Twas the night before Covid...

Twas the night before Covid... - Printable Version

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Twas the night before Covid... - MojaveGeek - 2021-03-04

Finally feeling OK to write up a few words about our "Covid emerging adventure" in 2020. I had been out in Nevada back country with my friend Jim for close to two weeks, then Kathy was due to fly in to LAS on 13 March. Jim and I kept hearing snippets of frightening news on the radio, but we were far from other people out there. Kathy figured that it was probably safer on a plane than at work (a clinic in a community which became one of the state hotspots as soon as there was enough testing to know anything). I'd spoken with both of my kids (Ben being off at college) on the 12th, and all seemed stable. His school was saying "we won't be closing".

Well I woke up on the 13th (Friday!) in LV to check whether Kathy's first flight had left the east coast on time and lo, there was an email from Ben's school saying "You have to get out by the end of the weekend". Skipping details, we picked him up at the airport (LAS) on the way out to DV. They were practically giving away the seats to fly; I payed something like $100 for a round trip for him with 1 day advanced purchase. In the mean time I did encounter my first episode of a grocery store in panic buying mode and empty shelves, but we managed to get our supplies for a week out in the valley, with my friend Eric.

Everything seemed more or less normal out there. First day we hiked Willow / Sidewinder. That's a great loop and well worth the bit of navigation it takes to connect the two, with a very scenic view out over the valley at the crossover point.
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There were lots of flowers in Willow, but Sidewinder is more interesting. Been up both before, but not as the loop.

Next day we went up to Chloride. I'd asked here about the road and got good advice not to try in just a high-ish clearance vehicle (Outback), but we went anyway, prepared to walk the road as needed. Indeed, there is a very rocky step a few miles from the old town site that we could not pass, had to back down the grade a bit, but not too bad (though on the way out we did rip out a few of the plastic body panel anchors, so not too good either). It's better to come in from the Amargosa side but you need a good map as there's a confusing bunch of roads there. The only other person we encountered had come in that way.

So we walked to the big cliff viewpoint, and then down the old haul road to the Big Bell Mine. I'd been down that before but had forgotten how unforgivingly straight and steep it is! We had time to check out the mine for a while, and then followed the very nicely constructed miners' trail, which leads back to the old town site. That same trail goes down to Keane, btw.

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Next day we felt like a bit more driving versus walking so went up to Lee Flat, which I love for its solitude (once you're off the road to the Saline) and a well known petro site.

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After that great day, with nice temps, we decided to get an early start and try to make it over to Big Fall Canyon to see some of the sights there, parking at the big flat area near the mouth of Cottonwood. Heading over to Big Fall, you can stay high, go medium with a bit more distance, or go low with even a bit more distance. Eric went high and we stayed medium. We saw a great deal of nice fossils obviously washed down, but our progress was a bit tedious.

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Well, as we learned a bit later on, progress is much faster down a bit lower and despite a slightly longer route, its the way to go. But in any case, getting over to the Big Fall area as a day trip is going to be a long day. In fact we were slow enough that it was looking doubtful we'd have time, and with crossing alluvial fans all day not being particularly enticing, we needed a plan B. Which turned out to be to head over to the Niter Beds, and in the process look at the vestigial old auto road out there. So, we did.

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So we've all seen the Niter Beds out there in the distance. Once you get there, well they are white and flat. There some interesting hummocks and stuff out there but we didn't take too much time to explore because storms were building over the Cottonwoods, including thunder. The further away from them we'd gotten, the more storm clouds we could see. Wondering a bit if we might have issues crossing the Cottonwood wash if the storm was really bad, we headed back. We got soaked in the last 20 minutes or so but overall the timing wasn't bad.

On the way back out, we were quite surprised by all the people dispersed camping along the road. As in, I've never seen more than 1 or 2 parties and there might have been a dozen. When we got back to SPW it became clear that the park service had shut down the campground. And on our doors were notes saying "you gotta go by 11 tomorrow morning". It was a bit strange that evening. Some of the staff were clearly making off with goodies like bottled water and TP and linens, but they'd been given zero notice so I certainly don't blame them.

On the way out the next day, we checked out the old road trace that goes from 190 by the Devil's Cornfield back toward the flowing part of Salt Creek, along the west side. You can see this on the sat image, but can't see it from 190. I put a bunch of waypoints into the GPS but once on the road, it was mostly followed visually. There is even an old wooden bridge in there leading to the Salt Creek crossing. But only one, and its a bit tricky crossing to MacLean Spring - I got one boot pretty wet and muddy. Gephardt's old book says there was a trading post in there, probably getting water from MacLean. It is empty and wide in there, very scenic, probably sees almost no traffic, though there was evidence of someone going in a bit on a bike (not a nice ride I'd say, pretty sandy).

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The adventure continued a bit, being a bit difficult to get home, with intermittent shutdowns at LAS due to Covid in the ground tower, and most flights getting cancelled, and very eerie empty airports But we all know how that has turned out.

So, aborted trip, but we got a few good hiking days in.

RE: Twas the night before Covid... - netllama - 2021-03-04

Wow. Thanks for sharing. What a lifetime the past year+ has been.

RE: Twas the night before Covid... - DeathValleyDazed - 2021-03-05

(2021-03-04, 06:48 PM)MojaveGeek Wrote: Finally feeling OK to write up a few words about our "Covid emerging adventure" in 2020.
So, aborted trip, but we got a few good hiking days in.

I love your trip reports because they usually contain such variety and some out of the way places. I've been trying to get to The Niter Beds forever so hopefully your report will push me in that direction.

Your image from the Chloride Overlook down to Keane Wonder and beyond is so clear. I was not aware of that road visible between the overlook and Big Bell. I hiked from Keane to Big Bell and to Chloride and somehow missed that old road. Do you happen to have any other images of that road from different angles? I'll Google Earth that later this weekend.

RE: Twas the night before Covid... - GowerGulch42 - 2021-03-05

Awesome stuff! What's that Gephardt book? I don't think I've heard of that one.

RE: Twas the night before Covid... - MojaveGeek - 2021-03-05

Chuck Gebhardt's (pardon my earlier spelling) book was Hiking Death Valley, published in 1985 When I first showed up out there in 1990, that was all there was, except for Hart's Great Basin Sierra Club book - which was where I learned about the Racetrack and had to go on my very first visit, probably part of what got me hooked (oh the view into the Saline from Ubehebe Peak, totally blew me away).

It took a few hikes to figure out that Gebhardt's hand drawn maps were rarely to scale, but it certainly was the next step up from the park newspaper with its usual "10 hikes"

RE: Twas the night before Covid... - TacoLand - 2021-03-06

Well done! I made a note to shoot you a message when I got back from my trip to discuss that petro site with you. I think in a past conversation we had I might have not given that site full marks, but after seeing a few more in DVNP wanted to change my vote. Glad the Marble / Sidewinder bypass worked out for you as well.

Re: Cottonwood, maybe it's the Park in general, but when I first started visiting 20 years ago I feel like I saw almost no one in the backcountry (incl. Cottonwood which is very close to pavement). Last time I went up Cottonwood on a weekday evening March 2019 looking for a spot I was floored by the amount of people everywhere. Pushed almost all the way up until the end of the canyon before finding some privacy. Can't imagine how filled it would have been during Pandemic March 2020.

RE: Twas the night before Covid... - MojaveGeek - 2021-03-06

(2021-03-05, 04:29 PM)DeathValleyDazed Wrote: Your image from the Chloride Overlook down to Keane Wonder and beyond is so clear. I was not aware of that road visible between the overlook and Big Bell. I hiked from Keane to Big Bell and to Chloride and somehow missed that old road. Do you happen to have any other images of that road from different angles? I'll Google Earth that later this weekend.

So that's a roughly bladed old road. I don't think it goes all the way down to Big Bell but you can see on the sat images as well as I. We did not go on that road. The old haul route (it's a cable drag basically) goes pretty much straight down the nose of the ridge, popping out by the Big Bell boiler. IIRC there's still some rusted old cable sections. I image you followed the miner trail up to the old Chloride townsite - it's still in great shape and has sweet switchbacks and all.

So what did you do when you got to the top? Did someone pick you up or did you turn around and go down?

Many years ago friends got married at Chloride; they found a Justice of the Peace in Beatty who was willing to come out with his 4WD. After a simple ceremony and a "reception" (I recall Nilla Wafers and some juice) I left my daughter with the wedding couple (she got to ride into Beatty to find a cake with them, and scored a donut in the process) I walked down to Keane. Near the end I was maybe 20 minutes behind schedule but I saw what I thought was my ride coming in the dirt road, so I thought to trot down and tell them I'd been waiting an hour - but no way could I run on those beat and tired legs! We all had a very nice evening meal together at the old Sand Dunes picnic area (now closed) and watched the kangaroo rats jump around between our feet looking for crumbs.

Well they divorced and Twylla died, but she willed me some very nice Indian baskets which I display in her memory. That was an amazing day, thanks for listening while I relive it Smile

RE: Twas the night before Covid... - David_Bricker - 2021-03-06

Sorry to see your trip was abbreviated, but glad you got to keep your tradition of visiting.

Thanks for the write-up. I am missing exploring, as other than this past Thanksgiving, I've not been out since Nov., 2019. And with my son living in Keeler now, instead at PSR, I'm a bit less in DV Proper than before.

David Bricker / SYR

RE: Twas the night before Covid... - bbbb - 2021-03-07

That's a really neat looking fossil rock. It reminds me of something I saw in January, which I'll a post a couple of pics of in a trip report.

Glad to hear that you got a few days in.

RE: Twas the night before Covid... - MojaveGeek - 2021-03-07

(2021-03-07, 02:09 PM)bbbb Wrote: That's a really neat looking fossil rock.

Just one of those "casual moments". We were crossing the series of rocky outwashes heading over to Big Fall, but sat down to wait on one of our party, started picking up random rocks, and so much fossilization. All coming down out of the Cottonwoods.

And, yes, David, it will mean so much to be able to get out this year (hoping that occurs as planned). I'm always excited to be there, but at this point I'm realizing that I may not have all that many wild hiking years left so make each one count. Of course I'm hoping to just ease into being an old fart (as if I'm not already) but I can see I'm already a bit less aggressive about the routes I plan and the distances I hope to travel.