Re: Beveridge
Posted by Beveridge Flyer on May 21, 2004 at 11:34:23:
In Reply to: Beveridge posted by Beveridge Flyer on May 05, 2004 at 23:50:25:
This is an email we went out to our friends, family,
And neighbhors after the trip. The photo references
Are to 4 photos I emailed out with the story.
We had another great trip to Death Valley - this time
a grueling backpacking trip via Saline Valley to the
seldom-visited Beveridge Ghost town. We backpack because
its the only way to get to Beveridge, and we like to
punish ourselves!
On with the story (I'll try to keep it brief). We met
at Panamint Springs Resort and caravaned in to
Saline Valley, where we had an appointment with a
rather rough 4x4 road up to the Snowflake Talc mine.
Much to our disappointment, the road was blocked by
a small landslide about 1/5 of the way up. Unable to
dislodge a large boulder, we spent an hour building
stone ramps on either side of it so we could drive
right over it! Mission accomplished, and we continued
to the Talc Mine, where we formed a base camp to
prepare for the assault on Beveridge the next morning.
After a carb-load spaghettii and Costco Chocolate
Cake binge, we put out the campfire as a strong wind
blew through camp, and got up early Friday morning at
5:30am, and hitting the trail about 6:40am. Riding a
heat wave that week, we were soon sweating up the
so-called *Great White Wall*, the seemingly unclimbable
cliff face in front of us. After about 2 hours, we
hit the top of the wall, with Sammy watching us from
the Talc Mine far below with binoculars.
With 1,800 feet of elevation gain under our belts,
we continued along the steep ridge line between Beveridge
and Keynot Canyon. Much to our chagrin, the GPS that we
loaded with our trail coordinates, was getting alot of
false readings in the steep canyon terrain, making it all
but useless! Guess we'd have to rely on our trailfinding
skills, instead! With me sniffing out the faint miners trail,
and Tom sweeping at the rear, that proved to be fairly easy.
We only lost the trail once, when we detoured down to
the first major prospect, and didn't see that the trail went
back up the hill! (for perspective, see upper right photo:
the top of the *Great White Wall*).
After 7 hours of sweating and grunting over a rough
trail, we swept down tight switchbacks (aptly described by
many as being so steep that you could easily *step on the head of
the person on the trail below you*) below the aerial ore tramway
and into the Beveridge ghost town site. (photo upper left: Bob
plays with ore bucket from tramway, still on the cable).
I could go on and on, but I'll try to finish up quickly. We
setup camp in a Beveridge tent site, explored all the decaying
buildings in the canyon bottom, filtered water from the spring,
negotiated trails through the plantlife in the bottom of the
canyon to get to all the mining equipment left after heavy
mining operations in the 1880's through the 1930's.
The next day, we bushwacked farther down the canyon,
then dayhiked up to Frenchy's Cabin (see photo bottom left:
Frenchy's Cabin). Upper right photo: Brian poses among the
White Marble Walls of lower Beveridge Canyon. At Frenchy's,
we completed the chore of unclogging the water pipe that runs
about 70 feet from a spring to the cabin - lots of work!
The final day, we got up super-early (4:30am) to beat the
heat, and hiked up the ridge (2,000 feet elevation gain) in the
relatively cool shade of the morning. The rest of the slog
out was in the heat, topping out at around 100 degrees or
more. We made it back to the Talc Mine in 5.5 hours, drove
down to Saline Warm Springs to meet up with the rest of
our party, enjoyed lunch, a quick beer, and a soak, and then
headed for home!
This was truly a trip of a lifetime! The strenuous climbing,
the adventure of the unknown, our amazement at the lifestyle
and accomplishment of the many unnamed miners that worked
this unbelievably remote mining district, wow! We wish you
were there! Maybe next time? (remember, most of our trips
are NOT backpacks, just 4x4 trips).
--Tim