Death Valley Joshua Trees and Wildflowers Run April 2013

[wgyouree]

My first visit to Death Valley took place over Thanksgiving weekend in late November 2012, and I immediately fell in love with the place. The variety of geology and fauna, combined with history, eclectic landmarks and the ruins of a time gone by were enough to keep me planning trips for a lifetime. When an amateur photographer friend of mine told me they were going back to see the historic Joshua Tree blooms this year, I knew that "no" was not an answer. We scheduled time off work, packed up and headed out. This time we planned on spending longer in the desert and our goal was to see as much as possible while camping two days in dispersed campsites in the desert.

Trip attendees: Myself and my girlfriend Sarah (LJ Rubicon), our old friend Josh ('99 MJ) and my new friends Sergey and his wife Olga (4-Runner).

After driving the eight hours south from the bay area, our first campsite was at the Panamint Springs Resort. I found last time that this is a great staging area for exploring the north western areas of Death Valley. We set off Saturday morning for the Saline Valley Road through Lee Flat to see of the largest Joshua Trees in Death Valley. The rumors were true and almost every Joshua Tree we saw was in full bloom.







We continued through the Joshua Tree forest and reached the intersection of South Saline Valley Road and Hunter Mountain Road, before the Saline Valley road descends into Grapevine Canyon. From here you have a beautiful view into Panamint Valley.





We ascended Hunter Mountain Road hoping to see some wildflowers before getting to Teakettle Junction. We did see some wildflowers along the way though I have a feeling that we would have seen more a week or two earlier.







To be continued...

 

[wgyouree]

On our way to Teakettle Junction we stopped by Lost Burro Mine. This particular mine still has a few standing buildings and equipment, including a cabin that has been maintained and still has furniture and supplies stored inside. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures this time, maybe some of the other attendees will chime in with some of their photos. We reached Teakettle Junction and then turned south to pass the Racetrack and find a camp spot for the night.

Teakettle Junction


The Grandstands


Our first campsite just south of the Racetrack before Lippincott Grade.


We made camp for the evening and set about preparing dinner. Steaks grilled over the fire and some incredible pan fried chicken courtesy of our camp chef Olga. We headed back to the Racetrack that evening for some night shots of the famous moving rocks. My photos are taken with a phone and as such cannot do night shots, but Josh picked up a couple really nice shots with a 15 second exposure. Maybe he'll post some here.

The next morning we packed up and headed down the Lippincott Grade. This is a familiar trail to the folks on this forum, so I'll just say that it's narrow, steep and has a couple areas big enough for camping with some incredible views (maybe next time).



We reach the intersection with Saline Valley Road and headed north towards the Salt Lake. We saw the remains of the Salt Tram and the lake itself. The salt is almost like a layer of ice over the ground, it crunches beneath your feet when you walk. There are some marshes along the lake and some wood piers that extend into the lake. We passed a residence along the way, crowded around the only trees offering shade for miles, complete with mailboxes and posted no trespassing signs. We wondered which mail man had the unfortunate task of delivering the post this far into Death Valley.







After eating lunch we continued north and passed the Saline Valley Dunes. Shortly after we banked right and followed the trail to the Warm Springs. We'd heard stories of an oasis in the desert with hot tubs fed by natural hot springs. This sounded like the perfect place to make camp for the night and let our tired bodies soak in some natural mineral waters.

Saline Valley Dunes


Desert Art


The Oasis


To be continued...

 

[wgyouree]

Apparently humans aren't the only ones who value an oasis in the desert.


Josh's '99 MJ cooling off at the Oasis.


We continued north the next morning towards Steel Pass on our way to the Eureka Dunes.

We passed the Hot Springs which have been more or less preserved (ie, no hot tubs).


Heading through Steel Pass with some actual rocks to play with on our way.






We reached a vantage point where we could see the Eureka Dunes, over 700 feet tall and from what I've heard the tallest dunes in the Western Hemisphere.


While at the dunes, an F/A 18 Hornet flew in low (we'd guess around 300-400 feet altitude). We swear the pilot banked to get a look at us while flying by before cutting behind the dunes and out of sight. We ate lunch at the dunes and parted with Sergey and Olga, who were staying longer in the desert to setup for some more photos of the dunes. We hit the pavement and headed up through the Inyo National Forest. We had some technical difficulties with my air compressor and had to go slow with Josh's Jeep only aired to 15 psi. As we broke through the hills we saw Big Pine in the distance, rays of light shining on the town like a sign from on high. We got into town and set about looking for a campground. We saw a campground in the Inyo Mountains on Google Maps and set out. When we got there we were surprised that the campground moved, and in it's place was a CalTech radio telescope facility. Josh wanted to see if anyone was home and sure enough there were two researchers on site who graciously let us into the control room and spent almost two hours discussing their research and showing us pictures of deep space. Simply amazing! This was one of the serendipitous moments we modern day explorers live for.



Since it was getting dark and we never did find a campground in the mountains, we turned back down to Big Pine and found a nice established campground. The wind picked up but somehow our Walmart Coleman tent withstood the onslaught. That's the most stakes I've ever used for this tent (9). The next day we got breakfast and showers in town. We planned on taking 395 north and crossing the Sierras, but after getting a late start and discovering that most passes were still closed, we decided to turn back south and take the long way around.

It was another amazing trip to Death Valley and we can't wait to get back!

 

[ETAV8R]

Great report and so cool to hear the researchers shared some of their work. They probably get pretty lonely up there.

Did you get any low flyovers at the springs and in Saline? That is where the most aviation action I've seen goes on. During the week they usually do a very low and fast pass over the springs area...bout 200'.

 

[wgyouree]

We didn't see any low flyovers in Saline Valley, but we did see the F/A 18 flying low over us near the Eureka Dunes. We stayed in Saline Valley overnight at Warm Springs and spent most of the day there but it was a Sunday so they may not have been flying. We were at Eureka Dunes on Monday so I guess they were back at work

 

[blackdmax15]

I went through the FRS (fleet replacement squadron) out in Lemoore, CA. I left January 2012 to head to the east coast. We used to fly through Panamint, Saline and Owens valley. There is a low level route that travels right by Eureka dunes. I wanted to drive through before i left but never got the chance. We would Sim bomb the Ballarat radar station and do LAT (low altitude training) though the valleys. Thats why you hear hornets screaming through there. About a year ago i flew down one of the roads near the top of panamint and flew past a lonely car out there at 100 feet. My guess is it was probably an Expo member haha. Sucks i have flown through there 12-15 times but never got the chance to drive it. I will eventually. Saline looks amazing from the air. The colors are unreal. Thanks for the photos i really enjoy seeing Death Valley expo pics.

 

[wgyouree]

That's awesome! I wanted to be a fighter pilot when I was a kid. Spent countless hours with simulators on my PC practicing carrier landings and dog fighting. Got to go to Aviation Challenge twice and flew a Piper Cub and a T-1 trainer for some mock dog fighting. Pretty awesome when you're only 12 years old. However, I learned one day that my poor eyesight would preclude me from being a fighter pilot, and all that time on the computer had driven my career path towards software, so it wasn't to be. I still love to hear pilots talk about their exploits! So jealous!

 

[Crom]

Nice trip report. Getting a tour of the radio telescope and speaking with the researchers is incredible! Cheers!

 

[ETAV8R]

That's awesome! I wanted to be a fighter pilot when I was a kid. Spent countless hours with simulators on my PC practicing carrier landings and dog fighting. Got to go to Aviation Challenge twice and flew a Piper Cub and a T-1 trainer for some mock dog fighting. Pretty awesome when you're only 12 years old. However, I learned one day that my poor eyesight would preclude me from being a fighter pilot, and all that time on the computer had driven my career path towards software, so it wasn't to be. I still love to hear pilots talk about their exploits! So jealous!

You can still fly on the civilian side of life.
Things have changed a lot in the military too. Even the Corps and Navy accept those with corrected vision (RK) into flight training now. Didn't in 94 when I was in.

 

[ETAV8R]

I went through the FRS (fleet replacement squadron) out in Lemoore, CA. I left January 2012 to head to the east coast. We used to fly through Panamint, Saline and Owens valley. There is a low level route that travels right by Eureka dunes. I wanted to drive through before i left but never got the chance. We would Sim bomb the Ballarat radar station and do LAT (low altitude training) though the valleys. Thats why you hear hornets screaming through there. About a year ago i flew down one of the roads near the top of panamint and flew past a lonely car out there at 100 feet. My guess is it was probably an Expo member haha. Sucks i have flown through there 12-15 times but never got the chance to drive it. I will eventually. Saline looks amazing from the air. The colors are unreal. Thanks for the photos i really enjoy seeing Death Valley expo pics.

Thanks for sharing. I know I'm jealous. I have a friend, from Expo, who was buzzed once. I've seen all types out in Saline and Eureka.
A-10, F-16, F-18, Tornado, Hercs, King Air, B-1(at altitude) and even two Thunderbirds this past year. Smoke on down in the valley was cool to see.

My father tells me stories about flying T-33's through the Grand Canyon and other southwestern areas right when Korea was winding down.