Left:  Shortly after dawn, on November 11, 1993, I am rewarded with a spectacular sunrise view of the ruins of the Cook Bank building.  Below:  The business district of Rhyolite at dawn.

 

 

Thursday, November 11, 1993 dawned bright, clear and chilly, and I could see a bank of clouds approaching from the west.  Could it be rain?

I got up, broke camp, and made myself a vienna sausage breakfast burrito and ate it cold.  Mmmmmmmm good!

By the way, when I build a fire, I don't do the typical ring of rocks and then just leave an ugly circle covered with dirt routine.  Instead,  I dig a "cathole" about 2 feet in diameter and about 18" deep.  I burn the wood in the hole, and when it's time for bed, I simply shovel dirt in it to put out the fire.  In the morning, I put the finishing touches on it. The result?  You'd never guess that anyone had built a fire as the only trace is a little disrupted dirt that the wind will fix. Try my method next time as not to leave a trace of your passage when you're camping on our beautiful public lands.  Also, I do not throw cans, bottles or other trash in the fire.  I put the trash in a plastic trash bag and when the bag is full, or the trip has ended, dispose of it properly in a dumpster.

I drove back to Rhyolite, looked around a little more, but then decided to head in the direction of Skidoo.  So, it was back into California, back through Stovepipe Wells, where I gassed and iced-up again and then a drive back to the Wildrose Ranger Station.  Then, I turned south onto Emigrant Canyon, on the Trona/Wildrose Road.  

The road to Skidoo turns to the east, and it is a Class 1 dirt road all the way.  It's a seven mile drive to the ruins of Skidoo, as the road winds through desert mountains. Not to mention, that you're climbing a couple thousand feet.

There's not much left of Skidoo, only collapsed ruins, tin cans, and lots of those flattened 5-gallon kerosene cans that the pioneers used to cover their roofs.  There are a lot of trails to play around on, ranging up to Class 4.  I had a blast playing around on the various hill climbs and whoop-de-doos in the area.  But if you want to hike around and explore the ruins, lookout for mine shafts.  Some of the shafts can be hard to see and I really wouldn't want to fall in one of them!

But wait, there's more.  At the west end of town, follow the footpath for a half-kilometer or so, and you'll come to, perhaps, the best-preserved stamp mill in Death Valley National Park.  This thins is a gem and it really makes the trip worthwhile.

By now, the wind had started to blow and the temperature had dropped to the low 30's; it was bone-chilling cold! On the way out, I decided to play on some of the trails and I saw a familiar sight.  I couldn't believe it, I saw my buddy Ray Schneider and a couple of his friends playing on the trails in the same area!  What are the chances of meeting up with local guys, all the way out there?  We sat around and chit-chatted for awhile.  I asked if they were doing Panamint Valley Days, and they weren't, so after some pleasant conversation, I was on my way to Panamint Valley Days base camp.

Left:  The well-preserved Skidoo Mill, with Death Valley and the Grapevine Mountains in the background. Right; I'm playing on the trails in the Skidoo area, and as I get out to take a picture, I find it's cold and windy; we even got a few flakes of snow.

I followed Emigrant Canyon into Panamint Valley,  and then turned south on the semi-paved Panamint Valley Road.  I just a few hundred meters, I saw a PVD sign that instructed me to turn left, onto the Indian Ranch Road, a dirt road maintained by Inyo County.

Left:  If you like to play on dirt roads, there are many of them around Skidoo.  Right:  Panamint Valley, looking south toward base camp from Trono-Wildrose road.

After a few dusty miles of driving, there was base camp!  Panamint Valley Days base camp is where the road to Surprise Canyon intersects Indian Ranch road.  Base camp was just as I expected it, lots of people, jeeps, motor homes, tents, and lots of action!

Left:  I'm in the Argus Mountains, looking east across Panamint Valley.  The tall peak in the middle of the photo is Telescope Peak, the highest peak in the Panamint Range.  P.V.D. 1993 base camp is at the mouth of Surprise Canyon, in the middle of the photo, directly below Telescope Peak.  Right:  P.V.D. 1993 base camp, my Bronco is to the extreme right of the photo.

Update:  1994 was the last year that Panamint Valleys Days used the entrance to Surprise Canyon for base camp. In 1995, base camp was moved to its current location, which is more central in regards to most of the runs.  As you may know, Surprise Canyon was closed to vehicular traffic in 2001, due to the efforts of radical environmentalist groups.  CA4WD is currently in litigation over that issue.

I got my Bronco registered, safety checked, picked up my tee shirt and made camp for the night.  I wandered around for a bit, checking out the sights of base camp.  Then, I built a fire, ate a can of cold tamales, powered down a few MJDs, smoked a stogie, and went to bed.