Thursday, November 6, 2003:  After an awesome breakfast of cold vienna sausages and cold tortillas, it was time to check out the Big Four Mine trail.  This trail is located at the northern end of Panamint Valley, just off of Highway 190.  As we headed north from base camp, on Panamint Valley Road, we took a turn to the right (east) on Highway 190 and after driving a mile or so, we looked to the right (north) and found the trail, just east of the 2000-year-old dry lake.  We turned right (north) onto the trail, and proceeded to drive north on the wash boarded, dirt road.  This road isn't fun; the "4 or 40" speed rule, in regards to the washboard effect, applies to this road.  Most of the time, we chose the "4."

Left:  Looking south into Panamint Valley, from CA 190 at the entrance to the Big Four Mine road.  Right:  Lake Hill to the right of the photo, as we start the climb up the aluvial fan.

The Big Four Mine is a lead mine that operated until the early 1950's.  Obviously, the trail was, at one point in time, a dirt road that was suitable for wagons and trucks, but after many years of disuse, "Mother Nature" got her way.  But she has a way of making it so much more interesting for 'wheelin'.

After about 5 miles of the washboard stuff, you look to your left and pass Lake Hill. Lake Hill is 2030 feet in elevation and is a remnant from the ice age.  There is a hiking trail to the top of it for the adventurous sort, but we didn't choose to take that option.

Left:  Barrel cactus is the typical vegitation in Big Four Wash.  Right:  Jonathan's Jeep is posed as we start the climb up Big Four Wash.

About a mile or so past Lake Hill the fun starts.  It had better, after driving 5 miles or so of uninteresting, wash boarded, bumpy, dusty, dirt road.  The road takes a turn to the north and starts to climb up the alluvial fan.  If you look carefully, you can still see traces of a trail that's closed, thanks to the Desert Protection Act, that used to take you to the Panamint Dunes.   Now, if you choose to visit the dunes, you get to hike four miles each way. After a few hundred yards,  we engaged four wheel drive, as the dirt road had now become a CLASS 2 trail.  (As an aside, click HERE for an explanation on how I rate trails.)

After a couple of miles of 'wheelin' up the alluvial fan, the trail just disappeared, due to the effects of rain, wind and El Nino. During a "kodak" moment, we were able to find the trail again, join it, and proceed up the alluvial fan.  

You go up the alluvial fan and a sort of ridge is reached.  At that point, the trail just sort of disappears.  What do you do?  Just drive up the wash, as we did.

Photos:  We stopped when the trail became Class-5, due to a very high berm to negotiate through a dry wash, within sight of the mine.

The trail is CLASS 3 for most of the way, except for a small hill, composed of dirt and loose shale that could be considered CLASS 4.  To climb that hill, we had to air down our tires to about 20 pounds, but it wasn't a big deal as we knew that we'd have to air down anyway to drive the trails during the next couple of days.

About a quarter of a mile or so from the Big Four Mine, the trail becomes impassable as you reach the wash, stop and peer over the side, you'll find a five-foot dropoff. The mine buildings are plainly in sight, but we elected not to hike to them, as the emphasis was on 'wheelin', not hiking.

So we headed down the wash.  Due to a lot of chit-chat and other issues, we missed the trail.  So what to do? Just drive down the wash!  It is not an environmental issue, as the wash is composed of loose shale and rocks; you could take a brigade through the area and no footprints would remain.  But remember, you're in Death Valley National Park and the "green team" is watching, so please TREAD LIGHTLY!  So we carefully proceeded down the wash until we rejoined the trail.  After that, it was time to drive the 5 miles of wash boarded dirt road until the welcome sight of highway 190 appeared.

Left:  Postcard from Panamint Springs Resort. Right:  Check out  the high gas prices.  Actually, the owner tells us that he doesn't make any money on the gas, due to the high transportation prices.

Lets see, we had about a half tank of gas, so why not drive to Panamint Springs Resort to purchase gas before heading back to camp?  So it was on to Panamint Springs resort and then back to base camp.