Hike down to Corridor Canyon

[Beardilocks]

Just a quick hike in the Last Chance Range to Corridor Canyon from the east, last year.... ummm two years ago.  Damn time flies.  2/27/2020

[Daymoth]

Ooooh so cool! Those rocks are so crazy!

[DeathValleyDazed]

OMG these photos are gorgeous. Having never hiked Corridor Canyon, your images are screaming at me, "When are you going to pay me a visit?"

I love the shots when you see a mountain range in the way background. I believe those are the Inyo Mountains? The image with the water pool in the middle of the foreground - is that a panorama shot or is the canyon curved at the point of the water pond?

From the variety of geology and artifacts it looks like this hike should be a slower one and to take all day long in order to soak up all the canyon has to offer? Correct? Thanks again for these images that just pop right out with color and contrast.

[Beardilocks]

OMG these photos are gorgeous. Having never hiked Corridor Canyon, your images are screaming at me, "When are you going to pay me a visit?"

I love the shots when you see a mountain range in the way background. I believe those are the Inyo Mountains? The image with the water pool in the middle of the foreground - is that a panorama shot or is the canyon curved at the point of the water pond?

From the variety of geology and artifacts it looks like this hike should be a slower one and to take all day long in order to soak up all the canyon has to offer? Correct? Thanks again for these images that just pop right out with color and contrast.

Yes, Inyo's in the background.  In the image with the water in the foreground, both are true.  Lol.  Pano of a curved canyon.  There are several hard turns in that canyon.  

Yes, this hike could easily be a day long one.  Petroglyphs, cowboy graffiti, fossils, and amazingly varied rock structure.  I took a half day and wish I'd taken longer.  It's one I will definitely do again.

[DAW89446]

Beautiful images. Love the colors, smooth rock surfaces, “cowboy graffit.”

Is Corridor Canyon the one that drains the area of the Ubehebe Lead mine below the cabin?

[Daymoth]

I just ran to check how to get there.... Digonnet says primitive 2wd but am I misremembering because im pretty sure you dont get to teaketle junction in anything resembling a 2wd road....


I so want a 4x4....

[Beardilocks]

Is Corridor Canyon the one that drains the area of the Ubehebe Lead mine below the cabin?

An unnamed canyon drains down from Ubehebe Mine and enters Corridor from the side. After a bit of wild journey through all kinds of terrain.

I just ran to check how to get there.... Digonnet says primitive 2wd but am I misremembering because im pretty sure you dont get to teaketle junction in anything resembling a 2wd road....


I so want a 4x4....

I've always felt that the Racetrack Road could generally be driven in your Granda's Lincoln Continental if you know how to drive back roads and kept the speed down. Everyone gets bored on that drive and blasts through at 40-50mph. I've driven it on a Honda CT90. It wasn't really very fun but it was no problem either. Lol.

Now the spur into the mine area gets worse every year, but that's a short walk from Racetrack road.

But what do I know, I have a go-anywhere 4wd. Haha.

[MojaveGeek]

Racetrack Valley road is somewhat variable in terms of driving. I have driven it in a rental sedan 2x. I would do so again but i'd rather have decent clearance. But everyone needs to see the Racetrack, and go down Corridor or up Ubehebe Peak.

Last time I drove it there was a ton of fresh gravel from some flash flood washout. This was a bit of a problem for me, because without real HC I frequently had to try to keep one wheel on the center strip, but it was all loose gravel, rounded canyon bottom stuff, and I did not have much traction. Also that road often has pretty high berms and is narrow so I could not really turn around. White knuckle driving. I correctly assumed with gravity on my side it would be no problem getting out, and I was right. It's slow though - I'd guess an hour from the end of the pavement.

Corridor is an interesting area because the strata have been uplifted to the point of being almost vertical. So the canyon follows the softer strata, which have eroded out - hence the locally straight sections, with the harder rock dryfalls in between. The corridor is the most extreme of these eroded out strata.

[Daymoth]

I just ran to check how to get there.... Digonnet says primitive 2wd but am I misremembering because im pretty sure you dont get to teaketle junction in anything resembling a 2wd road....


I so want a 4x4....

I've always felt that the Racetrack Road could generally be driven in your Granda's Lincoln Continental if you know how to drive back roads and kept the speed down.  Everyone gets bored on that drive and blasts through at 40-50mph.  I've driven it on a Honda CT90.  It wasn't really very fun but it was no problem either.  Lol. 

Now the spur into the mine area gets worse every year, but that's a short walk from Racetrack road.

But what do I know, I have a go-anywhere 4wd.  Haha.

Oh its probably *doable* in my small old nissan. At 5mph that is.....

[netllama]

Those photos are gorgeous. I have wanted to do Corridor Cyn for over a decade, but then I get distracted by other places.