Previous :: Next Topic |
Author |
Message |
ree Member
Joined: 29 Jun 2004 Posts: 4399 | TRs | Pics
|
|
ree
Member
|
Mon Nov 20, 2017 6:03 pm
|
|
|
How interesting that we were just at Barker Ranch, considering Manson's recent death...
Death Valley: The Panamint Mountains, vol. 2: “Butte Valley: Barker Ranch hike”
The night before our hike, we car camped at Russell Camp Cabin. It had a nice flat area in front. The buildings there are fairly decent inside but we slept in our car again. We did use the water at the camp to wash the desert dirt off of us, which was a nice bonus. The camp had a nice picnic table in front that we used too. The cabin is tucked in a canyon at the southern end of Butte Valley, and close to our next sightseeing destination: Mengel Pass and Barker Ranch.
pretty Striped Butte Death Valley Sunset Russell Camp Russell Camp
Goler Wash has a lot of historical sites and mining history. It’s the south west exit (or entrance) for sport 4 x 4 drivers to Butte Valley and Death Valley.
We chose to hike it because there was NO WAY we were taking our rig over Mengel Pass to get into Goler Wash from the north. 4 x 4, highly experienced drivers ONLY. We didn’t qualify with our 20 yr. old AWD Ford Explorer. Dropping over Mengel Pass from Butte Valley to Goler Wash is extremely rocky, bouldery terrain. Once you are in Goler Wash, the road isn’t much of a problem.
It was quite warm and the road walk was ok. We made a nice stop to see some memorials at the top of Mengel Pass. Carl Mengel’s cairn is still there.
We also took a side hike up to a hill to get a nice panorama of Striped Butte.
Carl Mengel's grave Cairned grave on Mengel Pass toward Goler Canyon
From there, it was downhill to a cairned spur road turning east. We were wanting to see infamous Barker Ranch. This road has some brush near it, and it’s in a wash. There is a nice canopy of trees there.
desert road walking treed road to Barker Ranch
After 3.5 dry miles of road walking we arrived at Barker Ranch. In 1968 Charles Manson was arrested there, and that was the beginning of his conviction for the Tate/La Bianca Murders. One of his dumb hippie followers burned some CalTrans equipment which led Inyo Co. authorities straight to Barker Ranch. Charles Manson was found hiding in the bathroom vanity. Thank god for their dumb hippie blunder. It was pretty eerie and quiet.
The ranch has a few standing out buildings and a small, rustic swimming pool made of rocks. The main building burned down in 2009 or so, leaving the stone foundation.
the bathroom, where they found Manson ranch house Barker Ranch swimming pool Barker Ranch fireplace infamous bathroom
We started walking to Myers Ranch, a half mile beyond Barker Ranch. We were unsure if it is still private property, but the menacing signs were plentiful enough to ward us off.
lots of signs warning that they'll shoot you
We turned around and headed back to our car. It would have been nice to go all the way down canyon, but it’s a long schlub to the mouth of Goler Wash. If you had an average SUV like ours, you could probably approach it from the west, no problem.
A large band of sports 4 x 4 drivers came in as we were heading out. Apparently SUVers can get lost out there and miss the turn off. They were all polite and thanked us for the info we gave them.
We had a nice leap frog with them on the way back to Mengel Pass. We even got an offer for chicken and dumplings from them for dinner. No offer for a ride tho.
We beat them to our parked rig, and drove off to camp at the north end of Butte Valley.
ad for 4 x 4 tires
|
Back to top |
|
|
NorthBen Member
Joined: 29 Feb 2012 Posts: 55 | TRs | Pics
|
|
NorthBen
Member
|
Tue Nov 21, 2017 12:39 am
|
|
|
If you haven't already seen it, this is an excellent long form read about "the hunt for the Death Valley Germans", a group of German tourists who disappeared in the Mengel Pass area in 1996.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Riverside Laker Member
Joined: 12 Jan 2004 Posts: 2818 | TRs | Pics
|
Wow, that story about the Germans was a page-turner, or webpage-flipper. Thanks.
|
Back to top |
|
|
ree Member
Joined: 29 Jun 2004 Posts: 4399 | TRs | Pics
|
|
ree
Member
|
Tue Nov 21, 2017 5:11 pm
|
|
|
Wow, that is an excellent link indeed! What an amazing story and blog post... Thanks for the link.
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate NWHikers.net earns from qualifying purchases when you use our link(s).
|