Abandoned Hiking Climbing Gear - Common?

[DeathValleyDazed]

If I get up there I would haul out some of that trash if I had the energy that day.  Do you recall which leg went by the discarded gear?  ... you don't know where they left their car.  And that's not the friendliest country to cross. Anyway I hope those hikers had good reason to leave that much trash out in the desert, even if it is not a highly traveled area.

A few years ago we followed that old road you crossed.  It crosses over Salt Creek - there is one old wooden bridge - near McLean Spring.  I read that there was an old trading post there at some point, though it seems like a strange place for a store?  Did not see any evidence of that. 

Ok Mojave Geek, thanks for entering the thread. I hope the following details will clarify. The two fellows who abandoned the gear parked at Stove Pipe Wells. The one fellow felt lucky to return while assisting his ill buddy, let along carry all that gear back. At least that's his excuse. Yesterday he admitted to me that the whole underground city and tunnel stories were "pipe dreams." Glad he came to his senses but he added that the real story is "in the journey." Some of my personal favorite moments in Death Valley are from just getting out and wandering around aimlessly. lol 

Here are links and details of the abandoned gear location. First is a Google Earth Web:
https://earth.google.com/web/@36.5840901...503h,0t,0r

The coordinates: 
http://salamandersociety.com/deathvalley...inates.png

Abandoned gear location is remote and a long slog over boulder strewned washes from either Stove Pipe Wells, Devil's Cornfield, Salt Creek:
http://salamandersociety.com/deathvalley...ellite.png

One can barely make out the actual gear in this Google Earth Web image. I fairly certain this is the spot unless it's some other survey marker?:
http://salamandersociety.com/deathvalley...Gear-X.png