Across 4 mountain ranges in Death Valley ...

[v_man]

I had 5 days of vacation carved out for Death Valley . I wanted to see as many trails, mines, and beautiful views as I possibly could , so I loaded up the truck and headed out by myself ... My first stop was the Swansea-Cerro Gordo trail , and up into the Inyo Mtns...

A sign familiar to many , the start of the Swansea trail...

rough and steep road up into the Inyo's...

Finally made it up onto the crest of the Inyo's around 9,200 feet . I was concerned about snow because it's the middle of February , but the snow was non existent ... Not even much on the crest of the Sierra across the Owens valley...

Further on down the road you reach the Saline Valley tram main workings. Here on the crest of the Inyo's, the salt buckets coming up from the Saline ended their upward journey , and started the long descent down into the Owens Valley...

The dry mountain air has preserved this massive wooden structure . It was incredible to imagine the engineering and labor that was needed to build a tram up and over the Inyo mountains ... Onward !

I headed down to Cerro Gordo ghost town and encountered the only significant snow on the whole trail ...

after a steep descent I reached Cerro Gordo in the late afternoon . At one time Cerro Gordo was the largest silver producing town in California . The entire town and mine workings are still privately owned , so I payed a small fee and took a little tour back in time with the caretaker Jerry ...

The Cerro Gordo assay office...

old wooden ore cart...

One of a small team of caretakers, Jerry gave me a personal tour of the town , and was just a wealth of information and personality about CA mining history....

I left Cerro Gordo in the setting sun and headed down San Lucas Canyon into the Saline, and wrapped up my first day and mountain range in Death Valley ...

 

[v_man]

I woke up early , left the Saline , and headed into the Panamint Valley . My first stop of the day was The Big Four Mine in the northern Panamint...

I didn't get too many pics here , so I headed south into the Argus range that makes up the western flank of the Panamint. The Argus is unique because no roads actually traverse it as the China Lake Naval Base limits public access on one side of the Argus.

My first trail was up to the Defense Mine ...

The trail was pretty rough but also really short

I reached the mine at the end of the trail and started to explore...

You can walk into the Defense and explore numerous side and vertical shafts. Many of the vertical shafts are navigated with long ladders that lead to upper openings . Being by myself and a little cautious , I spent about half an hour in the mine and made my way carefully out ...

The next stop in the Argus was Lookout Mountain . At one time Lookout held a few houses and rock structures to serve the various silver mining operations in the Argus ...

on the road to Lookout

only broken down stone walls and sun baked timbers left in Lookout now ...

not a bad place to camp for the night ...

I watched the light fade on the Panamints Mtns. across the valley and looked forward to day and mountain range number three tomorrow ...

 

[v_man]

Another early start had me coming down out of the Argus and checking out some side canyons before I got back on the paved roads. The first stop was the Minietta Mine where a sparse cabin is maintained for anyone to use ...

After this I headed down to Ridgecrest as I was scheduled to meet my dad . My dad would be joining me on the rest of the trip around Death Valley , it was great to hang out with him ...

Our first stop together was to explore and traverse the Slate Range . Located at the southern end of the Panamint . The Slate is primarily know for a few famous pioneers who crossed, and died on its rocky slopes some 160 years ago .

We followed what is known as the 'Escape Trail' in Death Valley history circles. In 1850 , several families set out to reach California . After some bad intel , a few wrong turns , and a few poor choices, they found themselves lost in what was to become known as Death Valley . In dire need of supply and rescue , the families sent out two intrepid young men from their group, Manly and Rogers, to attempt to reach civilization and bring help back . Without map , or reliable water, Manly and Rogers crossed the Panamint , Slate, and Argus mountain ranges to bring help and eventual rescue back to the families trapped in Death Valley .

crossing the saddle of the Slate Range at around 3,200 feet ...

We came upon a plaque that described how Manly and Rogers had passed through this canyon on their rescue mission

We then headed into 'Fish Canyon' , where Manly and Rogers led the families across the Slate...

walking down Fish Canyon in search of a grave we never found ...

Well the Slate Range is pretty small , and with our historical thirst quenched for the time being , we headed out of the Slate and pointed the truck at the looming Panamints , everything was going great ... and then we got stuck .

 

[v_man]

In order to reach Wingate Road , we had to cross a low point in Panamint Valley , looks pretty solid right?

What was relatively firm under foot , turned out to be a soupy muddy mess when my 5,500 pound 4runner slowly crossed this little wash . In retrospect I should have crossed the 30-40 foot wash with more speed ...

Ridgecrest we have a problem ! Front and rear lockers and 37's were a non factor , this was some of the slickest snottiest salt water mud I had ever seen , and we were stuck in it ...

We were limited on options . By ourselves , no other people or even roads near us , and worst of all , no natural anchors to winch off .

Then a plan slowly came to me based on my past rock climbing and mountaineering experience. What if I could dig a small channel , or ditch (known also as a snow bollard) around one of the many clumps of vegetation growing in the wash ? This just might work ...

Fortunately I had a shovel and we made quick work digging a U-shaped bollard around the vegetation...

With fingers crossed we then dropped a snatch strap down into the channel and hooked the winch up . We were hoping that the dense mud and earth would be strong enough to serve as an anchor to winch off ...

...and it worked ! We popped right out of the mud and were on firmer ground ...

My dad and I were both ecstatic to be free of the mud . We quickly packed up and continued on to our fourth and final range : The Panamint...

 

[k9lestat]

...? Nice pictures

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[v_man]

We had plans to run up South Park Canyon , and make the loop out Pleasant Canyon . This loop is one of the finest trails in the Panamints , full of mining history, and very scenic...

We quickly gained elevation coming out of the Panamint...

The canyon soon narrowed with the trail becoming more difficult here...

After a few more bumpy miles we came to the Briggs camp area. These amazing cabins maintained by the Friends of Briggs are like 5 star hotels in the desert . Running water , electricity, sound systems, and bathrooms , these cabins are truly amazing, and free . The Briggs cabin itself was occupied by an older couple from Nevada , so my dad and I moved into the lower 'Stone Cabin' . While not quite as luxurious as the Briggs , the Stone Cabin was still spectacular in its own way ...

raising the flag...

In the morning my dad treated us to his signature brown sugar bacon and eggs...

and then it was on up the Canyon headed for south park and the crest of the Inyo's ... We soon came to the famous log bridge

We made our way carefully across were soon on the crest of the Panamints at 7,000 feet with the beauty of Death Valley laid out before us...

The trail and weather could not have been nicer . Temps were in the sixties and we had the mountain to ourselves. Things had come full circle , we were up at Rogers Pass where Manly and Rogers had first escaped from Death Valley ... From this pass in 1850 , it was a little girl who was a member of the escape party who said "Goodbye Death Valley!" , and that name stuck ...

After passing many other shacks, mines, and layers of Death Valley and Panamint history in Pleasant Canyon , we were back on the valley floor in Ballarat. Death Valley and the desert is like a friend that keeps on giving memories and experiences , and I am always grateful to spend time there ... Thanks for checking it out ...

 

[hitek79]

Excellent so far!

 

[el_topu]

Cool pics!


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[k9lestat]

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[SDDiver5]

Awesome pics. I'd love to do a trip like this sometime!

Good technique on getting yourself out of the mud.

 

[Big50]

Beautiful pics. Well done on getting yourself out of the mud!

I took my dad to Death Valley about 2 years ago. He loved it and had always wanted to go...great memories.

 

[k9lestat]

Very nice Picts good job

 

[rc51kid]

Great work with the anchor! having a LITTLE mountaineering under my belt i recognized what you were doing. I only hope i would have thought of it as well. Looks like you had a great trip.

 

[DirtAddictLC80]

Awesome trip report V_Man! Great self recovery too. Another way is to hook up to your spare and bury it mostly in the ground...also dig a channel for the line that will start below ground before coming up and out back to your winch.

Btw, the memories created hanging out with your Dad in DV? Priceless.

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

Outstanding! What a great trip packed into the days available. Thanks for sharing. :sombrero: