Death Valley T-Day Weekend 09

[JeepGal]

Great trip report!

I wanna go....sigh....next time

Thanks for sharing

Tam

[Mitch]

Doug,

Fantastic write up and pictures. I knew that this was going to be another of those epic trips. Glad everyone had a great time.

I loved the pictures of strapping each other up and down the waterfalls. Very cool.

Mitch

[Mike]

More Pics - Part 1

What a great group of folks to wheel with! It was a great time. To those that went, thanks for indulging me on this journey to ghost towns. Even though there wasn't much left of any of the towns, we hit seven of them from Thursday to Sunday.

We went to Lookout City (1876 to 1878):


Aguereberry / Harrisburg (1906 - 1945):


Chloride City (1905 to 1918+):


Rhyolite (1905 to 1920):


Leadfield (1926 to 1927):


Ballarat (1897 to 1917):


And Reilly (1882 to 1885):


I have a lot of the same pics as the other folks have posted because the area just has some beautiful and unusual features that need to be captured. I will try to share some of the different views that we have.

When we were heading into the Panamint Valley on Thursday, we saw some low altitude training for the folks from the China Lake Naval Base:




The trail up to Defense Mine and Lookout City is mostly easy, but has some tough spots:


The mine was impressive! The network of ladders inside are the best part of the visit:




There are some great views from the mine:


But the views from Lookout City are even more amazing:


The city has little left, but it is definitely worth a visit:




On the way to Wildrose to camp, we took a little used side road that gave a nice late afternoon view of Telescope Peak:


Cooking the large turkey that we brought was a challenge. Next time I will bring two smaller birds. Regardless, the camp was prefect for cooking and having our T-Day dinner:


"Flop" was very energetic and not even slightly concerned about being close to people:


Friday was cloudy, but the sun came though often enough to make the day nice. The lower sky was fairly clear, which made the views from Aguereberry Point quite interesting:




Both Mosaic and Grotto Canyons were far more interesting and fun that I expected:








But NO ONE enjoyed them more than Chloe!:


There were some great views of the Stovepipe Dunes coming back down from the Grotto Canyon:

[Mike]

More Pics - Part 2

It was way too cold and windy to camp at Chloride City as planned, but there were some neat things to see there and a great sunset view:








The camp that we chose was much warmer and the wind died down eventually:


We woke to a mild rain:


And SNOW in the mountains!:


The remains of Rhyolite are very cool, but it was so windy that we took most of the pics from the Jeep:






The outdoor art gallery below the ghost town is pretty cool:


Heading down Titus Canyon started out pretty dull (other than seeing the Mini Cooper on the trail), but once we reached Red Pass, things changed radically:






The snow-dusted peaks made Leadfield a very pretty place:


The narrows of Titus canyon would probably have been more spectacular in better light, but I wasn't disappointed with the show that it put on in cloudy weather:








We stopped at the Dunes, and Chloe took full advantage of the fun to be had there:


The aborted drive up Tucki Mine Trail had some interesting spots. I would like to go explore the whole trail one of the these days:




The trek back over Emigrant Pass to get to the Wildrose Campground led us into snow at the crest:

[Mike]

More Pics - Part 3

As FishPOET posted, the group decided to head for lower and warmer areas to camp for the night. While Doug broke down his camp, the rest of us went to the Charcoal Kilns which were built to supply charcoal to the Mill at Lookout City. The snow was light, but nice:


We then pushed on up to Mahogany Flats Campground where the snow was a little deeper:




From barefoot in the sand at 15 feet below sea level, to 8133 feet above sea level and playing in the snow in the same day... how could this get any better for Chloe?:


Or the rest of us?:




The switchbacks going down were a bit nerve-wracking in the slick and icy snow:


The windy night at the Ballarat camp was still better that freezing our @$$es off at the higher elevations:


But I'm pretty sure that our tent would have been blown to Mexico had we not strapped it to the vehicles:


Regardless, it was a beautiful morning if you pretended that there wasn't a constant wind:


Ballarat was interesting as usual:




From there we went to the ghost town of Reilly. It is a really cool place where the walls of many small stone cabins are still standing for the most part:


The walls that supported the Mill are amazingly straight and well made:


The views from the town are quite nice as well:


There are also the remains of an Arrastre near the millsite:


The trip home included the power-line road by-pass of the long line of folks trying to get into Kramer Junction:


Unfortunately, I broke a shock mount while 'baja-ing' down the road which delayed us slightly before working our way home.

Even with the funky and unexpected weather, the trip was a great time. A link to 151 of the over 500 pics that we took can be found here:
http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...009/?start=all

[headhunter]

Great reports and pics of what looks like a really fun trip!

When you find a little guy like Flop in the middle of nowhere, it can provide a lot of entertainment. When I went to Death Valley last year in October by myself, a little guy like this entertained me for hours by the campfire.

Thanks for sharing!

Christian

[Black & Tan TJ]

Great trip report!

I wanna go....sigh....next time

Thanks for sharing

Tam

I'm with you, Doug & Tracy do the best runs...next time...

Great trail report, Tom

[Nipple Twister]

Nice trip

:shout:WHOO HOO!

What a great trip and report.....have to say, thanks for sharin this one everyone.......very cool place...

everyone walking by my computer stopping and saying "Wow,cool pitures!! Where is that cool place?"

Looks like weather and all you had a great time and I think anyone veiwing this thread can say they almost feel right there with ya.....very nice.:smile:

[50yj]

another great trip. first time camping in death valley. those winds are no joke.

Listen for the snap.




Waterfall Zero
no traction at all


My pictures
http://s241.photobucket.com/albums/f...eath%20Valley/