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Day 2, Saturday November 21, 2009
After an early breakfast in the Panamint Springs Resort restaurant, Day 2 of our Geology Tour began at around 8:30 am after a brief driver’s meeting in front of the Resort. Those members who had camped had packed up their gear, and those staying in the Resort had completed checking out. Tomas, and Renee, in their LR3 timed the drive from LA to arrive at precisely the right time. Nice job, Tomas.
We left Panamint Springs Resort and headed west on the 190 to the turn-off to Darwin. Darwin is an interesting old mining town with quite a few people still living there. Darwin was once considered the Gateway To Death Valley, with 70 businesses and more than 3,000 residents. Darwin’s mines were responsible for gold, copper, silver and lead up through the early 1900s. It had an eerie feeling to it- there are a lot of relatively new buildings (Darwin is NOT a ghost town) and cars there, but it feels like they experienced the Rapture or something there. New-ish cars were there with doors open, as if someone had just gotten out to go back into the house for a forgotten item.
You could sense people in their houses and a car would go by once in a while- it just had a strange vibe. I was reprimanded by a local resident because I had decided to have all the trucks park in huge empty parking lot next to the Dance Hall. Apparently, we were lucky the owners of the property weren’t home, otherwise we’d all have to move our trucks. I don’t know, the lot looked vacant to me.
After exploring the town, and club members taking photos, we hopped in our trucks and began the drive to China Garden Springs, a former Chinese encampment where laborers were forced to live- the Darwin locals didn’t want the Chinese living in town. On the way, we made a brief stop at a geologically interesting vantage point where Allan described the surrounding rock formations- the dolomite, the basalt flows, and the folding and bending of the multiple layers that were at one time under a huge lake. A great geological potpourri, all in one place.
The Old Toll Road, the road through Darwin Canyon that led to China Garden Springs, was right on a fault leading through the canyon. Winding through the canyon, Allan described the geology- on one side of the canyon, the rock thrust leftward out of the ground at about 60 degrees; on the other side, the rock leaned to the right at about 45 degrees. It was fascinating to see such a stark contrast in the colorful layers of rock and to imagine the forces at work to cause this formation.
At China Garden Springs, we checked out the spring-fed pond there and found it full of goldfish! Somehow it just seems a little fantastic to see goldfish, of all things, near the border of Death Valley National Park. We also took some time to make an exploration of the structures and mining ruins that stand there.
I had planned to continue down the canyon to Darwin Falls, not more than a mile away, only to find a welded steel gate blocking our way. I had checked no less than 3 different maps and my topo map program, and none of them mentioned a locked (welded) gate. David said one of his maps did indeed show the gate. So back through the canyon we went. Fortunately, my topo map program, GPS and laptop were able to show a “short cut” back through Darwin to Hwy 190. We passed quite a few mines on the way.
Once back on the blacktop, with the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns as our next planned stop, we headed once again past Panamint Springs and across Panamint Valley, before turning north on Trona Wildrose Road. The Trona Wildrose Road climbs steadily, going from 1,300 feet to almost 7,000 feet in about 16 miles.
And it was predictably chilly once we arrived at the Kilns. I say predictably because air temperature drops approximately 5 degrees for every 1,000 feet of elevation gain, and it was right on the money when I compared the temperature shown on my truck’s gauge at the 1,300 feet elevation at the beginning of the Trona Wildrose Road with the temp upon our arrival at the Kilns.
We made this our lunch stop and took some time out to investigate the Kilns.
In 1875, silver was discovered in the Argus Range on the western side of Panamint Valley and two mines were opened, the Modoc and Minnietta. Smelters were constructed near the mines, but there was no charcoal to fuel the furnaces. To produce the required charcoal, the Modoc Consolidated Mining Company in 1877 erected ten limestone kilns in the wooded upper Wildrose Canyon about 25 miles away to convert the local pinyon and juniper logs to charcoal. The Kilns were designed in by Swiss engineers, built by Chinese labor, and stuffed with pinyon and juniper logs collected by indigenous Indians.
The kilns employed 40 workmen and the nearby town of Wildrose Camp had a population of 100. The charcoal was taken by the Cerro Gordo Freighting Company via mule train and wagon to the mines on the other side of Panamint Valley. By mid-1878, the ore quality of the Argus mines had diminished so much that the mines were closed and consequently, the kilns ceased operation. They remain in excellent condition due to the quality of their construction and because they were only in operation for two years.
After we finished our lunch, Allan used Eric’s Classic as a support for his huge satellite maps, and took this opportunity to teach us about the geological make-up of Death Valley, the Mojave Desert, California, and in fact, the whole West Coast. It looks like a big jigsaw puzzle with all the different pieces involved. Being so geologically active, it’s surprising we don’t have more earthquakes.
Hans was suffering from a migraine and decided to head directly to the Furnace Creek Ranch campground. Matt and his family also decided to head to the Ranch- Matt wanted to spend some time with his family in the Ranch’s spring-fed, constant 84 degrees naturally-heated pool.
Comforted knowing that Hans had someone to keep him company in case of emergency, the next stop on our Geology Tour was Aguereberry Point, a delightful spot overlooking Death Valley.
Pete Aguereberry, a Basque miner, had discovered gold nearby in 1905. Aguereberry continued to mine his Eureka Mine until his death in 1945. In later years, it is said that he made more money giving tourists guided mine tours than he did from actual mining. Aguereberry so loved the view from the point that he built the road to the peak to share that view with his friends. Thanks, Pete, we truly enjoyed the view!
I had planned to visit the ghost town of Skidoo. While no buildings still exist at Skidoo, there are some mill ruins that would have been interesting to see and photograph. Alas, being around 4 pm, and with the sun dropping like a stone behind the Sierras, we decided to head to our night stop at Furnace Creek.
A few members decided they’d camp at Furnace Creek- those of us staying at the Ranch checked in and planned to meet for dinner at 8 in the Wrangler Steakhouse. The food at the Steakhouse is very good, with a decent selection of wines and beer.
Off to our rooms for a good night sleep in preparation for our Sunday run: Rhyolite, Titus Canyon, Scotty’s Castle, Ubehebe Crater, Teakettle Junction, The Racetrack, and Lippencott Mine Road.
Next up- Day 3- the final day of our Death Valley Geology Tour.
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