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Death Valley Geology Tour Trip Report- Day Three- May 2, 2010
Day Three of our Death Valley Geology Tour began at 8:30 am, again in front of the lobby/office for the Furnace Creek Ranch. We lost a couple of participants from Saturday's group- Steve had decided not to join us- he had no more spare tires- thanks for hanging in there for the two days, though, and Luis decided not to come along as well. After describing my anticipated itinerary to our eager group, we headed out.
First on our list was Titus Canyon. To get there, we headed north from Furnace Creek to Beatty Cutoff and then to Highway 374. We'd go through Hell's Gate and over Daylight Pass before heading briefly into Nevada. The turn to Titus Canyon is just inside Nevada, about 6 miles from Beatty, Nevada.
The road immediately turns from pavement to a relatively decent dirt road that makes a rather straight shot westerly toward the Grapevine Mountains. The road is fairly flat before it begins to climb into the mountains. A group of about 5 trucks waited at the first summit for the remaining group when we heard that Stan's LR3 had a flat and a mechanical failure of some kind. So me and a couple of trucks headed back about a half mile and came across Stan's truck off to the side of the road.
Not only did Stan have a flat tire, but the bolt holding the right rear stabilizer to the axle had sheared off. And then when the stabilizer bar broke free, it rubbed the inside of the right rear wheel until it put a hole in the rim. That's why he had a flat tire. After a while, we determined that this was a catastrophic failure that we could not repair, and there was no way Stan could continue. So, by climbing a nearby hill, Stan was able to get a signal to his cell phone and put a call in to Land Rover Road Service. He was told that a tow truck would come out to get his truck and take it back to Las Vegas.
We were reluctant to leave him stranded on the side of the road, but fortunately, Titus Canyon is one of Death Valley's most popular drives and we anticipated a number of cars would come by from time to time so if he needed something, hopefully he could enlist the aid of a passerby. Knowing that Land Rover Road Service was coming to get him gave us some comfort in leaving him behind. It was a decision I struggled with for some time. Stan assured us he had plenty of food and water and Art, his traveling companion, would be there to keep him company. (We found out the next day that Stan waited for four hours for the Land Rover Roadside Assistance tow truck.)
The rest of the group reassembled before heading into Red Pass, a tight, curving road through red colored rock that descends to the "ghost town" Leadfield, which was a boomtown based almost entirely on speculation and fraud. C.C. Julian founded the Western Lead Co. in 1926 and promoted it as the world's greatest producer. The ore was found to be worthless and by 1927 the town was abandoned.
Shortly after leaving Leadfield is the entrance of Titus Canyon- a small sign marks the beginning of the canyon. Two miles into the canyon we arrived at Klare Spring, the only reliable water source in all of Titus Canyon. There is also a relatively good example of petroglyphs at Klare Spring- the Indians surely made use of the fresh water from the spring.
Two more miles further into Titus Canyon we arrived at Titus Canyon Narrows where the road is sometimes barely wide enough for a vehicle and where the canyon walls tower several hundred feet above the road. Throughout the canyon are fantastic views of limestone that is twisted, bent and broken. Mosaics of shattered blocks surrounded by recrystallized white calcite make up many of the cliff walls. We decided this shady and picturesque spot would be a great place for lunch and another lesson from Allan.
After lunch, a few members had to leave a little early. Greg in his LR3 and Shah in his, bid us their farewell and left ahead of us. That left my truck, John Shumovich, John Short, Eric, Jesse and Umberto. We got back into our trucks and continued our exploration of Titus Canyon. Just two miles further, the slot canyon abruptly ends-- we found ourselves driving on a huge alluvial fan heading down to Scotty's Castle Road.
Turning south on Scotty's Castle Road, our next destination was Mosaic Canyon. As we turned west on Highway 190, we said goodbye to Umberto who headed east toward Furnace Creek. We passed Devil's Cornfield and made a stop in Stovepipe Wells-- a great place to stop for a bathroom break, refueling and a refreshing ice cream before heading up to Mosaic Canyon. The dirt road to Mosaic Canyon climbs 2.25 miles south from Stovepipe Wells.
We parked in the lot for Mosaic Canyon and made the short 1/4 mile hike to the mouth of Mosaic Canyon where Allan gave another lesson on the geology of the canyon. The rock in the winding canyon is a tasty butterscotch color and is highly polished by long-gone river action. It is a very tight slot canyon, sometimes only wide enough for one body to pass through. The most impressive portion is near the beginning, so after hiking perhaps a half-mile up the canyon, we had seen the best part, and turned around and headed back to the trucks.
Back on Highway 190, we headed southwest for about 9 miles before turning left on Wildrose Road and climbing steeply up to Emigrant Pass. Once through the pass, the scenery becomes extremely picturesque. We passed the turn-offs to Skidoo and Aguereberry Point (we'll just have to go back another time) and continued on for approx. 9 miles, passed through Rattlesnake Gulch onto Charcoal Kiln Road, past the Wildrose Ranger Station and climbed 6.5 miles up to the Charcoal Kilns.
The Wildrose Charcoal Kilns look like 10 huge beehives made of rock and mud. The kilns were designed by Swiss engineers, built by Chinese laborers, and the wood to be turned into charcoal was cut and gathered by the local Indians.
Here is a brief description from digital-desert.com.
"In 1877 George Hearst’s Modock Consolidated Mining Company completed construction of the charcoal kilns in Wildrose Canyon. The charcoal produced by the kilns was to be used as fuel for two silver-lead smelters that Hearst had built in the Argus Range 25 miles to the west. The kilns operated until the summer of 1878 when the Argus mines, due to deteriorating ore quality, closed and the furnaces shut down.
The Wildrose kilns employed about 40 woodcutters and associated workmen, and the town of Wildrose, a temporary camp located somewhere nearby, was home to about 100 people. Remi Nadeau’s Cerro Gordo Freighting Company hauled the charcoal to the smelters by pack train and wagon.
Each of the 10 kilns stands about 25 feet tall and has a circumference of approximately 30 feet. Each kiln held 42 cords of pinyon pine logs and would, after burning for a week, produce 2,000 bushels of charcoal.
Considered to be the best surviving examples of such kilns to be found in the western states, the kilns owe their longevity to fine workmanship and to the fact that they were in use for such a short time.
The Wildrose Charcoal kilns are located in Wildrose Canyon on the western side of Death Valley National Park. Access the Wildrose Canyon road from California Highway 178 between Trona and Panamint Springs. From California Highway 190, take the Emigrant Canyon road south to the turnoff up the Wildrose Canyon road to the kilns. The last 3 miles of the road are unpaved and the road is subject to storm closures."
Another interesting quality of the kilns is their amazing acoustics. Because their interior shape closely resembles a parabola, there is a sweet spot in the center where sound magically resonates. Ray, Allan's brother-in-law, and I practiced a little Gregorian chant-- the sound had a heavenly mystic quality.
After more picture taking and exploring, and with Ballarat as our next planned stop, we climbed into our trucks for the drive back down, passing Rattlesnake Gulch, turning left to stay on Wildrose Road, and heading into Nemo Canyon.
After going about one mile into the canyon, I passed a newer black Mercedes parked on the other side of the road with two elderly men sitting inside when over my FRS radio I heard that there was a spare tire laying behind the car and a Handicap placard hanging from the rear view mirror. I quickly turned around and found that the rest of the group was already talking to the men trying to determine the problem and what we could do to help.
The two men were headed to Furnace Creek Inn to play some golf and had decided to take the "scenic" route up Wildrose Road over to Emigrant Pass and past Stovepipe Wells before arriving at Furnace Creek. Little did they know the disastrous condition of the road-- alternately paved, dirt, and broken pavement. To his chagrin, the driver hit a pothole and blew out both the front and rear passenger-side low profile tires. His passenger told us that he had seen the pothole and assumed the driver would swerve in time to avoid the pothole, but apparently the driver didn't see the pothole. (We hoped that his poor eye sight was not the reason for the placard!)
They had been waiting there for some time- they told us that they had, an hour and a half earlier, given their AAA information to a passing motorist who said they'd call the AAA at their earliest convenience. We took a close look at both tires and discovered that there was a long cut in the sidewall of each tire, as well as a dented rim, so there'd be no plugging and no Fix-A-Flat. We could put the "donut" spare on for them, but they still wouldn't be able to drive. So, what to do? It was near five pm and it would be getting cold soon in the canyon. We considered putting them and their belongings in our trucks and taking them to Panamint Springs Resort where they could get some food, possibly get a place to spend the night and make arrangements for their car.
As we were discussing our options, a new, white Dodge 300 came driving up the canyon. Eric, with his invaluable knowledge of cars, realized that the Dodge and Mercedes wheels had the same bolt pattern. No way, we said. We flagged down the car rented by a young Swedish couple on their way to Stovepipe Wells, told them our predicament and asked if we could check to see if the spare tire in their car might fit on the Mercedes. They said sure and took their suitcases out of the trunk so we could get to the spare.
Jesse's "Roadside Service" jumped into action and began to put the Dodge spare onto the front of the Mercedes. We quickly found that the spare wouldn't fit on the front because of the Mercedes' larger front brakes. So we tried it on the rear and sure enough- it FIT! I can't even imagine the astronomical odds that the very next car to come by would have a spare that would fit. Absolutely incredible! So Jesse's Roadside Service put the Mercedes spare on the front of the car and the car was ready to go. Allan made sure that the man who was the passenger would drive from here on out. We assumed he could see better than his friend. The Swedish couple agreed to follow the Mercedes to Stovepipe Wells where they could work out the spare tire issue. So we sent them on their way and we went ours.
Because we had lost some time dealing with the spare tire issue, we would forgo Ballarat and try to make it to Trona Pinnacles before sunset. Alas, it was not to be. The sun was just beginning to set as we got into Trona. We still had a ways to go just to get to the turn-off to the Pinnacles and the Pinnacles were still 15-20 minutes from the highway. We'd have to see them another time.
And since we weren't going to make it to Trona Pinnacles, we decided to stop at the Chevron station in Trona to gas and air up before heading home. We said our goodbyes to John, Eric, Jesse, and John before starting the long trek home.
Thanks to everybody for joining Allan and I for another Geology Tour.
Can't wait for the next one.
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