panamintcity

MLK weekend found us pulling into Ballarat Ghost Town at about 4am on Friday Morning. No time to even look around. I crawled from the drivers seat to the bed in the back of the Panamint Cannonball. It was around ten when we started to stir. We being myself, my boys, Dakota and Austin, and my Brother-in-Law, Shawn and his kids Arriana and Jakob.

Are plans for this trip was to do some off-roading in the Panamint Mountains. I had just finished a straight axle conversion to my 88 4 Runner and this would be it's test run.

It was already getting late in the day so we decided to run Jail Canyon. Jail Canyon is a easy day run from Ballarat. The trail was in good shape. I would rate it this weekend as being easy for any 4x4 with high clearance.

We parked up at the top of the canyon and walked up to the Corona Mine and showed the kids around. We then drove back to camp as the Sun went down, made dinner, and sat by the fire and enjoyed a full moon before turning in for the night.

Saturday we drove up Pleasant Canyon and the kids explored around Clair Camp. Temps were pretty cool in Pleasant and there was some snow on the road but the weather kept at bay and we had a fine time.

We then drove up along the ridge into Middle Park Canyon and on into South Park Canyon. A quick stop at Briggs Camp and then back to camp for the night. The winds howled all night but the kids and I were comfy in the Cannonball. Shawn and his kids were out in his trailer.

Sunday found us cruising up into Goler Wash. Right now, the wash is drivable in 2wd all the way to the park boundary. We actually pulled over to let a Honda CRV pass. We continued up over Mengel Pass and down into Butte Valley. Russell's camp was our one stop while in Butte Valley. We drove down into warm Springs Canyon with a stop at the talc mine to say our farewells to Craig(n2deep) who was out with his buddy exploring the park. We drove on out to West Side road and on to Furnace Creek for dinner. From there it was a moonlit drive on pavement back to Ballarat.

Monday was spent packing up and we hit the trail back home.