Death Valley Oct 05

Finally! A Trip back to Death Valley. Its been a while and this trip was well worth the wait. Billed as the "Unofficial D-V.US Death Valley Trip"

Everyone who is anyone from the Death-Valley.us web forum was present for a great time riding some of Death Valley's finest trails.

The plan for me was to leave Pine Valley Thursday night and drive to Ballarat so I could meet up with run leader Andy in the morning. From there we would do a pre-run of our intended trip route through Goler Canyon and out through Warm Springs via Butte Valley.

Well, I arrived in Ballarat at four in the morning on Friday. After a few hours of sleep I woke up and saw my Panamint City Pal, Chris (Luckypabst) over at the general store. I went over and met up with him. He brought out his Killer Jeep M715. I also took a moment to chat with Rocky who is still doing a fine job as the Ballarat caretaker.

Soon others began arriving. Ray and Nancy, our friends from British Columbia walked over from their campsite. They would be making the run in their Chevy 4x4 truck. Andy(AndyR) pulled up in his bad-a$$ Rubicon and was soon followed by Barry(Uncle Barry) in his "sleeper" Jeep truck(I'd tell you about his sleeper set-up but then I'd have to kill you), Jim(Rubiblue) showed up in his Rubicon and Pierre(Dealmaker) arrived in his clean and mean 4Runner.

Unfortunate for me was the fact that I was too worn out from driving all night. I bid my friends farewell, I would not be doing the pre-run with them but I would meet back up with them later at Panamint Springs resort.

I would later find out that the trail was in really bad shape(a good thing for me since I was driving the Eyesore) and we would have to switch to the secondary route for the main run on Saturday.

While the group was still in Goler Wash I moved the RV (now dubbed "The Panamint Cannonball") to my campsite at Panamint Springs Resort. I got the rig all set-up and we took a well deserved nap. I soon got up and while wandering around I ran into Bill(Wild Bill). I haven't seen Bill in many years and I was glad to spend some time talking with him.

The group slowly made their way back to PSR and set-up their sites and that night we spent quality time around the camp-fire together.

In the morning the area was abuzz with activity. People started showing up and introductions were made all around. Many of us have never met but after years of chatting on the Internet we were like a bunch of long lost friends reuniting.

The rest of the group that showed up included.
Larry(LarryW) with Tabby the Wonder Dog In his K5 Blazer
Tim in his Isuzu
Cathy(Celepo) and her husband in her Grand Cherokee
TC(Kylie) in his big bad V10 Dodge 4x4
TC's Parents in a Jeep Wrangler and their friend in a Explorer Sport Trac
Jay and Mira(Modfan) with their son Logan in their Jeep
Myself with my Boys Dakota and Austin in the Eyesore(My Wife, Summer Joy wanted to stay in the RV and read all day)

(If I got anything wrong or missed a name , Let me know)

We were soon off to the interior of Death Valley and in-route to or destination, Echo Canyon. I haven't done much exploring in Death Valley proper and was looking forward to some new scenery.

Once off the road and in the dirt, we ran the trail up to the Inyo Mine. Once there, we had lunch and explored the area on foot. I had a run-in with a bat while inside one of the mines but not to worry, I didn't bite it.

We then continued to a set of dry falls where some of us more adventurous types proceeded to crawl our way up the falls to the cheers of the rest of the group. After the falls we then turned around and made our way back to the main Highway. From there we would all meet at Aguereberry Point in the Panamint's and enjoy the sunset.

While on the way to Aguereberry Point, most of us made a quick stop at the Eureka Mine and had a look around. After sunset, those that were not staying the night said their goodbyes and the rest of us proceeded back to Panamint Springs were Judy the owner(Jerry's better half) had a special dinner waiting for us.

Sunday morning found everyone getting ready to do their own thing. Ray and Nancy along with Barry decided a Drive to Darwin and the China Gardens was just the ticket for the day. Larry and Tim were just beginning their 10 day desert vacation so they moved on to Ballarat and used that as a base for further explorations in Panamint Valley. For the rest of us it was homeward bound. Parting can be such sweet sorrow.

I want to thank all that were able to make it and those who wanted but could only be there in spirit. It was a blast and I can't wait to do it again.

Happy Trails,
Charles

Some useful links regarding this trip

The Official Death-Valley.US Trip Thread

The Panamint Charlie Forum Trip Thread #1

The Panamint Charlie Forum Trip Thread #2

The Panamint Charlie Echo Canyon Video

The Panamint Charlie Echo Photo Gallery

Larry W's Trip Report

Andy R's Goler Wash Photos

Andy R's Echo Canyon Photos