Death Valley - April 2011

In April, Alvaro Rodriguez and I took our Land Cruisers down to Death Valley to explore some of the remoter regions of the park. This was to be the first real long trip with my new ‘old’ Land Cruiser. There were six of us on the trip – John Griffing, Andre Hediger, Catherine Moulton, Alvaro, his wife Monica and myself.

Andre, Alvaro, Monica, Catherine, John

It was an early morning departure from Sacramento up to South Lake Tahoe, over the hill to the East Side of the Sierras, and down Highway 395 (my favorite part of California). Lunch in Bishop at Schat’s Bakery then down to Big Pine where we turned into the hills and the northerly entrance to Death Valley (via Eureka Valley to the Saline Valley).

Near Warm Springs

Our first night stop was at Warm Springs in the Saline Valley. A small oasis in the middle of the valley floor with warm springs (and unfortunately people with a predilection towards parading around the springs without any clothes – these people should be covered up, it’s not a pretty sight).

Saline Valley

We camped nearby the springs in a pretty exposed camp site – at this time of year, it was very pleasant except for the wind but I could only imagine how hot and intolerable it might be further into the summer.

The next day we had a dip in the springs – very nice, just the right temperature, and very clean. Then we were off down the Saline Valley, up Lippincott Pass and down to the Racetrack Playa.  Lippincott was a nice climb out of the valley floor – nothing too challenging. The Racetrack Playa was fascinating – it is a salt flat playa which by itself is amazing, but then there are these rocks on the playa with trails behind them – they are called Sailing Stones. These are quite big rocks and the theory is that they are moved by the wind – quite remarkable. I guess the playa is really slick when it rains so the wind can actually push these large rocks across the floor.

Sailing Stones on Racetrack Playa

Further down the valley we came to Tea Kettle Junction where folks have gone crazy with tea kettles.

Tea Kettle Junction

From Tea Kettle it was over to Ubehebe Crater – another geological wonder in the valley. Ubehebe is the native Indian word for “big basket in the rock” – very descriptive.

Ubehebe Crater

At this point it was time to fuel up so we headed over to Beatty, Nevada. I had stayed in Beatty a few years back and was somewhat familiar with it. It is not the most inviting of towns. As the “Gateway to Death Valley” it has cheap hotels, gas and the basic food items. Alas its only industry – the Barrick Gold Mine – looks like it closed in the late 90’s.

After refueling we set off in search of a camping spot for the night. We had thoughts of finding something near Rhyolite, a ghost town adjacent to Beatty, but there was nothing suitable. We then set of through Titus Canyon thinking there would be a good spot somewhere along the way. Alas this wasn’t the case either, but by then it was getting dark so we were forced to camp alongside the road – a no-no in a National Park but there was not likely to be any other traffic at that time of day. Apart from the wind which was howling while we were cooking dinner it was not a bad spot. Dinner was John’s barbeque ribs that were flown in from Memphis the previous week for our enjoyment.

We made an early start the next day to break our “illegal” camp and get on the road. We followed along down Titus Canyon to the remnants of the town of Leadfield where we stopped to cook breakfast and enjoy the sights. Traveling through the lower part of the Canyon was just beautiful - it is a spectacular canyon, well worth the trip, either motorized or on foot.  I ran all the way through it on the Death Valley Marathon back in 2008.

Titus Canyon

After exiting Titus Canyon, we went through Death Valley proper (very well maintained roads) through Stovepipe Wells and on towards Panamint Springs to the West. Before Panamint Springs we took the cut off towards Emigrant Pass and then on to the town of Ballarat. Ballarat is an interesting place indeed – named after the Australian gold mining town of the same name, it is almost a ghost town, but still has a few living residents - strange living residents. The Manson Family hung out nearby in the 60’s, a scene from Easy Rider (where Peter Fonda threw his watch away at the start of his motorcycle trip) was shot here, and we bought drinks from the store (that’s all they sell) while we tried not to get too familiar with any of the locals.

From Ballarat, we took the road up to South Park Canyon. This was the more challenging bit of trail. Rover Death Hill (as in Land Rover Death) and Chicken Corner (where one shouldn’t be afraid of cutting it close to the edge – “the edge is your friend” as Alvaro says). On our return I heard that the BLM closed this road shortly after our visit. Apparently more than one person has come to grief on Chicken Rock and they figured it just wasn't worth risking others getting into trouble.

We had a look around the Brigg's Cabins. A couple of relatively primitive cabins up South Park Canyon that are equipped with most things you will need. Available free of charge on a first come first served basis, these were a wonderful discovery. They are maintained by a local group and the BLM allow them to be used provided everyone has access. You just hoist the US flag to show you are in occupancy and then leave everything clean and replace what you use. I would like to come back and stay here a day or two.


We pushed on higher up to an area called Middle Park where we camped close to a jaw-dropping view of the valleys below. A fairly high camp ground with a nip in the air the next morning.

Onwards the next day, we went back down Pleasant Valley Canyon to Ballarat. There were some interesting mining relics down the valley.  It is lots of fun to explore these old sites.

On towards Panamint Springs to gas up (thirsty vehicles these Land Cruisers) and then off in search of a camp spot for the last night on the road. We were lucky enough to stumble across a road up Telescope Hill (from where you can see the highest spot, Mt Whitney, and the lowest spot, Badwater in the lower 48). On the way up there were 10 charcoal kilns in almost perfect condition – the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns. The local forests were harvested to provide wood which was converted to charcoal to be used in the smelting operations in the local mines.

Wildrose Charcoal Kilns

That night we camped at Mahogany Flat. At around 8300ft this was our highest camp, almost at snow level. A fine Cottage Pie for dinner from Alvaro – a traditional English recipe with a Venezuelan accent provided by Alvaro.

Sunday was the return home. A long drive up 395, over the Kingsbury Grade into the Tahoe basin and down the hill to Sacramento – total miles this trip 1135. Alas we used 107 gallons of gasoline for a very economical 10.6 mpg. Not quite a Prius, but we did some rough roads and some high speed driving there and back.

Here is a link to my Smugmug photos.