Nelson Range/Salt Tram Explore

[VintageDUG]

Headed out Monday, when all the folks with jobs should be packing up and headed for home.  Rough plan is to cut across DVNP, gas up in Panamint Springs and then head up towards the Nelson Range.  From there I'll make my way through Cerro Gordo, and then try for New York Butte.  On the way down I want to hike to as many of the Salt Tram stations as I can, without putting myself in harms way.  I have identified 4 or 5 that look pretty reasonable when viewed from the comfort of my office chair.  I'll see if boots on ground agree. I have some camp spots picked out, but no hard timeline.  Only for sure things are I am leaving Monday morning and I have to be home, cleaned up and in a good mood by Thursday afternoon so we can go see a show in St George.  In between it's whatever I want to do.  Taking my 2 door JK Willys, not because I don't think my 4 door JL Rubicon can handle it (and be a lot more comfortable), but mostly because I want to get some off road/pavement miles on the new transfer case.  This will also be a recon trip to see if this route would be good for a fall trip to see the Keynot mine (and bulldozer), the Beveridge Ridge Cabin and maybe the ghost town of Beveridge.  If anyone has any beta/knowledge/comments on exploring in this area, I'm all ears.

[DAW89446]

If you go north from Cerro Gordo to the tramway summit station, you will encounter the climb out of what is locally known as Boiler Canyon. It's loose shale and difficult to get traction at the bottom from all the shale pulled down from sliding vehicles going southbound. The coordinates at the start are:  36°33'24.13" -117°49'10.25".

From my old website (pre-2012):

About 2.7 miles [south] from the tramway, you can look down onto one of several pumping plants that helped to pump water from Mexican and Cerro Gordo springs up to the ridgetop and thence to Cerro Gordo.

At about 3.2 miles from the tramway, the route plunges down into an unnamed canyon. Some local wags call this canyon “Boiler Canyon,” due to an old boiler located a ways below the road. Descent into this canyon is very steep, dropping from 9000' to 7460' in a mile and a half.

Much of that roadway is off camber and in loose shale and other rocks, resulting in what I call a “controlled slide” for about the upper two-thirds of its descent to the bottom of the canyon. To explain a controlled slide: During the descent, I keep my truck in 4-Lo, 1st gear. The engine and wheels turn at a pace that would allow my truck to descend at about 2-4 miles per hour against engine compression and off the brakes, but my truck is sliding downwards at about double that speed and sometimes a bit more. It's not dangerous, as the sides of the roadway has plenty of brush and somewhat of a berm to keep you from going off the road; but the descent might be unnerving for one not used to this type of driving.

For those who are driving this route from Cerro Gordo to Swansea, this section may pose some traction problems. I've not attempted this section in reverse but know two friends who have. Though the route's traction tends to vary over time, one veteran of this route has had one unsuccessful attempt at climbing out in his '85 Toyota Land Cruiser with lockers at both ends; one friend has never been able to climb it in his stock '93 Jeep Wrangler with BFG All Terrain tires. But there are plenty of reports of those who have climbed south to north with no problems.

[VintageDUG]

Thanks for the tip, that's my planned route.  I'm in a 2 door JK with 4 inches of lift, one tons, 38s, locked front and back with a Rubicon 4-1 Rocktrac transfer case recently added.  The buildings by the springs are on my explore list.  I hope to exit on the Swansea grade checking out tram towers that I have pinned as possibly accessible.  Then I'll head back up Cerro Gordo Road a short distance to check out a tunnel on that side below the town. So pretty much counter clockwise.

[DAW89446]

The last time I've run the Swansea to Cerro Gordo route was about 2007 or so before I moved from Big Pine to the Winnemucca area, so have no idea as to route conditions these days. I was watching a three-way truck test video (Tacoma, Colorado ZR2 Bison, Jeep Gladiator Mojave) the other day, they were running the first narrow canyon above Swansea and it looked far gnarlier than my website photos showed, likely due to Hillary and the flooding events of this past winter; looking a bit harsh for a single locking diff, double lockers far better along with strong under-armor. Have no clue as to how it looks up high, but Boiler Canyon looked like it was affected in Google Earth.

Nice rig. Ought to have no issues. I regularly ran the entire loop in my stock Tacoma TRD.

[netllama]

Headed out Monday, when all the folks with jobs should be packing up and headed for home.  Rough plan is to cut across DVNP, gas up in Panamint Springs and then head up towards the Nelson Range.  From there I'll make my way through Cerro Gordo, and then try for New York Butte.  On the way down I want to hike to as many of the Salt Tram stations as I can, without putting myself in harms way.  I have identified 4 or 5 that look pretty reasonable when viewed from the comfort of my office chair.  I'll see if boots on ground agree. I have some camp spots picked out, but no hard timeline.  Only for sure things are I am leaving Monday morning and I have to be home, cleaned up and in a good mood by Thursday afternoon so we can go see a show in St George.  In between it's whatever I want to do.  Taking my 2 door JK Willys, not because I don't think my 4 door JL Rubicon can handle it (and be a lot more comfortable), but mostly because I want to get some off road/pavement miles on the new transfer case.  This will also be a recon trip to see if this route would be good for a fall trip to see the Keynot mine (and bulldozer), the Beveridge Ridge Cabin and maybe the ghost town of Beveridge.  If anyone has any beta/knowledge/comments on exploring in this area, I'm all ears.

Sounds like a fun adventure. Please post a trip report when you return !