Mahogany and Thorndike

[Kauri]

Telephone Canyon was freshly graded after Hillary.  We cruised through there a few months ago in 2wd.

Wow, that's news. I only remember Telephone being two-track. But last trip was quite a while ago, in March 2016, and that time we encountered some (minor) rock steps prior to the canyon fork. Good to know NPS has put some work into that road.

@bluegreen_kayak, I think hiking from the paved road over to Telephone should be fine. Just aim carefully since I recall there are some hilly berms to watch out for and I can't remember well enough to guarantee you won't get cliffed out.

I do know that years ago Steve Hall did, at my suggestion, the canyon just north-east (?) (whichever direction is towards Stovepipe if I'm getting my directions mixed up this late at night) and found an old car quite ways up the wash, which was a cool find.

[Brice]

My thanks to everyone who's shared their thoughts on this venture.

I'm worried enough about that van that I've decided not to risk going up to Mahogany or Thorndike. I asked the park rangers by e-mail, and they advised against it also.

So now I'm considering Emigrant campground and hiking Telephone Canyon. I found the road that leads from Emigrant Canyon road to the mouth of Telephone, but my question is how hard would it be to hike from the campground going east to the mouth of Telephone. Another idea would be to drive a half mile on the paved road, and hike a half mile to the rough old road, and then hike that.

I would welcome any information about Telephone; the arch looks like a worthwhile sight to see. You all are such a great community and it's wonderful of netllama to make this happen.

Totally hikeable from Emigrant but you'd be going cross-wash so there will be a ton of minor gullies to climb into and out of.  You should be able to drive to the entrance of Telephone without any trouble.  At the very least you can drive as far as possible on pavement and hike the dirt road from there.  That will be easier and faster than cross-country.

[MojaveGeek]

The road to Tucki Mine (with the rock steps) starts out in Telephone Canyon, but then pretty quickly turns south of it. I don't recall, and the maps don't seem to show, any old road beyond that in Telephone. But it's a fine wash. I have once or twice driven to the mouth of Telephone in a sedan. It used to be a stealth camp spot, and yes there is an old car out there, but at least the one that I saw was not deep in a canyon, but rather on the approach and just above the main wash.

Cutting across the wash would be, ugh. Better is to drive to where the road heads off from the pavement and walk that, if you don't feel like driving it.

You can also easily get into upper Telephone from an old mining road described in Digonnet; it takes off to the left from the Emigrant road and can also be used as a back door route to Skidoo