Ballarat and Panamint Valley, CA

This week we went over to Ballarat which is actually a ghost town in the Panamint Valley in California.  The Panamint Valley is just west of Death Valley.  As we go over the last mountain range from Stovepipe Wells to Panamint Springs, we cross Towne Pass which is 4900 feet in altitude.  This is not really very high; however when you start at an altitude of 200 feet and go down to 1100 feet over a distance of about 25 miles, you have a long tough climb with a real quick descent.  The last 10 miles had a slope of 9% which is pretty steep.  We made it safe and sound but we had to be very careful so we didn't overheat the brakes.

A number of us gathered at Ballarat to spend the week off-roading.  We went up canyons to mountain tops.  We saw views of Death Valley from various directions.  There were quite a number of wild burros in the area - sometimes you would see one or two or three, and sometimes a whole herd.  Most nights they would come into our campground - while we couldn't see them, we could hear them braying - sometimes near by and sometimes in the distance.  I wonder when they sleep as they seem to be around at all hours of the day and/or the night.

There are roads everywhere - up mountains, in the valleys - some rocky, some narrow, some winding, some rough, and some relatively smooth.  And I think we hit them all.  It is amazing what one finds on these roads .

Some of these trails were narrow although none we went on were particularly rocky.  The area was predominantly a mining area.  Imagine finding a vein such as in this rock although it was silver!!

The views were incredible.

As we got to the tops of the mountains, we came across some pinion pine trees.  There don't seem to be many animals  so many of the cones had very tasty nuts.

Cabins of different sizes and in different states of disrepair were found on many of the trails.

The wild burros are found in the valleys and in the canyons especially if there is a water source.

Darwin Falls - There is a spring that creates these falls.  It was a two mile hike.  The hiking trail was mostly easy but there was some clambering over large rocks.  You had to kind of guess on the trail at these points.  We even did this hike twice - very pretty.

China Garden Spring - near an old mining site where someone has put some koi in the spring.  They have been there for a number of years and certainly look healthy.

Father Crowley Vista - A landscape of dark lava flows and volcanic cinders abruptly gives way to the gash of Rainbow Canyon below this viewpoint.  The canyon is used by fighter pilots for low canyon flight training. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any but we did see a photo that a fellow had taken about an hour before we got there.  There were a number of people with their huge cameras and a couple of them even had radios where they could hear the pilot's conversations.

A beautiful flower very similar to an Angel's Trumpet although it grows rather close to the ground.  Also, a gecko, or a reptile of some sort, when he stopped before he sped across the ground.

Our final stop for the week was Darwin which is an almost ghost town.  Apparently most of the residents are part of the art community and supposedly many are a bit eccentric.

It's been a great week.  The weather was fantastic although we did have a couple of days of wind.  We were able to renew old friendships and make some new friends.  I hope everyone has a wonderful week and we'll be back next week.