"I've
never won anything before that I've really wanted to win!" The Lady was thrilled and had been since we
received the email. She was at
school, before her students, explaining why she would be absent the next day.
"We won!" she told them. I'm sure her voice was filled with joy. It was all she
could talk about at home after the email arrived on December 22nd. "Our
christmas present!" she called it.
"We are
able to go on a special tour," she explained. "Only 15 people are
allowed. There is a lottery where the winners are chosen out of a hat. We won!"
It was early
Friday morning. We were heading down highway 395 along the incredible eastern
front of the Sierra Nevada. The Lady was telling me about announcing her
absence to the kids the day before.
"I told
them we get to see mastodon tracks and saber tooth tiger tracks!" She
continued, "They asked where. I told them Death Valley!"
We needed to
be at the Furnace Creek Visitors Center at 7:30 am Saturday morning.
As I've
mentioned previously in our stories, I have an interest in historic military
aircraft wrecks. Because of this I usually have notes about possible sites to
check out when we are in the area, such as a B-17 in the East Humboldt Range or
a B-24 in the Toiyabe Range. A few years back a friend gave me information on a
spy plane crash site near Darwin, California. With our early start, we'd have
time to find it on our way to Death Valley. The coordinates I was given were
entered in our hand held GPS unit. We parked along highway 190 and started hiking. Nearing ground zero we
found this.
A few yards
further and we found this plaque.
Something
did not seem right. We found the remains of a fallen joshua tree with items
scattered about.
We noticed various
musical items and then I saw it, "U-2" and realized a clever joke was
being played at my expense; easy to do with my ignorance of pop culture.
This site
of the album cover shoot appears to now be a shrine. This was a pretty good joke, but my friend
should know revenge is best served cold.
Since it is
a favorite of ours and close to Furnace Creek, we camped Friday night up Hole
in the Wall Road.
The bajada
to the north, above the wash, is a wonderful example of desert pavement.
The
afternoon light was warm and beautiful and a landscape we could melt into.
We arrived early Saturday morning at
the Visitors Center. A couple other vehicles were there with people preparing
for the tour. We chatted with a couple from Bishop, California. "We've
been trying for six years to get on this tour," the man said. "We've
tried stacking the deck, each of us submitting a separate request for the same
number of spots. It took six years!"
We were recently reminded of the Paleontology Tour by a friend in Oregon. We followed the directions on entering
the lottery and hearing that it could take years to get spots, expected
nothing. And then the email back arrived on Dec. 22nd. We were in! We could not
bring ourselves to tell the folks from Bishop about our luck. Our friend in
Oregon says he is owed a "finder's fee".
All 15 participants were on time.
Carrie, our NPS guide and Deb, her NPS volunteer sidekick made introductions,
gave a quick overview of our adventure ahead, and we were told to follow their
vehicle to an "undisclosed location".
The Death Valley National Park website gives
this explanation of the area and tour -
"Millions
of years ago, Death Valley's landscape and lifeforms appeared very different
from the harsh desert of today.On the Paleontology Tour, a park ranger will lead you into the wilderness through a dramatic canyon with high cliff walls opening into a multi-colored basin. There you will have a close up encounter with well-preserved fossilized tracks of bird, horse, camel, and mastodon-like creatures.
Although this fragile paleontological resource area is usually closed to the public, there will be three ranger-led tours on selected dates."
Carrie
explained at the start that photography was allowed but only for personal use
and the Park Service requests no postings of photos be made to social media sites
such as facebook. I feel this blog fits that category and I will honor the
request. I will tell you it is a great opportunity and you are allowed an up
close and personal experience. Our group was close knit and a wide range of
subject matter and questions and answers were covered. The geology is
incredible. If you are interested in this subject, please put in for upcoming
tours. It is worth the time and effort, even if it takes years.
And those of
you that know us personally, give a call, let's get together for dinner or something like
that. We have some great photos - mastodons, saber tooth tigers!
Perseverance pays off
We were back to our vehicles at 3:30 pm. Would we have enough time
to make it to the end of Lemoigne Canyon Road? As mentioned in previous posts,
we have been searching for something. We were determined to find it.
We had the camper popped up and camp set up chores going just as
darkness fell. This is an incredible spot for quiet and solitude along with a tremendous
view. The night sky was outstanding.
We enjoyed finding the Comet Lovejoy with our binoculars, a green fuzzy ball. Mercury
was just ahead of Venus, setting in the west just after sunset. We believe Jupiter
was the large bright disc that rose in the east. We did see two strange bright
lights for a few seconds in the eastern sky above Stovepipe Wells, UFO's. They
hovered in formation, then dimmed and moved together to the northeast and then disappeared.
Now by UFO's, I mean "unidentified" as in I don't know what they
were. I do not mean alien or extraterrestrial space craft. We did not prepare
for first contact, abduction, or blackout for the invasive medical exams.
To be able to sit in the quiet and take in a magnificent star
filled sky is a gift.
Morning came in all its desert glory.
After a more leisurely special breakfast, our packs were on our backs. We were
ready to go. "Today we are not going to look for it," the Lady announced.
"Today we are going to find John LeMoigne's wagon!"
I had previously written that John LeMoigne died with his wagon in Death
Valley and it was later moved back up to his mine. I no longer believe that to be true. Historical photos of
LeMoigne show him with pack burros. An article I am now reading, published back
in 1971, tells the author's story about traveling to Death Valley in 1917 to
visit LeMoigne. John and his burros are mentioned. After LeMoigne's death in
1919 it appears Bill Corcoran and Bev Hunter took over LeMoigne's claim and
found "John’s dugout-cabin, mine, and a broken-down
buckboard."
We had heard LeMoigne's wagon was out there,
untouched, undisturbed for close to a hundred years. How cool would it be to
find it! To say it is off the beaten path is an understatement. I enjoyed all
the research and sleuthing out little bits of information; making a little bit
of this interesting man's story come to life. Well, the Lady said we were going
to find it; we were not going to look for it.
I saw the out of place straight line from about 50
yards away. I stopped. The Lady was off to the right, on her search line.
"We've looked this area over pretty well," I yelled. "Let's move
over this way." I pointed to my left. My ploy worked. I wanted her to find
it, to have a part of the discovery. Her line intercepted the wagon. She saw
the top edge of a wheel. "The wagon!" she yelled. She stomped her
feet and clapped her hands. "We found it!"
We established the coordinates with our GPS units,
took photos - including ones with background landscape for location, and
looked for evidence of past visitors marking the location in some way. We have
given the Park Service a report on the location and current condition of this
special relic.
If by chance you find this, or any other treasure,
please do not touch or disturb in any way. Leave no trace of your visit and let
only time take its toll.
We headed north and late afternoon found us at the
famous Crankshaft Crossing.
It looks like new artwork has been affixed to the
old sign.
We continued over the Last Chance Range and headed
into Eureka Dunes for the night. The road still wins the honor for the worse
washboard. We set up camp, enjoyed dinner, and walked in the night. The quiet
of the desert surrounded us and took us in. A bit of a thin cloud layer veiled
the stars.
The morning was cold, not by usual Eureka Dunes
winter standards, but the coldest morning we had at 30°.
The Lady had our coffee ready and joined me outside.
"We don't have to hurry home do we?" she asked as she laced her arm
around mine. "Of course not. Look at this place. Let's walk."
As we walked, the day gradually brightened with the
rising sun.
This was another great trip for us. It had indeed been a wonderful peek
into the past.