed, do not enter… we must be satisfied with the distance glimpse…

Now, abandoning abandoned railroads we descend the canyon through the band of wild flowers…. to Furnace Creek, where we go in search of tank car tanks, but only find welded tanks, not riveted tanks… then head south to Bad Water… we descend to 281 feet below sea level… explore the salt flats, return towards Furnace Creek, through  several scenic drives, stopping to visit Golden Canyon…. We bug out for the dunes for a Ranger walk…

The dunes are near Stove Pipe springs… we stop… the girls visit the rest rooms… we join Rosie the Ranger for her walk… we (some 50+ of us) look for animal tracks (not yet trampled by the 50+ of us) and look for animals not yet driven away…

The sun sets… the moon rises… the group discussed planets and planetary moons and stars, but I walk beyond, find a couple of burrows under creosote bush, and wait for a kangaroo rat to show… we see a kangaroo rat eventually… and a glorious moon rise… in the dark on the dunes… 

Back to the Jeep… back to the camp… a fire… Dinner… visit the Geology field class next door…  Karl was elsewhere (again).  Benjamin was still sans pants... Benjamin does not like pants....

We sat on the alluvial plain… we enjoyed a glass of wine and a fire… and watched darkness overtake the desert… and the full moons light upon  it…. Then to the tents for the night…

Dawn in the Desert

We are camped on an alluvial fan, sloping gently down to a dry lake.  We are the last campsite... beyond, towards the lake, only desert.   The lake bed is bright, clean white, beyond, mountains, 5,000, maybe 7,000 feet high.  In the early, pre dawn light not much more than a silhouette, in gray blue.  Above, a bright blue sky, with pink-peachy cloud of dawn, and the contrail of of a passing jet.With growing light, the mountains are gaining definition, streaks of lighter strata, and hints of  canyons.  On the lake bed a set of low hills seemingly hover.

The road, the single man made feature, a dark line across the lake bed, lighter where it climbs beyond... Accented by the lights of the occasional car.

With dawn, my fellow campers are stirring, arising, called by the light, or more likely a call of nature... and heading said call, march off to the restroom higher on the alluvial fan.

At dawn, any noise is significant... The road, and its occasional car dominate, but with each camper who rises, more sounds are heard... A murmur of conversation from a tent, a cough, someone banging about, a dog barking.  In the distance, almost downed out, a dove calls.

We built a fire... I made coffee... Sweet rolls in the Dutch oven, bacon... Cleaned up, packed some lunch stuff and headed off...  and within 500 feet found a coyote walking the highway... he was clearly used to people, likely too used to people and their food...  photos were taken.

We drove east... through  Stove Pipe Wells... Past sand dunes, then north...   To Scotty's castle... We toured... We didn't  have the best guide... He was highly offended by some of our fellow guest who may have touched the back of the sofa... He didn't believe in first person interpretation... I don't think he liked people much, but the castle and stories were wonderful. 

The castle is in the desert, and water is generally an issue in the desert... so in the bathroom of Scotty's castle, a castle in the desert, the helpful National Park service has posted a urine color chart... to allow you, a visitor to the desert a chance to check if you have been drinking enough water while visiting the desert...



We headed east from the castle, through a canyon full of railroad ties... Over the border, into Nevada, to highway 95, then south to Beatty... Where they have a spectacular sign announcing free parking with in and out lanes for a long closed casino.  Photos were taken.  We visited the local museum, bought books, then turned west back, towards Death Valley...  Via Ryolite, a ghost town, with an outdoor art museum (including a 20' tall sculpture of a naked lego woman...) and a bottle house... 

Then, Down, into Death Valley, down, below sea level... To the Borax works... To the museum, to visit the preserved Death Valley Railroad locomotive...  The ladies are not impressed (by the locomotive)  We pause, and visit the gift store, and the 49er's Club for a beer...

Now, back at camp... We have again achieved fire... Nearby a geology field class is camped... In a large hole... Karl, their instructor is absent... He is staying across the highway in the motel...  We are making up stories about Karl... This is what happens when you are not here to defend yourself.

Death Valley Sunday

9:00 am... We are up, have eaten, and checked out of the motel, are now sitting in the jeep in the Von's parking lot while Andrew and Lisa pick up last minute supplies... Steph and I are  bird watching... So far we have a fox sparrow, a brewer's black bird, and are having an intense conversation about the gulls... Are they Western or California gulls??? The spotting feature being the color of the feet, but the damn birds won't land....  Steph is calling them California gulls... Binoculars might help, but is a gull worth binoculars?

Now, three minutes later, we have added American Crows to the list (note, this is the Von's parking lot list, not a life list or the trip list... Those are longer and more interesting). Steph is studying ornithology, so "crow"  or "LLB" (aka little black bird) is no longer a sufficient monicker... They are "American crows" or "brewers black birds"

Andrew and Lisa have returned, and the adventure begins...

We head south... through the Owens Valley, The Sierras and Mt Whitney to the west.  South through Big Pine, Independence, and Lone Pine, heading east at Lone Pine across the top of Owens Lake... to Keeler...

Andrew and I had been telling the ladies about Keeler, and what an unfriendly place it was... This time we were proven wrong...  In the absence of a pitchfork wielding mob, packs of wild dogs, nervous residences peering through closed blinds we explored, took photos and enjoyed or detour... We discovered that Keeler now even boasts a recycling program, sponsored by the volunteer fire department.

Beyond Keeler, the road climbs, into the Argus Range... Towards Death Valley
Reaching the summit the road plunges down a canyon, at the bottom Panamint Springs... A roadhouse in the best outback tradition... A restaurant and bar, gas and a poorly stocked general store (with ice... you must sell ice) and a camp ground.   It is our base, our home, for the next three nights.

We check in, claim our sites, and put up tents... We empty the back seet of the jeep and set off into the desert... Across the valley, into the hills beyond...

At first, we turn south, across the dry lake on the paved road that would lead to Trona... But we turn off, eastward up a canyon... Past the ruins of an oasis a one time road house, climbing... We visit the charcoal kilns... A row of beehive ovens... We find A. Camp, a mine, now in ruins.... Beyond we stumble upon a point, a lookout, Death Valley below.   We back track, in search of a now abandoned road, shown on our 24 year old map, leading to Skidoo... Eventually we rejoin the main road and take the "official" road to Skidoo...  We find the official interpretive sign that tells us we have arrived in Skidoo, but don't see the mill that I remember, so wander more, among the mines, tailing piles and rusty cans and occasional abandoned car eventually on foot, eventually finding the mill below us on the hill side.

Having successfully completed our quest, we return to the jeep, and return to camp.

Now, near 8:00 at night, with dark fast taking hold, we are sitting by the fire...  There is wifi, but it is slow... There might be beer.

Goodnight...

A quick note... It turned out the wifi in the campground was slow, and Google security was triggered by the satellite internet provider... so I blogged, but those blog posts were trapped, held prisoner by technology, or rather, the lack of technology... so these are being posted in the order written, just a few days late.... with pictures, which would not have been included from my temporary home on an alluvial fan

Day one… Bishop

We, Steph and I and Andrew and Lisa… are headed into the Valley of Death… not the valley of the Light Brigade, the 600 and British heroic poetry, but the US National Park… Death Valley.

Death Valley is not near San Mateo, so we have started our journey with a 6 hour drive, across the Sierra Nevada, then south along the east side… We chose Bishop as our “jumping off” point… Bishop, in the Owens Valley, once a high desert garden, but thanks to Los Angeles and its thirst for water, now just high desert.

It is still winter in the high Sierra… and many of the mountain passes are closed… so we are forced to drive either north, crossing at Hwy 88 or 50, or south over the Tehachapis or via Walker Pass.    We have chosen the northern route…  this afternoon found us headed over Carson Pass, 8,500 feet high, into the Carson Valley near Minden Nevada… We note that for winter, there isn't much snow... Steph questioned the lack of snow at about 6,000 feet... as we passed the first, abet very dirty snow bank.  Even over 8,000 feet while there was general covereage, it wasn't very deep, and there were bare spots... It is looking a lot like a drought again...

Over the top, down along the Carson River, into Nevada, we reach the Metropolis of Minden... a town with a round about (aka traffic circle...) I believe the moment Minden got a traffic circle the Myth of the Wild West ended, and it is all down hill from here...  From Minden we headed south on Highway 395… (our Google directions said “take Hwy 395 south for 156 miles, and our motel would be on the right…“)

For most of the drive we were still at high elevation… 7,000 feet or so… only dropping significantly in the last 20 miles as we approached Bishop.  We passed Topaz Lake, we passed the Marine Corp Alpine training facility, we passed Bridgeport and Mono Lake...   The road to Bodie was closed, apparently due to snow, but no snow was in evidence...  We passed Long Valley with Lake Crowley, a volcanic caldera, then for miles drive through the Bishop Tuft, the ash deposit from the caldera as we drop down Sherwin Grade into Bishop.   With the lower elevation the temperature rose, to a comfortable 60 or so, even as the sun set…  We found our motel… We started a search for a restaurant… via Yelp, Trip Adviser, Google…  We found a couple of good Mexican places, tried “Amigos” and were satisfied… (the smoked jalapenio sauce for the tamale is the stuff of legends... it tasted hot and smoky, but also sweet, as if it contained rasberries or something)

Now back at the motel… Andrew and Lisa are somewhere about… likely at dinner…

Tomorrow the adventure starts… into the desert… a stop at Keeler California, Once the terminal of the SP narrow gauge, but now without the railroad, just one of the most unfortunate and downtrodden places I have ever visited, with dilapidated houses, weather beaten single wides (aka old, crappy, nasty trailers), few trees and many barking dogs… all covered in alkali dust… but still compelling enough to require a repeat visit.

Beyond Keeler, we will climb the Panimints to Panimit Springs where we will be making camp.  But for now, we are in Bishop… we have eaten,.. Andrew and Lisa have eaten,.. They have found us, and we sit and talk and consume beer…

Packing again

We (the daughter and I) are starting to prepare for the Death Valley trip... there is a duffel bag and a pile of close in my bedroom... a bag on the kitchen counter... and a rapidly growing list…. A list that includes fire wood, lamp fuel, newspaper (to start fires), charcoal and matches… you would think we were pyromaniacs (we might be, but that is not the issue…)  There is a tent, an awing, two cots, two folding chairs, sleeping bags and an oriental rug for the tent (this is not camping rough) along with beer and wine and whiskey and steak and chili, and bacon and biscuits…  Food is important…  There will be a stove, with fuel… (they work better with fuel…) a coffee pot (Coffee… if anything is important it might be coffee) and pans…

We need matches…

At least the Jeep is ready, with half a tank of gas, three jacks, a tow strap, a sand anchor, a chain, a couple of shoves and other “stuff” in case…

I need a room for Saturday night… somewhere in the eastern Sierra… while I love to camp, I do not like to arrive at a camp site late after a long drive, then try to make camp in the dark… It isn’t fun… When driving some distance on a camping trip, it is much better to spend a night in a room, presumably with a shower and food available nearby… then travel a shorter distance, make camp, then spend a leisurely day exploring…  I travel for fun, not as an endurance test…

Mean while… there are other travel plans to be made… I will be attending conferences in May and June… one in Tonapah Nevada… the other in Grass Valley… I need rooms at each… and while I am looking at rooms in outback Nevada, for a different trip, my wife is suggesting a hotel in Athens… Greece… a world away… but in reality, only 5 months and a long airplane ride from here…