Geeky trip March 2023

[MojaveGeek]

So let's see, we are up to 15 March now.   Beardilocks posted some very good photos of three rock alignments.  I had their location in PLSS format;    PLSS is a coordinate system developed a long time ago to survey public land (that's that the PL stand for) and although I had seen it before, I had to play around a bit before I could figure out just where this site is, and turn it into ordinary waypoints in lat/lon (actually I use UTM but never mind).  It's a  walk up washes, some easier than others, and a nice bit of desert pavement.  Part of the motivation was that even if the rocks were a dud, the views as we walked up would be pretty, and they were.



So then we get to the suspect area, which is a bunch of desert pavement covering quite a few acres, fan out, and start looking.   They were not immediately obvious and I was a bit worried that maybe my calculations had been off, but a good search does not start right where you think you will find (because then you wander aimlessly in expanding circles) but rather at one end of an area of interest, and soon enough we found the first of three sets



Of course once you know what you're looking for, the others jump at you visually in fairly short order.





But these are not the sort of things you're going to notice if you just happen to be wandering by.  So many questions, then.   How did these get into the record?  Yes, we know of the site survey but how did the author know?  I can't believe they did a grid search of the valley floor.  Prospectors likely saw them, but they did not have great maps and mapping tools and likely would not have cared.  At one corner of the site is a wooden sign, with the main signpost long gone, but there is a little aluminum stamped tag on the post reciting the same PLSS coordinates (just in case you don't know where you are when you arrive?).    

The weather was quite windy and there was a shower with hail, and some strong wind - there was an amazing dust cloud which blew through ahead of one of the storm cells that hit is a bit later.  Put on rain jacket and pants, and 20 minutes later we were all dry.

Here is an interesting mix with some white rocks for emphasis; I don't know what that's about.   



Thank you again for the beta; would never have known of or found these otherwise.  

The next day had two parts.   We drove down to just past Ashford Mill, just the valley side of Jubilee Pass, to climb a peak Bob Burd labels 1269 (but the map is metric).   We started just east of a red ridge from his route, which was a bit smoother, and crossed a very green area with a bunch of small flowers and a lot of flowers-to-be thinking about doing something.



The summit had the advertised great views, without the longer climb of Jubilee, which I'd done many years earlier.  There was a bit more haze though.





The rest of the day was Kaleidoscope Canyon.   If you don't know, be sure to visit on a sunny day with good blue sky in the second half of the afternoon to get the best light on the colors.   This used to be a semi-secret place, but now it is on alltrails, so, sigh.   We saw one other party going in while we were on the summit and encountered them on their way out, but no one in the canyon itself, just colors and a lot of brittlebush in bloom.







Eric had never seen this spot and it was good to know that the colors had not faded over the last decade   It is a bit of a slog up fans, but they are easy walking and as long as you get yourself into the right canyon with the right light, the colors are amazing.  The combination of the two hikes made a great day.

[Beardilocks]

Glad you found it the alignment. Even knowing it’s there’s, you can walk within 5ft of it and still not see it. They’re sooo subtle. And really weird how they roll over the landscape sort of counterintuitively, instead of flowing with it.

I have no idea what the sign used to say. Just blank wood. I also thought the plaque telling you where you were when you were already there was weird.

[MojaveGeek]

So the next day (I've lost track at this point which day it was) we headed up to Aguereberry Point, with a few objectives.  Turned out to be quite cold and windy.



The sky was clear and the views pretty solid though.



I had in mind to climb "Pete's Peak" which is the peak immediately east of the point, but from our vantage point it looked rather sketchy and exposed.   Now it probably looks worse from here than it is, but between the wind, cold, and lack of enthusiasm from the rest of the party, I gave up on that one.



But we had an alternative anyway:  Pk 7204.   We hit the old Trail Canyon road and then followed a road trace much of the way to the summit. There was some snow and some mud from recently melted snow up near the summit, but it is always fun to get up into the trees in the Panamints, and the views were grand.   It had been about 15 years since I had been here, but I should get back sooner next time.  Not much traffic, and a nice place for views.







That was a great day, and we had time to hang out and take a nap on the summit.  There were good views in other directions to, including to the snowy Sierra.

Next day we headed to a canyon recommended by Kauri between the Kit Fox Hills and Titus Canyon.  We've all driven by the road sign teaching about "alluvial fans" there.   We parked nearby, but not actually at the right canyon, but Eric and Kathy pointed to the absurdly steep fan of "Alluvial Fan Canyon" and said "Let's go there".  Well  I am glad that I was not the one to suggest such a crazy idea, but it was good.  We thought we'd climb the chute of fresh grey gravel - except when we got there we found it was hand and foot sized talus.   Up, up, up, no respite, with Eric noting that at the top (there was a cute dryfall there, with easy bypass) you could not even begin to see the bottom.



At this point the canyon just digs right into the steep mountain side, and continues up further than we had stamina for.



Hint:  If you go up here, go up next to the grey chute, but hugging the brown rock against the wall that constrains the fan - going down this way was much faster and less tedious than going up.

It was 77 when we got back to the car, a bit warm, so we went up over Daylight Pass to climb one of the peaks we had seen there when we climbed the peak near Keane Spring.   It was 57 and windy just on the Beatty side of the pass.   We went up a different peak (4352) than the one we had started out for (4444) due to time pressure, but still got some fine late afternoon views.

[MojaveGeek]

And on the very last day, we went to the pictograph site on the east side of the park.



Obviously if you've been there you recognize the pix, but if not, I'm not going to say more about their location here.  I had been trying to locate these for about 20 years and it was quite amazing to finally find them, with the help of a few friends who have been there.    But I was actually able to set a tentative best guess waypoint a while ago which was only about 30 yards away.   Good luck if you search, it was a thrill to find them.



I had dreamt of sitting in the shade of the cool overhang protecting this art, on a clear and sunny day, and chilling while finally getting time to take a lunch break.   And so we did.  The nearby habitation site is also interesting with some old walls and a petro (maybe more?)



The area is also just covered with lithic scatter so it is easy to think about what it must have been like for those who inhabited this area, and got late season water from the various nearby potholes (many of which were still full)



We went out via the much more well known petroglyphs, some of which were quite nice.   And one small one I notice had been partially attempted to be removed, marked by two recent straight lines worked with a cold chisel.  A grim reminder as to why we don't say more about such places, I'm sad to say.



We left the valley the next day, in rain and even a bit of snow going over Towne Pass, driving south down the Panamint and Searles valley seeing nothing but fog and some flooded roads and lake beds.  End of an excellent trip!

[DeathValleyDazed]

Hey Geek, just love your images and TR. Due to the cold windy weather (last week of March) I nixed my plans to explore the Aquereberry Point areas that you highlighted. Next time when it's warmer. Tetracoccus Ridge is on my bucket list. Glad you had such a fun visit and mixed with stimulating variety.

[Daymoth]

We checked out Pete's last time and noped the hell outa there. Way too exposed for us.

[MojaveGeek]

Tetracoccus Ridge is on my bucket list. Glad you had such a fun visit and mixed with stimulating variety.

Glad you like the pix!    There's been a lot of good eye candy on the forum this season and want to keep it rolling

Now if you climb Pete's....  I'll be waiting for the video, so please offer some detail of the ascent route so I can see what I've missed.  I know that John Morrow has been up and Mike Reynolds has signed the register so it can be done, and you are fearless enough to get up there!    Once on the peak, it should be a nice ridge run; that was what I was looking forward to.

We checked out Pete's last time and noped the hell outa there. Way too exposed for us.

Well you were not alone in that assessment.  I was game to try but just as happy to let myself get talked out of it, and enjoyed a long nap in the sun on 7204.  The really cold wind did not help.  BTW looking forward to seeing some pix from your trip when you have time, though I gather you skipped DV.

[Daymoth]

Tetracoccus Ridge is on my bucket list. Glad you had such a fun visit and mixed with stimulating variety.

Glad you like the pix!    There's been a lot of good eye candy on the forum this season and want to keep it rolling

Now if you climb Pete's....  I'll be waiting for the video, so please offer some detail of the ascent route so I can see what I've missed.  I know that John Morrow has been up and Mike Reynolds has signed the register so it can be done, and you are fearless enough to get up there!    Once on the peak, it should be a nice ridge run; that was what I was looking forward to.

We checked out Pete's last time and noped the hell outa there. Way too exposed for us.

Well you were not alone in that assessment.  I was game to try but just as happy to let myself get talked out of it, and enjoyed a long nap in the sun on 7204.  The really cold wind did not help.  BTW looking forward to seeing some pix from your trip when you have time, though I gather you skipped DV.

We did skip it and still have to finish going through the 2750 photos of sheep petroglyphs, live sheep and dead sheep.

Speaking of sheep, that pictograph site is outstanding. I need to visit the east part of the park. Have never even driven on greenwater. 

Loved your report. Lots of nice peaks