panamintcityjan05

It was around 1am Friday morning as I crested the Slate Range and the headlights on the truck broke their gaze on the road and threw their beam onto the dark abyss of Panamint Valley far below.
Within an hour I found myself at Novak camp. The truck's engine was cooling off and I was warming up in my sleeping bag in the back.

By 8am I was slowly crawling out of the camper shell and getting ready for what looked like a promising 30th birthday on the trail. I was soon greeted by the sounds of a vehicle motor. It was Chris AKA Lucky Pabst and his friends Chris and Derick. After a moment of introductions I excused myself to the long arduous task at hand, Hiking Surprise Canyon.

I started off with a pretty good head of steam and chugged along at a good clip. Every hour I was hitting my way-points. 9am Limekiln Springs, 10am Brewery Springs, 11am the long mile. Those who have made this hike know the long mile. It starts in front of Marvel Canyon where the old chimney first comes into view. The chimney never seems to get any closer but within 30 minutes I found myself saluting the old brick beacon as I stepped upon the porch of the Panamint City Hilton. 3 1/2 hours total. For me, a very respectable time.

The weather during my ascent was the best I could ask for. The overcast sky kept my hat and sunglasses in the pack. The cool breezes kept the body at a well regulated temp. As long as I kept moving, no jacket was needed.
The weather suddenly changed within an hour of my arrival. After setting out the flag that I brought to the Cabin and uncovering my cache of supplies I was hit with frozen rain. Knowing it would soon turn to snow, I brought the flag in and decided a nap was just what I needed. I was lulled to sleep by the sounds of natures fury on the outside of the cabin. At that moment time stood still and life was good.

I awoke within the hour to the sounds of feet on the porch. It was Chris and his friends. They appeared in good spirits despite being caught in the storm. I was also surprised to see that nearly an inch of snow had fallen. After a short time bodies began finding horizontal positions and I decided to head out and do some exploring while my cabin mates took well earned naps.
Shortly after returning to the cabin I was once again given a great surprise. My brother-in-Law Shawn who was coming up after work was just a few yards in front of the cabin! It turns out he called in sick to work and showed up eight hours sooner than I had expected.

We spent the remainder of the day getting all of our conveniences in order and watching the hypnotizing glare of the fire in the stove. We all swapped tails of past adventures and I hope I didn't bore our guest's by retelling many of the local stories I have gathered over the years.

Morning was soon upon us and after breakfast of Kielbasa and bread rolls, Shawn and I headed down the canyon as the two Chris's and Derick headed up the canyon each of us with new horizons gleaming in our eyes. Shawn and I first made a stop at the Castle AKA Hippie Cabin in Sourdough Canyon. The place looked great. I tip my hat to the couple who have been paying regular visits here and have been taking great care in it's upkeep.

We then made our way along what many years ago we named the After Dinner Trail. This was a trail built in the 1800's by Chinese labor. It follows the canyon back out toward the valley but stays perfectly level the whole way. By the time you have reached it's terminus you are nearly a mile down the canyon and 1000 feet above the trail leading to the City.
While heading back we saw a couple making their way to the city. From our vantage point high above them, I made jokes that they looked like little ants so far below us.

Dean and Deana where the names of the two hikers and after a short time admiring the area they turned around and headed back out of the canyon and back home to Ridgcrest. Shawn and I decided to let our companions have the Cabin to themselves and we would move over to the castle.
We spent the remainder of Saturday gathering firewood and preparing dinner. With nighttime temps in the '20s our fire kept the cabin heated well into the low '70s.

Sunday was a day for the record books. The sky was clear and the Sun's rays warmed a otherwise crisp winter morning. After taking care of some paperwork at the local outhouse, I took a leisurely stroll up Sourdough Canyon to the springs that fed water to the cabin. I found a few breaks in the line and after hooking the pipes back together I heard the comforting sounds of water flowing through the pipe. Only problem was at a low point where the water was frozen solid in the pipe. I gave up, with the knowing that if the pipe thawed the water would again be flowing.

Later as I was packing up and cleaning the cabin, Shawn snook up the hillside and soon came back and told me to turn on the sink faucet. I'll be damned if the sink did not fill up with fresh clean spring water. The cabin again had flowing water!

We soon left and headed back to the Panamint Hilton but had missed the departure of Chris and co. We moseyed on out of the canyon and before long we where hanging out with Rocky Novak in the ghost town of Ballarat.
Rocky would always eye a Ruger shirt that I would often wear while out in the valley and I thought it would make a nice gift to him so I let him have it. He loved it and spoke of all the gun hating people who he looked forward to upsetting by wearing it.

We soon left Rocky and made way to Panamint Springs resort for lunch and the long quiet journey home.