OTR Death Valley Exploration Run

Attendees: Joanna, Chad and Nash; Roman and Quana; Dwayne; Mike and Norris; and Kevin (arrived Friday night). Our adventure began at 6:30 am on Friday March 17 when we departed the Park and Ride in Porter Ranch. After a brief stop in Mojave for breakfast and fuel, we headed to Olancha to top off before heading East for Darwin Falls. We should have known that it was going to be a great trip as we were welcomed by jets flying down low just to the side of us as we were making way to our destination. We turned off the 190 highway before Panamint Springs onto a dirt road which led us to a dirt parking lot which in turn lead us to what else but a dirt hiking trail. We love dirt! As we started our “casual walk” down the wash we started having doubts that this spring fed, year long running waterfall would have any water in it at all, as we were surrounded by nothing but dirt and gravel. Then it happened. All of a sudden we entered a lush, green environment. It was really hard to believe that we were in the middle of the dessert. As we proceeded crossing the creek thru logs laying across the water, climbing large rocks and taking pictures of beautiful pools we were passing, we finally arrived at the waterfall. It was absolutely beautiful and its location in the middle of the dessert added to its beauty. From Darwin Falls we continued on into Death Valley National Park and made our next stop at Eureka Mine. Here we got to explore some scattered mining equipment, look into some mine shafts, but the highlight, at least for me, was Pete Agueberry's camp. It consisted of three structures: Pete's house with gasoline cook stove and propane refrigerator; a guest house with a full bathroom including shower and toilet; and additional house build for an unknown reason. As we got back to our trucks, our Excursion didn't want to start and required a quick fix. It appears that the rough roads caused the negative battery clamp to crack creating a bad ground. Dwayne was happy to donate some vise grips and string that Norris secured in place. We were back on the road in just a few minutes. It was time to get moving on to the bee hive looking Charcoal Kilns. They were spectacular 25 feet tall structures (ten of them) whose impressive condition can be attributed to their short lived usage which was from 1877-1879. This was also our lunch spot followed by an ice cream social before the long drive to camp... Yes, you heard it right, Ice Cream Social, thanks to our wonderful ARB! After driving for approximately 70 miles or so, Dwayne found the perfect camp spot for us and we called it home for the night. It was right on the Racetrack Road with the view of the South side of Ubehebe Crater. That night we had the most amazing sunset and we crashed around 9:30. At 10:30 Kevin joined us. In the morning we did a quick install of battery clamp that Kevin was kind enough to pick up for us on his way up. After it was in, we waited for everyone to pack up then started following treacherous, 26 mile, washboard Racetrack Road aka "the road from hell", towards the Racetrack to see the moving rocks. Dwayne fell victim to the road and got a flat tire. It was changed out in no time at all we were on our way. The Moving Rocks were impressive. You see these large rocks on the smooth of surface of what was a lake 10,000 year ago, leaving tracks behind them as they are being moved over time. Scientist believe that it's the work of ice and wind. It now takes the mystery out of it, so boo hoo to that. Taking the Racetrack Road back, we ran into a tow truck with a flat outer rear tire. It was on the way to pick up a van which grenade its suspension. We hope that you are getting an idea why I call this road "the road from hell". The tow truck driver was frazzled to say the least. There was no cell coverage in the middle of the desert, and he didn’t know what to do. We offered him the options of either a ride into town or making a phone call and relaying a message. He still didn’t know what to do. I convinced him to let me turn him around so he could get back to civilization were he would be safer. Once he was straightened, we were once again on the move. Shortly thereafter, Kevin stopped to investigate an abnormal noise. He discovered he had broken a shock pin. He quickly removed it and was on the go. Once we were off dirt, we stopped by Ubehebe Crater which was so perfect and pretty, but extremely windy. After having lunch in our trucks in fear of sandwiches flying out of our hands, we decided to do Titus Canyon Road which just opened the day before. We did a fuel stop in Beatty, Nevada at Eddie's World which had beef jerky for $99 per pound. That’s right read it again. $99 per pound. Then it was time to hit the road. Oh boy, what a great road Titus was. This 26 mile long trail was full of beautiful formations, colors and included the short lived Leadfield mine as well as some petroglyphs. We were getting well into late afternoon and we still had ways to go to the top of Echo Canyon to camp for the night. On the way there, however, we stopped by Saltwater Creek to see an endangered species of pupfish - a descendent of pupfish which lived in the lake in Death Valley some 10 000 years ago. It was a "casual" walk along a boardwalk thru the interpretive trail and since it was mating season, we saw a lot of "dancing" (as described in the signage) action in the water, if you know what I mean. Now it was time to really start moving towards camp at the top of Echo Canyon. Echo Canyon was 10 miles long and it was 7 o'clock when we started climbing it. The road was not too bad but at this point everyone was getting tired and ready to stop. As we stared our drive, we noticed a group of five vehicles behind us. Chad was determined to get to the top before them thinking that they probably wanted to go around us to beat us to a good camping spot. At one point near the top, we stopped and Chad went to touch basis with everyone. THEN, we realized that we found something that belonged to Bob and Judy! Yes, in the middle of Death Valley, in complete darkness (yes, it was dark at that point) we found something that was near and dear to Bob and Judy. It was Corey!!! He had no idea that he was following us! He was with his buddies trying to make their way thru the mountains to do the Titus Canyon the following day. It was so great to see him and to know that we didn’t have to fight for a camp stop on top of the mountain! This night we had an even better camp - found by Dwayne, AGAIN! Dwayne is being granted the unofficial Indian name of “One Who Finds Camps!”. We had a great view, there was no wind and it was not 96 degrees as it was in the valley. The weather up top was perfect. The following morning we had an early start and left the camp around 8:20 making our way to Inyo Mine which was just around the corner from us. What a neat place! Tons of old equipment and buildings. One of the buildings looks like it may have been a church. They even had a "cool junk" table where people would put anything that they would find of interest lying on the ground. After exploring the mine we made our way down the mountain and took a drive thru the very pretty Twenty Mule Canyon. At that point Mike and Norris waved good bye and headed towards home. The rest of the group made our way to Devils Golf Couse to check out the neat salt formations. Looking almost like fields of coral they made you say "wow". You could carefully walk on them making sure that you don't slip as the jagged edges would surely do some serious damage. After the Golf Course we headed for Badwater, which with elevation 282’ below sea level is the 8th lowest point on dry land in the world, and the lowest point in the United States. This is also home to the Badwater Snail which is found only in Death Valley. At this point it started to get really hot. Really, really hot. After visiting Badwater, Kevin headed for home while the rest of us went to check out a couple of more points of interest. Our next stop was a ½ mile hike to Natural Bridge. A short trail up hill brought us to a beautiful arch which you can see in the Yahoo Groups gallery. After Natural Bridge we stared making our way towards home, passing thru Artist Drive and stopping at Artist Palette which was full of multi-colored badlands. We also managed to make a quick stop at Harmony Borax Works which ceased operations in 1888, to see left over equipment and wagons. Neat, but Inyo Mine was way more interesting. The original plan was to hit Mosaic Canyon on the way out of the park but it was getting hot and late, so we decided to leave it for the next trip. On the way back thru Panamint Valley, we came across a group of wild burros right along the right side of the road. It was amazing how close they came to us. It was also a little sad see how some of them were being picked on by the others. One has some nasty bite marks on its neck. This trip was absolutely perfect. We got to spend time with our family and learn more about our OTR family. We found out why Roman does not like snails and how Quana's dog took over her entire bed at home. We learned that Dwayne goes into hibernation when the temperature falls below 75 degrees and how Norris' girls keep him busy playing volleyball and rowing. Mike has an RV with a garage for his razor in the back and that if you put Vaseline on your feet before long walks, you won’t get blisters. We also learned that Kevin can save the day and special deliver parts to the middle of the desert. It was an amazing trip, in an amazing place with amazing group of people. Thanks everyone for joining us. By Joanna and Chad Oellien