Little Bridge, Crack, Brimstone, but not Corkscrew

[DAW89446]

Found another piece of wood going out. Where the heck did they come from?

Likely an old claim post. The entire Funeral Range and Black Mountains are full of prospects, mines and claims from the mining craze that swept Nevada and eastern California during the 1902-1907 time period. In addition to stone cairns, a 4”x4” wooden post was embedded in stone cairns to mark claims.

I’m not a big fan of slot canyons, but the colors were gorgeous. Glad you had a good time.

[Kauri]

Glad you got to hike Brimstone!! I've been thinking about doing that hike again when I eventually can get back to DV, remembering it was very nice. I don't remember that dry-fall before the fork being anywhere near that tall, so either my memory is incorrect or some gravel has washed out over the years--or, more likely, some combination of both.

[Daymoth]

Hey Bluegreen Im pretty sure I was wrong aboit the crinoids, those have like discs. But we saw a lot of fossils today and we are reading everything about rugose corals, maybe thats what you saw? ( Im not a paleontologist! I wish I knew more!)

I put brimstone in my to do list just couple of weeks ago, nice to see your report!

[Bluegreen kayak]

Hey Bluegreen Im pretty sure I was wrong aboit the crinoids, those have like discs. But we saw a lot of fossils today and we are reading everything about rugose corals, maybe thats what you saw? ( Im not a paleontologist! I wish I knew more!)

I put brimstone in my to do list just couple of weeks ago, nice to see your report!

Well, I enjoyed reading about crinoids after your comment, so thank you. I ran across something in another book about southwest geology: feeding traces called bioturbation, where organisms "root for nourishment in the fresh sand and mud." My find was probably too flat to be those.

Enjoy Brimstone - find the pavement on the north, it's easier.

[Bluegreen kayak]

Glad you got to hike Brimstone!! I've been thinking about doing that hike again when I eventually can get back to DV, remembering it was very nice. I don't remember that dry-fall before the fork being anywhere near that tall, so either my memory is incorrect or some gravel has washed out over the years--or, more likely, some combination of both.

Thank you very much for your unofficial map and the great picture that showed me where to go. I frequently use your map to roam the park looking for places to go; it's a treasure.

[Brice]

Those eroded rocks are neat.  I don't think I've noticed anything quite like that before.

[GowerGulch42]

Those fossils look like burrows or feeding traces. The borrowed areas can look very different from surrounding rock!

[MojaveGeek]

I was in Little Bridge about 10 days ago. I had been there a good 25 years earlier. We went up the "side canyon" route Degonnet describes - I must admit his description is a bit terse. It was raining a bit and I had to get my crew to trust me that we weren't going to get flooded or anything. Did you climb that dryfall? We bypassed it on the right, which was a bit sketchy but not too exposed. I, too, liked that "doorway to Moria" though we though it was to another dimension - or maybe to the home of the Giants who live under Tucki?

I had forgotten how big the bridge actually is. "Little", my a$$. The trudge out the gravel wash was a bit long because we had parked far enough west to get easy access to the side canyon.

We also appreciated the fossils, seeing several of the ammonite (?) grey rocks and some other random bit. It is impressive how straight the long section going along the sheer nearly vertical strata is - reminded us of Corridor, only more colorful.

The tracks, I am guessing are sheep. When I was last there, we encountered 3 near the canyon mouth. My theory is that the sheep water at Twin Spring up above Mosaic, and that keeps the herd (flock?) that hangs out all over Tucki.

Thanks for the TR! I'll start one, of many acts, tomorrow I hope.

[DeathValleyDazed]

The photos posted this year in the forum are just outstanding. Thanks for your contributions!