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My to do list has one less thing on it for 2009! I made a whirlwind trip to the edge of Death Valley and hiked to Panamint City, which was a silver mining town high up in the mountains bordering Death Valley.
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| This was some of my view for the drive in. Not sure what this valley name is, but Death Valley is on the other side of the mountain range, those are the Panamint Mountains. |
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| The sign was at the start of the dirt road leading in. |
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| The spy-glass thing on top pointed the way to Panamint City, up towards the top of those mountains. |
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| This building and the next were original buildings in the ghost town of Ballarat. You have to drive through Ballarat to get to the trailhead for Panamint City. |
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| I bet this looked nice right after they built it....over 100 years ago! |
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| I slept in my car, then started out at 5:30, before the sun came up. I was waiting for a mountain lion to jump on me in the dark, but....guess they weren't hungry. |
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| Surprise Canyon was narrow in the beginning, and I had to scramble over rocks and through the stream. |
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| The trail was overgrown, hard to find and follow. I got quite scratched up. |
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| A lot of the time, the trail was the stream! |
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| A mine shaft right on the trail |
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| Finally, the trail opened up, and up higher it was all snow. |
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| All along the way there were signs of the old mining days. I think this was an old cabin with all the wood for the roof long gone. |
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| Another big mine shaft. |
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| Panamint City comes into view. |
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| I think they call this the Smelter Stack? Where ore was melted and separated? |
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| I was surprised how many building are still up there. |
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| An ore cart, and 3 cabins in the background. |
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| This was the courtyard where they must have had shops and a saloon etc. |
