Saline Valley Hotsprings, Death Valley NP

There's fresh snow in the mountains, the Kern River is running again, and the mountain bike trails are drying out.  What should we do for a three day weekend in January?  How about something completely different.

Some friends of ours were headed to Saline Valley hotsprings to celebrate their birthdays. Their group included a Jeep and another 4x4 Sprinter.  After a couple of days at the springs, they planned to drive over Steel Pass to the Eureka Dunes and then on to Mammoth.  I have not yet visited the Eureka Dunes, and have been curious about driving Steel Pass for a few years, so when they invited us to join them we decided it would be a grand adventure.

Not having any kids in school, they left a day ahead of us.  We loaded up the van and left town as soon as Weston got home from school on Friday.  As luck would have it, he passed his first driving lesson earlier in the week, and was ready to begin sharing the driving.

Weston behind the wheel on Hwy 46.

We drove to Fossil Falls, a small BLM site just off Hwy 395.  I have passed the sign for this spot dozens of times over the years, but never pulled in to check it out.  It was totally deserted and quiet, but very windy.  We all crawled into bed and let the chilly winds rock us to sleep.

The Falls is an old channel of the Owens River.  The water has polished the lava to a smooth finish, and the now dry falls drops a couple of hundred feet. 

Donette and Weston explore the falls

The mountains were dusted with snow even this far south

After exploring the falls area for a while, we continued on to Saline Valley via the South Pass.  As we wound our way up the dirt road we began to encounter snow near the top.  The trees were frosted in white, and the sage still encased in ice at noon.

The new AT tires worked great in the snow, mud, and ice

The view from the top of South Pass down into Panamint Valley and the Panamint Dunes (click to enlarge)

The road was in decent shape, with just a few rockfalls

After enjoying the view we climbed back in the van and began the descent into Saline Valley.  As the road wound around onto the shaded north side of the mountains it became packed snow and ice, and very slippery.  At this point we were very stoked to have new BF Goodrich AT tires and low range 4wd!  Donette did a great job of keeping it from sliding too much, weaving between the rockfalls, and making all the corners.  We later found out that when our friends encountered this spot, all their passengers got out and walked, as they did not want to be in the vehicle if it skidded off the road.  I just held on tightly and tried to remember to breathe; I don't think Weston really new what was happening.

As the road mellowed and entered the sunshine the ice and snow disappeared, replaced by miles of washboard.  Weston took over the driving here, and Donette rode the rest of the downhill section on her mountian bike.  We had reduced our tire pressure substantially, but the washboard road still created a cacophony of rattles amongst all the cabinets and other things in the van.

Just when you think you can't take any more, this sign comes into sight and you know you are almost there.

There are two hotsprings, and upper and a lower, and both are beautiful oases in the stark desert.  The water is warm, crystal clear, and odorless.  Everyone does a great job of keeping the area clean and beautiful.  Although there were lots of campers at the springs, people came and went at different times, so you could always find a place to soak. I didn't take any pictures of the springs themselves, as they were usually full of naked people who understandably don't necessarily want their pictures posted on the internet.

Donette making breakfast

The early morning view from the van, looking east at the snow capped Inyo-Kern Mountains.

Our time at the springs was spent soaking, visiting with our friends, and meeting new people from around the country.  We also rode our bikes around to get some exercise.

Riding up the road towards Steel Pass from the hotsprings

Death Valley is home to many stunning landscapes

When we arrived at the springs, we discovered that our friend's friends had decided not to bring their Sprinter, so it looked like we were going to be the only Sprinter guinea pig on our drive over Steel Pass. However, on Sunday morning the plans abruptly changed, and our friends decided not to tackle the pass but take the easier, faster way out so they could get to Mammoth sooner.  On the one hand, we were disappointed, as we were looking forward to the adventure, and to their expertise on the route.  Not to mention climbing and sliding down the Eureka Dunes, the largest dunes in North America as we exited on the other end.  On the other hand, at least half of the people at the springs who got word of our plan assured us that we would never make it, would incur thousdand of dollars of damage to our rig at best, and at worst could expect to pay $10,000 for someone to come rescue us.  So that pressure went away :-).  We certainly weren't going to tackle it alone.

We regrouped and decided to drive out of the park Sunday, and do some mountain biking near Tehachapi on the way home.  Weston was all over this idea, as he was eager to ride some new singletrack.  We made it as far as Jawbone Canyon, pulled over into the OHV area there, and found a good spot for the night.  The next morning Donette and I got up at our usual time, and shuttled Weston to the trailhead in Tehachapi while he stayed in bed.  What service!

After breakfast at the trailhead, we rode a few miles.  This was Donette and my second time there, and the trail system continues to expand and improve.  They now have some great signage which helped us plan our route much more easily.

A variety of terrain in this area, from trees...

... to open slopes, all with snow covered hills behind

After a couple of hours of riding, we packed up the muddy bikes and gear, rinsed off, and hit the road for home.  It was a great way to break up the long drive, and we got Weston home in plenty of time to do his homework. 

Ringing in the New Year

With New Year's Day being a three day weekend for Donette this year, we decided to pack up the van and go looking for some early season backcountry skiing.  It seemed like we would have to travel pretty far North to find good coverage , so we opted for the Mammoth area.

We made it to the Lone Pine area on Friday night, then continued up 395 Saturday morning.  The sky was overcast, obscuring the peaks, and there wasn't much snow visible below the cloud line.  The coverage got better as we climbed up towards Mammoth.  The first couple of places we looked at were way to thin to ski.  The third time was the charm, as we ended up in the large parking area below Punta Bardini off of Sherwin Creek Road.

Skinning up towards Punta Bardini

 After a late breakfast, we had the usual first-trip-of-the-year-gear-debacles.  We finally got our act together and started up the mountain at the crack of noon. Even at this late hour the entire North face remained shaded, so we hoped for some decent snow conditions, even though it hadn't snowed for several days.  There was an existing skin track, so it made the climbing fairly easy, which we coastal dwellers appreciated.

Looking north towards Mammoth

Still some pockets of untracked snow.

We only climbed for an hour or so, topping out at the section called the Tele-Bowls.  We did a short lap down an untracked section, then a couple more laps in the main bowl.  The untracked snow wasn't bad, a bit heavy, but fun.  Crossing the several-day-old, very frozen, previous tracks was not quite so much fun, and it was pretty tracked out.

Back at the van, we decided to check out the June Lake area, since I had never been up there.  Coverage here was much, much less than Mammoth, and we didn't see anything that looked skiable.  We did see some people on the ice at June Lake right at sunset, so drove down to investigate.  The lake was covered in a few inches of the clearest ice I have ever seen.  You could see through the ice and the water to the bottom of the lake, several feet down.  We could even see small fish swimming below the ice.

Playing on the ice at June lake

The parking lot at the beach became deserted at dark, so we decided it was as good a place as any to spend the night.  We cooked up some dinner and spent the evening playing music, cards, and enjoying our last margarita before our traditional six week purge of alcohol and sweets to start a new year,

Playing my new harmonica (thanks Calia!) under our new mood Luci mood light (thanks Lynn and Tom!)

It might be 21* outside, but it is nice and cozy in the van.

The Negatives above June Mountain ski area in the morning sun.

Donette exploring the edges of the ice sheet, in shallow water.

With no skiable snow in this area, we decided to head back to Mammoth.  We had spotted some less tracked snow in another small glade on Punta Bardini and aimed to see if we could add some tracks to it.  This time we drove past the usual parking lot at the end of the plowed section and continued on Sherwin Creek Rd, putting our 4wd and new tires to the test.  We finally came to the summer trailhead for Sherwin Lakes.  This is a popular snowmobiling spot, and there is even a terrain park for snowmobiles a ways up the drainage.

Skinning up the snowmobile track

 We soon left the snowmobile tracks and headed up the ridge.  We followed an existing skintrack for a ways, then headed up what looked to be a summer trail.

Climbing higher

and higher

We finally topped out on the ridge above the bowl we were aiming to ski.  The views were excellent.

Panorama looking south east towards Mt. Morrison area, White Mountains in the far distance

Donette in her element, enjoying the mountains

Peaks behind Sherwin Lakes

 

 

 

 

The snow was still pretty good, although thin enough that dodging rocks and downed trees kept us on our toes.  Again, the frozen tracks from previous skiers, and especially the boot tracks of the snowboarders, were pretty harsh.  But it was good enough for a second lap!  

The snowmobile track made for an easy return to the van.  We thought we'd take a dip in a local hot spring and then begin the drive home to make for a shorter drive Monday.  As we left Benton Crossing Road headed towards our favorite hot spring, we saw several cars racing around the area, darting from hot spring to hot spring, looking for one that wasn't already packed.  We could see at least a dozen cars off in the distance where we were headed, so we turned around to check a different spring.  Cars and trucks raced by us in both directions; it was rather comical.  We pulled up to a hot spring to find it completely full, with a couple of carloads of people waiting their turn.  We didn't need to soak that badly, so found a quiet turnout, made dinner, and headed south.  We decied to check out Keough Hot Springs south of Bishop, and it was deserted.  Also not very hot.  Maybe there is a correlation?  But it was warm enough to soak off a couple days grime.  Then on to the Alabama Hills for the night.

Monday morning dawn overcast and windy.  We explored around the rocks near our campsite, mostly following Luna around.  She loves to climb the rocks and investigate the caves full of animal droppings and nests.

Sierra wave over the van

Exploring the rocks, and retrieving the cat

After breakfast we loaded up and headed home.  Traffic was light for a holiday, and as we dropped down into the Lake Isabella valley on Hwy 178 we were treated to a rare sight - all of the hills were coated in a blanket of white.  It was quite beautiful and made the drive fly by.  So all in all, a great way to wash 2016 out of our system and welcome in a new year.