Between the BLKH2O Forks

[John Morrow]

One of the last remaining signs that hasn't been stolen yet.  

Loving your photos and report. This sign post is so cool. Motivation for hiking from Furnace Creek across the Corduroy Bridge and up to Aquereberry Point and surrounding area.

Jeez, it's like 10 miles just to the toe of the ridge....

[Beardilocks]

That's awesome, nicely done!  Have you done other "lost" trails of the Park?  I like the looks of the trails dropping into Saline Valley from various points among many others.  Hope to do some of them some day while I still have legs for bigger vertical...

Did you check for surface water at the spring?  How did you get talking to the "naturalist" with the knowledge of such a route?

I have hiked a number of other "lost trails" in the park but just in fits & spurts.  None all the way through on an old trail like this.  When I hiked Dry Bone through top to bottom I picked up the old road on the valley floor to hike back to my truck.  It was a straight line but also cross-wash.   The East side of the Panamints is absolutely criss-crossed with old paths, both ancient and from miners.  I lost count of how many trails I crossed or followed going to the crater near Chuckwalla. That hike was stunning and I wish I'd had ore time.  I have a bunch of others pinned on my maps that I hope to get to "next time".  Don't we all?

I know of a few of those that you reference going into Saline.  You can see a few from Ubehebe peak.  I would love to hike a few of those through.  Hell I'd love to do cross the park West to East.  Haha.  

The water at BLKH2O was horrific.  The burros have utterly ravaged the place.  All vegetation was trampled and everything was covered in burro crap.  It was bad.  There was surface water there in Feb, but I would have had to been BAD off to drink it even after a filtering.  Filtering gets the bad stuff out but doesn't help the taste.  Burros don't understand "don't sh*t where you drink". 

Usually when I get to DV I spend about 2-3mo there.  And if you ask about enough far back country road conditions and about enough weird through hikes in rarely visited areas, the staff eventually tells you to just come in when their unofficial expert is working the desk.  In 2017-19 that was very nice guy named Tom who was the resident Naturalist who spent most of his off time doing bonkers hikes and was inclined to chat with fellow lunatics about such things.  We traded quite a few secrets.

[Beardilocks]

Jeez, it's like 10 miles just to the toe of the ridge....

Hahaha.  The last part of the hike across the low part of the valley to where my truck was in Furnace was a freaking slog.  Hot even in Feb.  Especially with how my knees felt after dropping 6000ft in a few miles.  Very very interesting hike through crazy and varied terrain.

[John Morrow]

Jeez, it's like 10 miles just to the toe of the ridge....

Hahaha.  The last part of the hike across the low part of the valley to where my truck was in Furnace was a freaking slog.  Hot even in Feb.  Especially with how my knees felt after dropping 6000ft in a few miles.  Very very interesting hike through crazy and varied terrain.

Looks like the cordoroy road is visible in GE, parallel and just south of the powerline corridor.  It almost acts as a sort of dam to the basin floor.  
A couple loop ideas:  down one of the Ubehebe trails into Saline Valley and back up another (Copper Queen and Ubehebe) 
Down Nelson Range Miners Trail and up San Lucas.  Or do all 4 in a giant loop with long Saline crosssings.

[DeathValleyDazed]

Usually when I get to DV I spend about 2-3mo there.  

Geez, I'd be in heaven spending that much time in DEVA uninterrupted. Lucky you!

[MojaveGeek]

Looks like the cordoroy road is visible in GE, parallel and just south of the powerline corridor.  It almost acts as a sort of dam to the basin floor.  

I think that road went to the old Shovelton site, on the west side? From there a road ran just north of the Cottonball Marsh, I'm guessing the current road into Salt Creek may follow its beginning. I found hints of that road between the march and the hills west of Salt Creek, but not much of it was left.