Death Valley 2022/23

[John Morrow]

Very well could be.  The “drinking” part is damn tiny though, only a couple of feet long with barely room for a sheep to get its nose in.  Listed on the side (in case it’s too small) “Arkfeld waterer”.  It had a float in it to turn water on & off but it was dry. 

Just seems like those 3 big tanks is overkill for such a tiny water trough.  And definitely the 2nd time tanks were installed.  The first set of three was wiped out in a flood, their concrete base was also smashed in the canyon.

I haven't visited many, and even then paid little attention but there are drinkers to target smaller game and even avian species.  Not sure of the shape and size of each type of drinker.  Could be small to reduce undesired evaporation.  On GE it seems all these guzzlers have two to three very large tanks.  Somewhere uphill may be a giant capture field.  I think the idea is capture or deliver as much water as possible to avoid running out and requiring frequent visits.

[John Morrow]

Very well could be.  The “drinking” part is damn tiny though, only a couple of feet long with barely room for a sheep to get its nose in.  Listed on the side (in case it’s too small) “Arkfeld waterer”.  It had a float in it to turn water on & off but it was dry. 

Just seems like those 3 big tanks is overkill for such a tiny water trough.  And definitely the 2nd time tanks were installed.  The first set of three was wiped out in a flood, their concrete base was also smashed in the canyon.

I haven't visited many, and even then paid little attention but there are drinkers to target smaller game and even avian species.  Not sure of the shape and size of each type of drinker.  Could be small to reduce undesired evaporation.  On GE it seems all these guzzlers have two to three very large tanks.  Somewhere uphill may be a giant capture field.  I think the idea is capture or deliver as much water as possible to avoid running out and requiring frequent visits.

birds: https://www.birdandhike.com/General_Info...-quail.htm
sheep: https://www.birdandhike.com/General_Info...-Sheep.htm
pics of big tanks: https://www.birdandhike.com/Hike/Sloan/P...ppyGuz.htm

http://theguzzler.blogspot.com/2009/08/w...ntain.html

[John Morrow]

Very well could be.  The “drinking” part is damn tiny though, only a couple of feet long with barely room for a sheep to get its nose in.  Listed on the side (in case it’s too small) “Arkfeld waterer”.  It had a float in it to turn water on & off but it was dry. 

Just seems like those 3 big tanks is overkill for such a tiny water trough.  And definitely the 2nd time tanks were installed.  The first set of three was wiped out in a flood, their concrete base was also smashed in the canyon.

I haven't visited many, and even then paid little attention but there are drinkers to target smaller game and even avian species.  Not sure of the shape and size of each type of drinker.  Could be small to reduce undesired evaporation.  On GE it seems all these guzzlers have two to three very large tanks.  Somewhere uphill may be a giant capture field.  I think the idea is capture or deliver as much water as possible to avoid running out and requiring frequent visits.

birds: https://www.birdandhike.com/General_Info...-quail.htm
sheep: https://www.birdandhike.com/General_Info...-Sheep.htm
pics of big tanks: https://www.birdandhike.com/Hike/Sloan/P...ppyGuz.htm

http://theguzzler.blogspot.com/2009/08/w...ntain.html

This one is near Ash Meadows and has a bizillion tanks!  well, at least 7!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/23557848@N03/52862579287

guzzler by John Morrow, on Flickr

This is interesting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzlpq_U2Xpw

[MojaveGeek]

Yes that is certainly some sort of guzzler. Looks a lot like on I searched for for some years and finally found up Dolomite canyon. (An interesting story that is too long to tell here, but started with a pencil notation of "WATER" on a hard copy USGS topo map in a library at MIT, but the mark was incorrectly located). Should have (perhaps was formerly) a catch basin upstream, probably some little dam, with a pipe feeding it. The one in Dolomite had a tank like the old radiator water tanks. There was some water in it but the guzzler was not being fed. More tanks = longer time needed between rains to fill them. That is a pretty remote site for one.

[John Morrow]

Makes one wonder how wildlife ever survived without us....

[DAW89446]

Makes one wonder how wildlife ever survived without us....

 LOL!!

[Daymoth]

Arkfeld made those orange and green livestock waterers so I think Johns hypothesis makes a lot of sense.

[Beardilocks]

Last week I checked off one last pictograph site and did a couple of summits with Brice in the NV triangle.  I had not ever explored this part of the park very much and I was surprised by how beautiful it was.  Not spectacular but gorgeous in it's own right.  

First stop was an old cave that has been used by as a shelter for hundreds if not thousands of years.  Plenty of more recent debris in the area.  




A few smaller glyphs were present in the area.




A little DStretch action to make them pop:




Several small rock walls dot the area, all of unknown age.


Climbing up out of the valley the views to the SE were amazing.


Came across a surprise granite wall.  You don't see a lot of this type of landscape in DEVA.




Quite a lot of fun to climb and navigate through.


View over Leadfield towards Mesquite Dunes & Stovepipe from the top of Boundary Peak 92.


Looking back towards Big Dune and the valley whose name escapes me.


We also summited Slate Peak but the climb just about killed me so no pics from there.  Lol.  It had started to get very hazy later in the day anyway.  

The next day I drove out to Strozzi Ranch since I was in the general area and had never been.  Helluva place to live.  Exactly the kind of place I'd like hole up someday.  Maybe I'll wait until after they perfect drone food delivery as the commute to the nearest store is... significant.


I love the space out here.


It just goes forever.

[Beardilocks]

And with that, it is time I bid the Valley of Death adieu for the 2022/23 winter season.  It's been a helluva ride but it's getting hot here.  I'm not sure about "The Hottest Place on Earth" but it's certainly warm enough for a dirtbag living in a 30 year old Land Cruiser. 

A few stats: (all numbers rounded because I'm too lazy to split hairs)

Time in the Region:  *If NPS asks I was in the park exactly 29 days this winter*
~75 Hikes in the park
~400mi hiked
~60,000ft gained
~265 hours hiking time
~7,000mi driven (in the park and resupply runs only)

6 Peaks Summited (hey, I'm new to this kind of special torture)
7 Canyons with zero known trip reports
Somewhere btw 9-19 Natural Bridges depending on how you count/define them
3 Rattlesnake Encounters
4 Bighorn Skulls
21 Petroglyph Sites
9 Pictograph sites
9 Rock Alignments 
5 Projectile Points
Innumerable hunting blinds, habitation sites, caves, and ancient pathways.

Favorite Hike:  All of them.  
Most Epic Hike:  Tucki Bridge
Most Remote Hike:  Lost Lake
Best View: I don't think there was a bad view in 4mo.

And with all that under my belt what is there left to know about DEVA?  Everything.  Every minute I've spent hiking in DEVA has inspired an hour of other things I want to experience here.  Every piece of knowledge discovered creates 10 more questions.  I wish NPS would be a bit more enthusiastic about sharing that knowledge and answering those questions.

Top historic mystery I want to unravel:  Confirmation of Mother Wood's Saloon in written or picture form. 
Top prehistoric mystery:  Location of a mysterious hab site in southern Greenwater Valley.  

See y'all next winter if the creek don't rise.

[netllama]

Thanks for sharing what is arguably one of the most spectacular threads this forum has ever had.