This is about our trip to Death Valley National Park 17-20 February 2022, a 4-day-3-night adventure to explore some new areas including Pleasant Canyon, the Chloride Cliffs, Titus Canyon, and the Racetrack. Many sections of the trip were on rough 4x4 roads. I was in my 4Runner, and my friend Vince was in a Tacoma.
DAY ONE
We approached the park by coming in through Ridgecrest, Searles Valley, and the Panamint Valley. The ghost town of Ballarat (1897-1917) is the last stop before heading into the canyons. There are a few structures around that are still standing.
Actually, there is at least one permanent resident in Ballarat, and perhaps one or two more. This is the "Trading Post" in Ballarat. Not really much there to trade, but quite an interesting little stop.
Our first destination was Pleasant Canyon, a 27-mile loop that starts just east of Ballarat and requires 4WD with high clearance. The eastern portion of the loop is inside the national park. It is an interesting drive with great scenery, multiple cabins along the way, remnants of mining camps, lots to explore if you have the time to spend. We took it at a moderate pace. In some sections, it is steep, some narrow edge trails, and there are some obstacles that require careful wheel placement and a little nerve.
Entering the canyon at about noon on 17 February 2022. . .
This is "World Beater Cabin". There are quite a number of cabins scattered about in remote areas of these mountains, many within the boundaries of the National Park. Many are remnants of former mining camps or residents of the area. They are in varying conditions, but some are cared for and maintained in a very usable condition. If a cabin is not occupied, you may claim it if you wish to stay a night or two.
It has a solar system with electrical lighting, indoor plumbing and running water, and a nice wood-burning stove.
Wild burros roam in many of the canyons in the area.
Deeper into the canyon we were above 7,000 feet elevation. A cold storm in the area a few days before had left some snow behind.
At the top is Rogers pass, named for a leader of an early company of pioneers that got trapped in Death Valley and did not know how to proceed further. Manly and Rogers went ahead to scout out a route to get them to safety. It is an interesting story in the details.
The loop reaches the highest points along a ridge of the Panamint Range overlooking Butte Valley, and also a view into Death Valley in the distance. There is a lookout point with a great view.
This is Butte Valley. The prominent feature in the foreground is Striped Butte, the signature feature that makes this a special place. On the next day, we will enter this valley via the trail over Mengel Pass, which can be seen on the far side of the valley in the center.
Looking to the right, there is a view of Death Valley in the distance at the foot of the Amargosa range.
We finished the rest of the loop (including the famous Chicken Rock and the ledge road, sorry, no pictures, both hands on the wheel) and were back to the Panamint Valley by about 4:30 pm. We headed 30 minutes south to Goler Wash and headed up the trail to Barker Ranch where we made camp for the night. Barker Ranch is known for having been the location where Charles Manson and his minions were hiding when he was captured.
This is the remnant of the ranch house where Manson was captured in 1969. The house was destroyed by fire in 2009.
DAY TWO
The next day we proceeded over Mengel Pass to Butte Valley. This view is from the pass looking down toward Butte Valley.
This is a view of Striped Butte from a vantage point adjacent to Geologist Cabin, one of the finest cabins in the area.
We took a short diversion to Willow Springs and the beginning of Anvil Canyon Spring Trail. This is the trail where a family of German tourists famously got lost and went missing in July 1996. Their abandoned vehicle was finally found months later in October, a few miles down this trail. It is believed they had spent a few days in Death Valley, and then decided to take a "short cut" out of the area by proceeding west through Butte Valley and over Mengel Pass, despite the fact that they were driving a Plymouth Voyager and the route requires high clearance 4WD vehicles. They ended up going down this side valley and were never seen again. Their remains were not found until 2009.
Heading out of Butte Valley towards Warm Springs Road.
Lunch stop at Warm Springs Camp. Large talc deposits were found in the area, and the camp sprung up around 1930 to 1950 in support of the large Talc mining operations.
Fuel stop in Furnace Creek. Prices are always high there, but especially now.
We made camp that evening in Monarch Canyon off of the Chloride City Road.
Fantastic stratigraphy and erosion in Monarch Canyon.
This is Chloride City Road headed towards the Chloride Cliffs. Chloride City and its mine are among the oldest in the DVNP. There are ruins and copious evidence of old mining activities in the area, though I don't have many photos.
Looking west over Death Valley towards the Panamint Range and Telescope Peak.
This is the final climb to the Chloride Cliffs lookout.
Lunch at the Chloride Cliffs lookout point, which is reputed to be the best view of the entire Death Valley.
Westward you can see the Sierra Crest peaking over the top of the Panamint range.
Mt. Whitney is the tallest one in the center.
We headed from Chloride Cliffs to Beatty, NV for fuel, intending to visit Rhyolite and then run Titus Canyon. Things don't always go as planned. Somewhere along the way, a front brake pad on Vince's Tacoma completely disintegrated. It became obvious as we approached Beatty. It was metal-to-metal. We were fortunate that this did not happen in a remote area. However, Beatty is bigger than a small town, but not quite big enough to have an auto parts store. I was ready to head to Pahrump (2 hrs round trip) to get brake pads, but then an interested local resident intervened. He stopped by at the Family Dollar lot where we had the wheel removed to see what was going on. He started saying crazy things like "We can just make a brake pad for that. I do it all the time." At first, we thought he was looney, but we soon realized he knew a thing or two.
We were talking to Rupert Bragg-Smith, a man who has built and raced race cars his whole life. Born in the UK, grew up in Ontario (Can not Cal), and somehow ended up in Beatty, NV. He told us we should come over to his shop just down the street and he would fix us up.
Some years ago there was a Napa auto parts store in Beatty that went out of business. Rupert purchased the store and converted it into his home/workshop. He had quite a collection of vehicles.
He had a bunch of Corvette brake pads, and he showed us how to modify it with a hacksaw so it would fit in the Tacoma calipers. He wired it in as shown in the photo to keep it in place.
Job well done! Friends for life?
After he had impressed us with his skills, he invited us into his home to check out his converted auto parts store. Wow! An unexpected afternoon!
Dr. Strangelove playing on the telly.
So after this interesting chapter in Beatty, we moved on to find a place to camp in preparation for the next day's journey to the Race Track Playa and then on home. We skipped Rhyolite and Titus Canyon and headed to the Ubehebe Crater. It was too late to stop and see the crater, but just beyond the crater is where the pavement ends, Racetrack Valley Road begins and camping is allowed. There were some camping sites along the way, but they were occupied, and we were in competition with others also looking for camping. We were soon driving in the inky blackness of a moonless night. Dust on the road was thick and heavy, with the dust hanging forever in the air. We ended up driving the full 30 miles down Racetrack Valley Road to the very end where there is a large camping area called Homestake Dry Camp. Thirty miles in an inky black night. We were finally able to set up camp, cook some food, and get some sleep.
DAY THREE
The morning light revealed our surroundings at Homestake Dry Camp.
More camping along the road up towards Lippincot Mine.
A view down towards Saline Valley through which we will exit later in the day.
Looking back up Racetrack Valley Road, whence we came the night before. The dry lake bed of the Racetrack Playa is right there.
We broke camp and backtracked 3 miles up the road to visit the Racetrack!
We also found evidence of stupid people. These are footprints of someone who decided it would be a good idea to walk on the Playa when it was soft and muddy. No telling how many decades it will take for these muddled footprints to disappear.
It was time to head home by taking Lippincott Road down to Saline Valley Road, then on down to the 190, and over to Olancha on the 395. Lippincott Road is very rough in places and is subject to washout. Fortunately, it was all passable, though we had to navigate past a fair amount of traffic coming up the canyon.
A look back towards Lipponcott Canyon, and the Chance Range from whence we came.
We were back on the pavement here. We aired up and headed home.
Total Distance Ballarat to Exit: 302 miles
Total Distance for Trip: 736 miles
