Mormon Point Canyon and Bighorn Gorge

[Bluegreen kayak]

On the second half of my March visit, I returned to Mormon Point Canyon. It's a bit south of Sidewinder, and although my log told me I had been there before, I couldn't remember much about it. I was lucky in finding the old road trace that leads up and saves one some of the loose gravel trudging .


A spooky side canyon, that didn't go very far, but certainly resembled what you find in Sidewinder.


And the dry fall that stopped me at the end. I wonder if my son could tackle it and pull me through; this picture makes it look possible. Anyone been up there? Worth the trip?


I took a side excursion up a rock field and found these flowers growing.



A piece of sheared off wall, remnant of fault movement?




There was a good-sized side canyon with some nice narrows.




One of my favorite plants is the desert holly, because their trunks and stems look like miniature cottonwood trees. They remind me of the landscapes made by model railroaders. Several of them were flowering like this one.




The heart of Mormon Point Canyon - made of two rocks, and you have to be in just the right spot to see it.


There are mining relics in the first half of the canyon, but I never see them on the way in; too focused ahead, I guess. They're easier to spot on the return.





Later that week, I moved to the Mesquite Springs campground. This was a beautiful moonrise the night before my assault on Bighorn Gorge.


My hikes so far were warm-ups for a second attempt at Bighorn Gorge. My first try a couple of years ago was not a success. Planning an overnight with my son, I parked on Scotty's Castle road and we hiked due west across the bumpy terrain to the wash, took the south ridge (per Steve Hall's suggestion, since it has wonderful desert pavement) as far as we could, hiked the wash gravel the rest of the way and found a spot for our tents. It was in November, I was tired out, and we lost our sunlight very early. Then I found out I had forgotten to bring the pot for heating water. We did the best we could, using the foil from son's lunch sandwich and a plastic baggy that had carrots, but the most we could manage was warm-ish water. Somewhat demoralized, we slept and went back to the van the next morning, without getting very far in the gorge.


So I had been thinking about trying again for a while. This time we packed enough for two nights if needed, picked a time when the days are longer, and came down the Death Valley wash from Mesquite Springs. Beginning at the campground made for an earlier start, and I was counting on the wash being easier to walk on.


Well, I was correct about the wash being an easier route - it was so smooth, we hiked right past the intersection with the wash to the gorge, and overshot it by maybe a mile or so. Best laid plans and all that. We had to backtrack, couldn't find the desert pavement ridge from last time, and ended up slogging up the gravel wash. It was wearing. At one point, my son helped by putting my pack on in front and carrying both, but even he couldn't do that for very long. Anyway, we finally made it to a nice level dirt area, put the tents up, and rested. At least I had the pot for heating water, so we had a hot supper, and  a good sleep.



Woke up the next morning and felt well enough to give it a go. I remembered this landmark from the old Panamint City trip reports, and I also remembered to go right at the intersection with the main side canyon.


Some brightly colored rocks and walls.






Met the first dry fall - climbed up on the far right side. It's a matter of getting the correct foot in each spot so you're ready for the next move.



Immediately around the corner was the next one. More slick but with a handy flat spot halfway up.



And then comes the reason for the whole trip - the fossils embedded in the rocks. It's amazing how many there are - someone else described it as "walls of fossils."









This one sure was happy to see us!




After quite a bit, we reached this boulder jam. I was tired and rested here, but son continued up and took my camera for me.



He reported more and bigger fossils up there.






And a third dry fall, that he didn't tackle because he knew I was waiting for him.










And we came back, ate a late lunch, packed up, and decided to head back to Mesquite Springs, figuring if sunset caught us out, we could sleep in the wash and be that much closer to the end. You see, it took us about 7and 1/2 hours the first day to get to our tent spot. Well, everything went without a hitch on the return. We found the desert pavement ridge, make our turn north in Death Valley wash (hard to miss that, it was a T intersection), and made it back in 3 and 1/2 hours. Sheesh. This picture shows some of the firm surface along part of the wash, very easy walking.



Driving home the next morning, I took one last look at Bighorn Gorge. Not easy, but what a marvelous place.



PS I hope posting my fossil pictures isn't a problem. They are so solidly embedded in hard rock that I can't imagine anyone damaging them.