Death Valley Deep Dive 2024

[DAW89446]

I was driving by the temporary-but-really-hanging-in-there Lake Manly the other day and it was DEAD calm out.  Pretty rare in Death Valley.  Which made for some gorgeous mirror views.

Stunning!

[Beardilocks]

This post falls into the “you can't win them all” category.  While driving back from Striped Butte several weeks ago, I had noticed an odd light colored area on the desert pavement in the huge wash that spills out of the southern Panamints and has it source all the way up at Anvil Spring by Geologist's Cabin.  It was several miles away and I couldn't clearly make out if was an old mine prospect or a small sand dune or what.  When I got back to cell range I checked the satellite imagery and found it but still wasn't sure what it was.  But I could tell on satellite that it had a trail going through it that continuing for miles down the old bench.  Definitely worth a look, so I hiked out there. 

I had noticed even on satellite that parts of the trail seemed to be almost like a dotted-line, which I had never seen before.  On the ground you can see very much what I meant. 


Several trails converge on the light spot that I could see from the road and on satellite.  An odd spot that the desert pavement has been stripped away from either naturally or by someone in the past.  Or by the feral burrows whose tracks I can see in the trails.  There are no springs listed here and I find it odd that there would be one in the middle of a bench in a huge wash.  Possibly just a small sink that holds water?


The trails are currently used by burrows.  And it seems to be their stride that creates the dotted-line look.  Something to tuck away in my memory bank for future searching for trails on satellite.


But the fact that burrows are currently using these trails doesn't preclude them from being Native American trails in the past.  Many old human trails were originally game trails.  So why can't the opposite also be true?  So I continued on to look for any evidence.  Or lack thereof. 



And I found nothing.  Haha.  There are many rock-free depressions in the desert pavement that look like they could be old sleeping circles or habitation sites.  They reminded me very much of the ancient campsite I explored last year in the <a href="https://pocketsfullofdustcom.wordpress.com/2023/09/12/10000yr-old-habitation-site-death-valley/">Furnace Creek Wash that was 10,000yrs old</a>.  But with no other evidence presenting itself, I have to assume that they're natural. 

The factors that I was looking for to prove habitation (or at least travel) would be obvious things like lithic scatter, discarded tools, or petroglyphs.  But I was also looking for any DV III&IV dead-fall traps that are common on the alluvial fans just a few canyons north of here.  Or the “hearth” like structures that are found at DV I&II sites like the campsite mentioned above.  I turned up none of either. 

This large rock pile that the trail passes directly past was sort of my last hope from the satellite scouting I did.  And no signs of any activity other than packrats. 


But the views were lovely.  Looking back towards Jubilee Pass, Scotty's Canyon, Ashford Mill, et al. 


I continued up the bench to the end for a nice view of the unnamed peak that is the southern gatekeeper for Warm Springs Canyon.  This wash is the end of Anvil Spring Canyon.  Definitely not a site that has seen many visitors for the last several thousand years.  Not of the 2-legged variety anyway. 


The trails are remarkably well laid out if indeed they were only constructed by those derangedly gaffawing equines. 


You can find some gorgeous rocks out on this ancient desert varnish though. 


I did eventually find this circle.  It very artistically laid out, alternating large & small rocks.  And it is not new, having definitely settled into the pavement a bit.  But I don't think it's very old either.  Perhaps that bush in the center was alive when it was laid out, but probably not much older.  But who knows out here.  I've visited archeologically documented sites dated from 700-10,000yrs old and the differences aren't as vast out here in the desert as one would initially think. 

[MojaveGeek]

The photos of Lake Many are stunning, thanks! Wonder if it will collect more water (other than the direct inch or so that might fall on it).

When I first went to Jayhawker, in the early 90s, that trail was not there. Or else I was blind and did not see it. My understanding is that it is not a legal trail and NPS is not happy about it. But I did not get that first hand from an employee. And they haven't done anything to obliterate the first 100 feet or so which would sure help it to weather away.

You can go to the head of Jayhawker and climb over the ridge, coming out on the Emigrant road, but without having placed a car there earlier, there would be no reason to.

[Beardilocks]

I came upon this site in a rather odd way. A video from an ultralight pilot flying over DV came up on my YouTube feed last year. He passed over some odd looking ruins somewhere in the eastern part of the park. After some research on Google Earth I managed to track down the location. It is just about a mile outside of the Eastern park boundary and on the opposite side of the mountain from Ryan. Or at least where Ryan is on my current maps. The old map featured below shows Ryan further east and the towns of Colemanite &Devair where Ryan should be.

I haven't had much time to research this, so feel free to comment if you know the name of the town/worksite or the use of these structures. This siding/depot/town/worksite is located right on the old Death Valley Railroad grade that went from Death Valley Junction, around the curve at the top here by this depot, and around to Ryan (or Devair on this 1910 map).


The set-up of this site is very odd. A satellite view is below. There are nearly 40 structures at the site, with 2 or 3 being larger ruins and about 36 being smaller ruins. The larger ruins I'll detail below. The smaller ruins are an odd size: remaining walls are about 2ft high and the interior space is a scant 3-4ft by 5-7ft. Not really larger enough for human occupation. The entrances generally face Southeast towards the railroad, but not all of them. In generally the placement is fairly willy-nilly, to use a technical term.

I'm struggling to come up with what these small foundations could have been used for. My best guess is explosive storage. Those were typically done in dugouts to keep them cool. But I can't think of any other reason to build 3 dozen tiny structures in one place.

Satellite view. The ruins cover about 1/4mi. Top of this image is NNE.


Old RR grade.  That took some work. 


Cleared area at the south end of the site. 


Classic purple glass maybe helps date it.


This is one of the laregr structures.  About 12-15ft wide and 15-20ft long.  Walls remain at about 4-5ft high. 





Area is covered in these old tobacco tins. 








One of the smaller structures that sits oddly far from the rest. 


Part of the central group.





The only double ruin, opening facing away from the railroad. 





This was one of the more oddly shaped smaller structures. 


There was quite a larger structure here at one one point on the north end of the site.  The opening at the front here is larger than any of the small ruins. 


Only artifact other than rusty cans and broken glass. 


Looking back from the railroad.


Entrance road and possibly remnants of a gate. 


The old railroad bed.  No drainage cuts or culverts.  Surprised it's still standing. 


This old trestle however is long gone. 





A strange old spot.  I would love to find out more about it.

[GowerGulch42]

Awesome! Glad you got out there, I haven't seen new photos from that area for a long time. My understanding is that this particular site was a long-term construction camp for the railroad laborers. There's a cemetery nearby, too.

[MojaveGeek]

I've been out there a few times. You can walk that grade all the way to Ryan. I don't recall any standing trestles (there there is at least one very nice one on the other side of Ryan, on the narrow gauge). The cemetery that I know of is around that corner, between where Colmanite and the current site of Ryan sit. A handful of marked graves and a very nice view into the valley. There's a bunch of old stone structures, in similar shape, maybe one is in better shape, at the Colmanite site. The mesa behind the site you visited offers some very nice views into the valley as well. I like to go into these places on the way out of the valley when I just want to walk for a few hours. But go up on the valley side of that washed out trestle or you will go WAY up above where it used to be to get across the gully.

[DAW89446]

I've seen that video as well. I had a strong hunch that it was a construction encampment along the Death Valley Railroad and I've also located those same ruins on Google Maps and Earth. I've also talked to those who had visited those ruins, I also believe they've been discussed here or this site's predecessor.

For reference, I suggest you locate a copy of the book RAILROADS OF NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA VOLUME TWO: THE SOUTHERN ROADS, by David F. Myrick; pages 608-621.

In a nutshell:

* The Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad (Ludlow, CA - Gold Center, NV [where the Beatty airport is located now]) was built by the parent company most popularly known as U.S. Borax primarily to access the borax deposits at the Lila C. Mine. Construction began in May, 1905; starting first in Las Vegas, then Ludlow after contract disagreements with the Union Pacific's Salt Lake route. A branch was built to the Lila C. and completed in August, 1907. You can also access the Tonopah & Tidewater's history in the above mentioned book, pages 544-592.

* After the Lila C. played out, the borax company incorporated the Death Valley Railroad to access their holdings at the Biddy McCarthy mine at what is now known as Ryan. Grading began at the site of Horton, at the big bend of the Lila C. branch, in March, 1914 and completed in November that year. The camp name Devair at the Biddy McCarthy was renamed Ryan.

As for your query as to what these small "foundations" were used for, it is my strong opinion that they were temporary sleeping shelters. Chinese and Mexican labor was often used in road and railroad building in the deserts. The Chinese, especially, were skillful at building those huge stone embankments and road supports by hand fitting rock. A small man only needed a low stone wall and a heavy tarp overhead for minimal but adequate protection from the elements at night while he slept in his bedroll.

There is a site over in southwestern Panamint Valley, where Remi Nadeau (famous Cerro Gordo - Los Angeles freighter) built a spur road off of his Cerro Gordo road to access the town of Lookout, built atop Lookout Mountain on the eastern slope of the Argus Range. The road is well known as the "Shotgun Road" for it's straight beeline for Lookout along the western side of Panamint Valley. On the northern decent of the summit of the Slate Range, the road had large, hand fitted stone embankments built by Chinese labor. The road was in use as the automobile road to Panamint Valley, Ballarat and Wildrose until just before WW2, when the current road was built (the road can easily be driven today to the camp by AWD vehicles, 4x4 necessary to cross a large wash at the bottom). Midway down the northern descent there is a camp built of small stone circles, made by the laborers of that section of road. I've counted 33 of them. Even up to the last time I visited the site, in the early 2000s, rusty metal grommets used in tarps for ropes to pass through were still scattered around each stone circle. All have their openings facing downwind of the prevailing wind pattern. Most are of simple design, very similar to those you found along the DVRR; one in particular has a bit of flair with a lengthy and curved entrance that partially wraps around the central structure.

The Biddy McCarthy Mine started to play out by 1925 and the borax company started focusing on their property at present day Boron, about midway between Mojave and Barstow. The company utilized Ryan as a tourist destination, as well as constructing the Furnace Creek Inn. A Brill narrow gauge motor car was built to bring tourists to Ryan. The company also enhanced the tourist experience by utilizing a train ride on the baby gauge railroad that extends south of Ryan through the complex of mines using Milwaukee and Plymouth gas locomotives.

The Depression killed off tourist activities at Ryan for some years and the Death Valley Railroad was abandoned after March, 1931. The Brill motorcar was sent to the company operations in Carlsbad, New Mexico. In the late 1960s, the car was sent to the Laws Railroad Museum near Bishop, where it sat as a static display until it began to be slowly restored over some years. On July 3rd, 2004 it was rolled out to the public under its own power and has since carried visitors around the railroad yard at Laws. I visited the car often over several years while it was being restored and rode the car on its inaugural run to the public (it was rolled out to those who contributed to its restoration the day before). The baby gauge railroad resumed operation for tourists after the depression and continued to about 1950.

The Tonopah & Tidewater operated north of Beatty over the Bullfrog-Goldfield Railroad for many years. But by 1940 operations ceased over the entire line and rails removed in 1943. Remnants of the railroad are found at Tie Canyon behind Scotty's Castle, where ties along the former Bullfrog-Goldfield were purchased for firewood for the castle. Bridge timbers were sent to Apple Valley, CA in construction with the Apple Valley Inn (I worked there and its parent company operations six years during my youth during and after high school in the late 1960s to the mid 1970s).

As for the video, it's obvious that the creator and pilot deliberately misinformed their audience in the location of the camp, making it out as being extremely remote and that no one has visited it since it was abandoned; when one can follow much of the route by car along the highway and access it from there for hiking the rest. I assume their intent was to protect the ruins.

I encourage you to get hold of Myrick's book for night time reading pleasure or passing the time when you can't be out of your rig in bad weather. Just about every library in the region will have a copy. There are many real and paper railroads in Death Valley and vicinity; including three real railroads that served Beatty and Rhyolite (Bullfrog-Goldfield, Tonopah & Tidewater, Las Vegas & Tonopah). Tons of photos that help transport you back in time. It's a big book, you may have to extend your loan for a long time!

[Beardilocks]

Thanks DAW! So much more information than I could have hoped for. I’ll try to grab that book somewhere as I travel.

I knew bits & pieces of that and it’s really cool to see things connecting together.

Temporary sleeping shelters really make the most sense. Like the pallet style tent platforms that army used when doing tank training out here and stuff. Just a place for the slightly better than slave laborers to kip. And a few larger structures for supplies/repair.

I wish I’d known about the cemetery etc around the corner. Oh well, like everything else in DV I’ll have to swing by again.

The guy in the video didn’t fool me with his subterfuge. The video stills told the whole story if you knew what to look for. Lol.

[Beardilocks]

I'm going to go for some pictures later, but for the first time in my life I can hear the Amargosa flowing from my campsite on Harry Wade. About 1.5" from that storm. Getting us really close to the annual rainfall total for the park (2") in the first week of Feb. Lol.

[Beardilocks]

After resupplying and waiting out as much of the the atmospheric river as I could stand, I headed to bag a couple of minor peaks with Brice in Greenwater Valley.  Both are unnamed peaks in the Greenwater Range and in what I imagine are very rarely explored areas. 

Water was still flowing heavily and the ground was very unpredictable, with one step in 20 randomly sinking you in to your ankle.  This was avoided as much as possible for the environment as well as our sanity. 


The low cloud cover made for some very unusual views.  Our destination peak is shrouded here. 


Looking back down to Greenwater Valley.


Looking south… I think. 


View from the peak looking out over the Amargosa Desert vaguely towards Death Valley Junction.


Back towards Greenwater Valley again.


We dropped off the back side of the peak and down into a small canyon that was quite lovely and had some waterfalls flowing still.




Funeral Peak looking absolutely majestic.