Explorations with the Ski3pins: Owens Valley – May 2023

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Please click here for – Part One

Confidence

It may seem odd, but what does confidence has to do with boots? The story - I bought my first pair of Lowa boots in 1969 from a small mountaineering shop on Route 66 (Foothill Blvd.) in southern California. I cannot recall how many Lowa boots I’ve worn out between 1969 and 2023. Lowa boots have always been, since 1969, my “go to” boot. They’ve always fit well, performed very well, and worn well. They give me great confidence traversing varied terrain. I know what they will do and I trust them. My choice in boot has always cost near twice what the Lady’s model of Lowa boot costs. Yes, she’s a convert. The Lady's Renegade model lasts 2 years. My light mountaineering model lasts 4 years, so the cost equals out. But my model is hard to come by and, at times, another issue comes up – color. In 2014 it was time to replace my worn-out boots and this was the color.

I likened the color to Elvis’ blue suede shoes. My peers did not and they were instantly labeled “Smurf Boots.” It did not matter to me. I had the confidence to brush those comments aside. When it was time to replace the smurf boots, the color was back to classic brown. No one noticed. I had those boots five years for various reasons, mainly because a replacement pair was unavailable in the aftermath of Covid. It was getting critical. The completely worn-out soles were beginning to separate from the boot. Recently I finally found the boot available again! Hurrah! And so, my friends, what will you call these?

I love these boots. I will, guaranteed, brush aside your comments and nicknames. Confidence. But I am more than willing to allow you your fun. Have at it.

We returned to the Tablelands after leaving Benton. There was one more site to find and it was a long cross-country hike. A quick note, some of the roads in the Tablelands have not yet been repaired from this season’s heavy rain events. It took 4x4 and good driving skills to reach our intended starting point.

The day was overcast and cool, perfect hiking temperature for short sleeves. We headed out. The terrain here was covered with beautiful small white flowers.

Sandblossom (Linanthus parryae)

We put our well-honed, old school navigation skills to work. One of our often-repeated mantras is, “Never trust your life to something that runs on batteries.”

Although the terrain looked flat, it was far from it and held surprise after surprise. “Always consider what could lie between the contour interval on your topographic map,” is another mantra.

It was nice to see the tanks still holding water.

We came upon a puzzle. Help please?

Thank you to RickD for the ID - Mojave Popcorn Flower (Cryptantha Confertiflora)

We found another gully that caught our attention and we explored it.

Did you notice the granite? In some way this drainage is connected to higher terrain where granite lives and, it that way, is different from all the others areas in the Tablelands we had explored the last few days.

It was springtime and the Western Fence Lizards were also decked out in breeding colors.

Flowers and reptiles continued to be the theme of our Volcanic Tablelands adventure as we returned to our truck.

Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja chromosa)

We left the Tablelands in the afternoon and drove south on 395. Fossil Falls made a convenient spot to overnight. A thunderstorm hit just to the north as we set up our camp.

It ended with just a touch of evening color.

For our evening adventure we walked out to the rim of the falls. We were alone and we watched the world go dark for the night.

Flowers were abundant at Fossil Falls. I, again, need help with flower identification on this plant, but I am convinced it was designed by Dr. Seuss.

Thank you RickD for the ID - Thistle Sage (Salvia carduacea)

Our morning walk was to find a way to the base of the falls. Our route was covered with orange Desert Globemallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua).

There was no non-technical way up the bottom step of the falls.

The vertical north walls (the south also) were impressive.

Here’s the main chute on the bottom step.

Flowers and reptiles were also the theme here. I could not get a photo of the many elusive chuckwallas we saw but the Mallow and Mojave Asters (Xylorhiza tortifolia) held still for me, as did the Beavertail Pricklypear (Opuntia basilaris).

We made a quick side trip into Ridgecrest for groceries. Afterward, we drove to our next destination, Indian Wells Canyon in the southern Sierra Nevada. The road was heavily damaged by the winter’s rain events but, with care, was passable for us. This appears to be a BLM OHV area, but thankfully the “insects” (a new favorite phrase), ATV’s and such, were not around. For our two days stay here we only saw 4 other vehicles. We found a great spot to camp and settled in.

We did a nice hike in the late afternoon to the Nadeau-Magnolia Mine.

Remi Nadeau was “The King of the Desert Freighters” and a noted historical figure in this area in the 1800’s. On line, I could find no information about this mine and do not know if it was associated with Remi Nadeau or one of his descendants. All of the remaining machinery is much more modern than Nadeau’s era.

I am curious about this piece of equipment and what it did.

This identification tag is on the back and I was surprised to find that Pallmann Industries is still in business manufacturing industrial machines.