Death Valley 2022/23

[Beardilocks]

A quick hit & run today at Ibex Spring.  I haven’t been here since … 2017?   I was kind of surprised to see very little evidence of human meddling.  But I guess that, short of setting fire to the ruins, there’s not much else left to destroy.  

[John Morrow]

A quick hit & run today at Ibex Spring.  I haven’t been here since … 2017?   I was kind of surprised to see very little evidence of human meddling.  But I guess that, short of setting fire to the ruins, there’s not much else left to destroy.  

i am always curious to know if there was surface water?

[Daymoth]

The park didnt remove those palm trees?

You need a jeep to get to this magical place right? My SUV wont cut it right?

[Beardilocks]

The park didnt remove those palm trees?

You need a jeep to get to this magical place right? My SUV wont cut it right?

I’m not sure the park service remembers that this part of the park still exists, much less is concerned with the palm trees.   

You definitely don’t need a Jeep. My Toyota did just fine!  😂

Joking aside, it depends on the SUV.  Right now, this winter, I’d say high clearance and decent driving skill  will get you to Ibex Spring.  

The classic “Deep Sand Ahead” part of Ibex Valley Rd is quite deep and longer than I remember right now.  I wouldn’t try the section btw the Ibex Spring cutoff and the dunes from the north without 4wd right now.

[Beardilocks]

A quick hit & run today at Ibex Spring.  I haven’t been here since … 2017?   I was kind of surprised to see very little evidence of human meddling.  But I guess that, short of setting fire to the ruins, there’s not much else left to destroy.  

i am always curious to know if there was surface water?

I didn’t inspect thoroughly for surface water.  But I will say that no bugs bothered me as I strolled around.  So there can’t be much if any.  

 The palms are doing quite well either way.

[Brice]

I was at Ibex Spring in March 2022 and I want to say there was a pool of water in an artificial basin on the slope above the palms, but now I'm not certain if I'm confusing it for another place.

One thing I do remember clearly though is that the palms and underbrush was so thick it was hard to imagine that there wasn't copious amounts of water available.

The neatest thing about that area in my opinion is if you keep going west from Ibex spring into the valley beyond, you can see the southern tip of the black mountains which are totally swallowed by sand. Their eastern slopes are like enormous false sand dunes.

[DVexile]

The collapsed building in your first two photos was still standing in Jan 2020 at least, so that’s a somewhat recent change.

[John Morrow]

The collapsed building in your first two photos was still standing in Jan 2020 at least, so that’s a somewhat recent change.

That's nuts.  Once they are down I wish they'd be removed.  But they could have cultural significance, I suppose.  Anyone have an experience with DEVA removing such things like collapsed shacks?

[Beardilocks]

The collapsed building in your first two photos was still standing in Jan 2020 at least, so that’s a somewhat recent change.

That's nuts.  Once they are down I wish they'd be removed.  But they could have cultural significance, I suppose.  Anyone have an experience with DEVA removing such things like collapsed shacks?

My experience is that they have a completely hands off approach.  Unless they’re actively trying to discourage something.  I’m quite sure they don’t have the staff or the money to clean up these sorts of things (not to mention CAs intense environmental laws about clean up).  

However, I have heard stories about staff (possibly rogue, possibly not) removing as much as possible of the airplane that’s wrecked on Towne Pass.  

Personally I’m happy to let the ruins sit.  Like the old trash dumps out here, everything “old” speaks to the history of the area.

[Beardilocks]

After a day to resupply in Pahrump:  laundromat, grocery, Walmart, needed a spare pin for my sway bar at Home Depot, dropped off food at the animal shelter, and had a shower at a shady gas station that I think left me cleaner than when I went.  Not all that sure….

So after that I took a walk on the east side of the Black Mountains to find some petroglyphs. 




The hike was weirdly difficult on the way in. The soil was REALLY soft.  I hadn’t experienced that in DV before.  Every step sank 5-10mm and was very loamy.  Odd.  




















Very weird anthropomorph 



This one was the most fascinating to me.  Huge claws, weird glyphs at its feet, and the… heart or whatever LITERALLY popping it out of its chest.  So weird…,









To my experience so far, this is the 2nd largest (EDIT: within 2days of this post I hiked to two sets larger than this, I guess I have much to learn still… lol) I collection of nice petroglyphs I’ve seen in the park.  I wonder what else might be in the area….

I ended up racing the shadow of the mountain back to my truck.  A really weird feeling, the darkness literally chasing you like that.  I could feel the cold approaching.  Gorgeous view all the way out.