Day: May 7, 2017

Pic: That’ll buff right out

After my hike up Wildrose Peak, I drove back to Thorndike around 1630. There was one guy, camped in my spot from last night. By the time I heated up some potato soup for dinner, all six camp spots were claimed. Miles and Kelly, a couple with an ’87 4WD Vanagon (pimp!), passed by. They explained that they were walking up to check out an RV that had rolled and was blocking the road up to Mahogany Flats and Telescope Peak. When you’re in the woods you make your own fun, so in spite of 8.4 miles of weariness in my feet I made the short uphill trek.

This is what we found:

Pic: Baxter shuffling gear

I had admired this rig yesterday as it drove past Thorndike, en route to higher campgrounds and evidently undeterred by the snow and the narrow, steep, occasionally marginal road. They had chains on all four tires so I was pretty sure they had 4WD and a plan.

I helped Baxter and Sam unload stuff for a while asking what happened. Apparently, they were driving up this long incline and had some kind of engine trouble and/or lost traction and started sliding backwards. The driver tried to turn into the hillside to slow their momentum but instead jack-knifed and rolled. Neither of them was hurt.

Eventually, they tracked down a ranger, who called in a tow truck with a winch-thing and another truck with a flatbed:

Pic: Here they come to save the day

Sam had spent months preparing this vessel for a long voyage, which Sam and Baxter had begun only a week earlier. They were pretty bummed, obviously — not an auspicious start to their journey!

However, the truck operators managed to get the RV upright — they didn’t even scratch the solar panels. Later she would roll down the hill on her own, without the flatbed. Since my biggest concern was for the drivetrain and axels, I think that’s a pretty good outcome. I offered them a little cash to defray the costs of getting four dudes and two heavy trucks from Lone Pine out to the middle of nowhere — my justification for taking a selfie in front of their wrecked dreams.

Good luck, Sam and Baxter. I hope you guys made it back on the road!

Pic: Cactus and snow atop Wildrose Peak. Death Valley NP, CA

Inspired by the events at Walker Lake, I pitched my tent under a broad pinyon pine in hopes of shelter in case the weather worsened overnight. When I awoke to raindrops on the roof of my tent, I was disappointed but not really surprised. It was only after I unzipped the flap and got out that I saw that the sky was actually clear, and that the tree I’d sought for shelter was now acting as a snowmelt concentrator. The whole campsite was dry except for broad wet rings around the trees.

Today marked the inaugural hike of the trip: 4.2 miles and 2000 feet up to Wildrose Peak. This was my most strenuous hike in recent memory, but I didn’t put all my junk in storage to shy away from a challenge.

The trailhead begins near some interesting historical artifacts, the Charcoal Kilns:

Pic: Inside a charcoal kiln. It still smells like a campfire, over one hundred years later

“The Wildrose Charcoal Kilns were completed in 1877 by the Modock Consolidated Mining Company to provide a source of fuel suitable for use in two smelters adjacent to their group of lead-silver mines in the Argus Range west of Panamint Valley, about 25 miles distant from the kilns. Although the mines themselves were worked intermittently until about 1900, there is no clear evidence that the charcoal kilns were operational after 1879. Evidently either other fuel sources were located or it was found to be more profitable to ship the raw ore elsewhere for processing. This short life may help to explain the remarkably good condition of these kilns, more than 100 years after their construction.”

—Excerpt from “Charcoal Kilns Historic Structures Report”, 1970

Wildrose Peak has amazing views of the valley and beyond. Unfortunately, these were largely blocked by clouds today. Still, a worthwhile journey to kick off the hiking portion of this adventure.

Pic: Looking down from Wildrose Peak