Death Valley, February 2005
(Links on the thumbnails take you to the photo album. There are links both ways.)
Page Four
Feb 26 - We decided to drive up Wild Rose Canyon Road. This road goes over Emigrant Pass and runs down into the Panamint Valley when it is open all the way. This time it was closed at Wild Rose Campground because of the storms having washed out the road further down towards Panamint Valley.
About
10 miles up the road, we came to a turn off for Skidoo, an old
gold mining community, where nothing remains except the town site
and a thousand or so abandoned mines. The road to Skidoo is dirt,
and nine miles long. The first five miles or so are not too bad -
dirt with a few pot holes. As you get back to going over a few
hills to Skidoo, the road gets rough and there area few places
where the road is actually nothing more than exposed bedrock. At
5000 feet, there were some snow flurries, some sleet and a bit of
sprinkling rain. There was a smattering of snow on the ground.
We
made it to Skidoo, had our look around and read the warning sign
about staying out of the abandoned mines. The last line of the
warning said if there was an accident, immediately notify a
ranger. In this case 'immediately' means about two hours drive
back to at least Stove Pipe Wells Resort to the telephone there.
There is a ranger station, but it is not occupied all the time. Of
course then it is about another two hours for the help to get to
Skidoo. Skidoo was originally named 23 Skidoo, but the Postal
Service refused to accept '23' as part of a name, so it bcame just
Skidoo.
There is an old abandoned stamp mill down a gully there somewhere, but we decided not to try to find it. We made our way back to Wild Rose Canyon Road and continued our trip to Wild Rose Campground.
The
road from Skidoo turn off, over hill and dale, and through
Emigrant Pass is very curvey in places, but overall the road is in
good condition. We stopped at Emigrant Pass for a few minutes to
take in the view of Panamint Valley. I noticed a lot of the water
that was in the valley on Tuesday was disappeared already.
We made it to Wild Rose Campground and there observed a bit down the hill the big gate across the road noticing said road is closed. We appreciated how quiet it is at Wild Rose Camp. It appears this is the starting point for some great hikes in the hills, if you are so disposed. We weren't so we headed back. On the way back we passed a Class C motorhome, who didn't seem to be having any trouble negotiating the hills and curves. I don't think this area of Death Valley has any hills steeper than you would find in the Sierras around Yosemite.
Feb 27 - This was the last day in Death Valley, so we decided to do several things - hike a ways up Mosaic Canyon, and find the original Stove Pipe Wells, and explore north toward Death Valley Scotty's Castle for more wild flowers.
In
the morning we drove up to Mosaic Canyon and hiked a ways up the
canyon. This canyon obviously goes several miles up and back in
the hills. The canyon is eroded by sand, gravel and boulders
washing out of the hills for millenia. The canyon is
"U" shaped and has twists and turns, and is broad in most
places. Some places you have to climb three or four foot 'steps'
to get up. The marble is polished from years of erosion and the
footing can be slippery, so we had to be careful and take our
time.
The marble canyon walls are tan and white, speckled with white spots. Mixed amongst this is layers of volcanic ash sediment layers and conglomerates, some of which is intruded into cracks in the marble, a sign of past fracturing. Most interesting is how the sides of the canyon are undercut where there are bends in the canyon. I can't imagine the amount of time it took nature to make those cuts in Marble, considering the infrequency of rains that would fill this canyon with a slurry of water and rocks to do such work!
While
walking up the canyon we rounded one curve and found on a ledge
some flowers. They turned out to be pale lavender colored Mojave
Asters. This was about a mile up the canyon, and since we had
other things we wanted to do we headed back. I venture to guess we
could have gone a couple of miles up this canyon, which winded its
way up into the hills.
We got back to camp, had lunch and a little siesta. After our siesta we headed over towards Death Valley Scottys. We did find the Stove Pipe Well, about 3/4 mile off the road, just north of the information kiosk by the Beatty Cutoff. There we found what appears to be a newly - reconstructed monument to the Stove Pipe Well, and the well. We did not find this last year and I think it was covered up while it was pending refurbishment.
On the way back to the road we found a grave marker for a fellow by the name of Val Nolan, who died there in August of 1931 and was found later in the fall, and was buried on the spot, "A victim of the elements".
We continued north on Death Valley Scotty Road. We stopped and looked at varieties of Primroses, and the sparser Desert Golds. A about ten miles north of Stove Pipe Wells we found some very nice Cotton Top Cacti. These plants were in clusters of three and four, each measuring about 8-10 inches in diameter, some bigger, and about 18 inches to two feet tall. They have spines about 3" long that I swear you could use for sewing needles or nails. The seed pods look like cotton balls and feel like cotton balls, but be careful, they are nestled in amongst those needle spines!
We continued north a ways and decided to check out Mesquite Springs Camp Ground, which is only about four miles from Death Valley Scotty's Castle. On the way there we saw an international road sign that showed by symbols and slashed red circ le, 'Feeding Wildlife Prohibited'. The Coyote we had seen several days ago near Stove Pipe Wells Resort immediately came to mind. Mesquite Springs Camp is a broad flat area near the springs, with a lot of Mesquite trees and a good number of dry camp sites - that is there are no hookups. Modern pit toilets, and water and a wash sink for pots and pans. There is a big sign at the entrance, "Gathering Firewood Prohibited". Bet'cha get a huge ticket if you do and get caught.
By the time we finished exploring Mesquite Springs Campground, the day was beginning to fade and supper time was drawing near. We headed back to camp - that being about a forty mile trip. Stove Pipe Wells, being up on the alluvial fan, is about 40 miles from everything, so one could say it is centrally located. The Amargosa Range runs the entire east length of Death Valley. On the west side is The Saline Valley and the Nelson Range, part of the Inyo Mountains. At the south end are the Owlshead Mountains and on the other end the White Mountains run into the north end of Death Valley.
On
the way back the sun was setting, shining through the clouds and
hitting the snow covered peaks of the Grapevine Mountains of the
Amargosa Range. On the west, over the Saline Range was clouds
piling up with sun shining on them - the sky looked like one of
those renaissance paintings by one of the old masters. I got a few
pictures of that before the light faded.
Feb 28 - Today we had to leave, we were going to Victorville to visit family for a few days, and then home. We decided to pull our trailer out over 190, over Towne Pass to the Panamint Valley and then down through Ridgecrest to Victorville. We packed up, hooked up and geared up. Off we went over Towne Pass on a beautiful clear day, with no traffic to deal with. We made it over the pass with no trouble. For a 5,000 foot climb it wasn't too bad. I stayed out of over drive and cruised up the hill at 50MPH. As we started down the other side we stayed out of overdrive and keeping the speed down to 45 with bareley necessary application of the brakes got us off the pass withouth any trouble.
As we came down into Panamint Valley, the standing water was all gone. The ground was already pretty much dry with the mud at the sice of the road firmed up already. It amazes me how rapidly the country changes between rain and sun. There were a couple of Navy jets flying around. It looked like they were doing some kind of low altitude maneuvers. They were something else to watch. One flew by us so low, to the side, that we could see the pilot's helmet through the cockpit. Anita waved at him as he roard by. He flew up to the north end of the valley, came back around and passed us again, giving us a waggle of the wings and a barrel roll. I bet a ride in one of those would be a rush.
I've heard about people complaining about these pilots 'buzzing' them. They need to get a life. Those jets are just fantastic to watch!
We made it to Ridgecrest, had some lunch, fueled up at E_Z Trip which had the best price according to a nice lady at the local McDonald's. We arrived at Victorville KOA late that afternoon and were set up in camp in about 20 minutes.
As to Death Valley - We will be back. We saw a lot, but there is a lot more to see. One of these times I am going to take my Roadside Geology Book with me and study the geology, and drag along my rock hound book - I know a number of places there are rockhound spots but we didn't seek those at this time.
We are even considering going back just to stay at Stove Pipe Wells and enjoy the weather and clean air.
Here's some quick tech specs and statistics:
Tow vehicle: 2002 Ford F250 HD Supercab 7.2 liter diesel, w/heavy duty tow package and 5th wheel hitch.
Trailer: 26' Komfort 5th wheel, w/slide out living room, midships kitchen.
Total Miles Driven: 2,232 Miles, total fuel consumed: 164.077 gallons. Average Price/Gallon: $2.353, Average Mileage: 13.602MPG,
Hope you enjoyed the travel description and photos.
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