7:50 a.m.
We bought gas at Eddie World. It is 37 degrees out. Last night, before we settled in, we checked the air pressure on our spare tire, just to make sure it was ready in case we needed it today.

8:00 a.m.
Heading out of Beatty on 374 we spotted three burros, probably wild (ferral), down in a wash off of the north side of the road, about 200 feet out. But there was no way to get a photo.

8:05 a.m.
We pulled off Highway 374 at the beginning at the Titus Canyon Road. There is a large sign, so you can’t miss it, although there is a jeep trail that leads away from the sign before you actually get to the road. But the road is obvious and two lanes wide at this point. A mile or two along this route it is signed and becomes one way, going west. The GPS Coordinates for the beginning of the road are 36 51.552N; 116 50.776W. At this point it looks to be well graded.

9:16 a.m.
For the first 10 miles the road passes through desert vegetation and low hills, then climbs into some more interesting features. At about 12 miles we came to what I believe is Red Pass. There are switchbacks in this area, and the driving is slow, but the scenery is interesting. At this point, with great views down into the canyon, it is very windy and cold. The temperature is 50 degrees. Some of the switchbacks are pretty tight, but if you take it slow there are no real issues.

Leadfield, California (Ghost Town)

9:42 a.m.
We reached the ghost town/mining camp of Leadfield, located about 15 miles from the beginning of the Titus Canyon Road, at GPS Coordinates 36. 50.901N; 117 03.562W.

10:16 a.m.
There are several weathered and rusty wooden and tin buildings still standing, plus a concrete foundation where a stamp mill used to sit. There is a path through the underbrush back to a couple of buildings farther back, where there is also an entrance to an adit. This entrance has been cemented closed, but it has a solid steel door secured across it, with a small port for viewing or air to move in and out.

Above one of the main buildings, where there is a waste dump, is another adit. This one has bars placed across it to prevent access, but some less cautious individuals have apparently dug away the rocks along one side so that they could crawl in. This is an interesting area, but dangerous. Having worked in the mining industry, I would never venture into one of these old drifts. You never know when those old timbers will fail.

There is also rusting equipment and other artifacts lying about from the short life of this little town. It's an interesting little site.

Up to this point we had been alone on the road, but as we were getting ready to leave we noticed another vehicle making its way down the switchbacks into the canyon.

Klare Springs Petroglyphs

10:41 a.m.
At 17.6 miles from beginning of the Titus Canyon Road we came upon the Klare Springs Petroglyphs. A sign marks the location of one of the three panels that we found. They are on the right side of the road on three large dark boulders. The smaller panel is obvious and faces the road, but has been defaced by uncaring idiots.

If you look around to the southwest side of the larger rock you can see many more images pecked into the hard stone. Most of these have survived in good shape. A few feet farther down the canyon there is another even larger rock, surrounded by a large growth of reedy vegetation. There is a modern smiley face on one side, but if you look up high along the side facing the road you’ll see what looks like a sun with rays coming out of the bottom of it. That seems to be genuine (other than maybe the eyes and mouth), but one is never sure when there is so much graffiti around. I’ve seen this type of symbol before, and it may indicate a spring, which makes sense in this present context. The GPS Coordinates for this site are 36 50.471N; 117 05.441W.

See our Klare Springs Petroglyphs page for photos and additional information.

Titus Canyon Narrows and Trailhead

11:10 a.m.
As we neared the mouth of Titus Canyon we entered a stretch of narrows. This is a neat area and would be a nice hike in from the bottom, and indeed, we encountered several hikers and mountain bikers as we approached this area, and passed a couple of hikers in the narrows area.

And, so, there were a few cars at the trailhead. We found a spot to park and slipped on our boots so that we could hike over to Fall Canyon, which also leaves from here.

There is a pit toilet but no drinking water. The trailhead is at GPS Coordinates 36 49.308N; 117 10.456W.

12:38 p.m.
We didn’t make it past the mouth of Fall Canyon. I was experiencing some nasty lower back pains and just didn’t seem to have the energy to push through it across the loose rocks and sand in the wash. We probably made it about a half of a mile one way. The easiest part of the hike, although I doubt that other than walking in a gravel filled wash this would have been a hard hike. I have always had difficulty with walking in loose stream beds and I think that was the problem. No sure footing and it got to my back.

When we got back to the Tacoma we talked with a young couple parked next to us from Connecticut. They were getting their packs ready for an overnighter in Fall Canyon. They seemed very friendly and eager and I’m sure they were headed for a great time.

1:14 p.m.
From the Titus Canyon Trailhead we drove to Stovepipe Wells. There are a few picnic tables along the west side of the parking area there on the west side of the grocery store. We used one to eat our lunch. On this trip we have been using our picnic bag and a small cooler to carry our day’s food. It’s been working well. We’ve been having cold cut sandwiches, chips, and washing it down with Propell, a non-carbinated rehydration drink.

1:57 p.m.
When we finished our meal we visited the little grocery store/gift shop and bought a few supplies. Again, the items were not inexpensive, but location and supply and demand rein. We also bought ice cream bars and then used the restrooms, which are outside along the east side of the building. There is also a picnic table and drinking water there.

Behind the store is an RV park that is quite exposed. I can only imagine how hot it would be there in the summer months. There are no trees nor shrubs, just a light covered gravel and a small building that looks to be the public restrooms. The building doesn't look large enough to hold showers. I’m not sure if there are hookups in this RV park or not. The place was mostly empty.

The temperature at this time was 70 degrees.

See also Stovepipe Wells for Thursday, February 22, 2007.

2:03 p.m.
From Stovepipe Wells we drove back east to the Sand Dunes. There is no trailhead nor official stopping place. You can just pull over along the road anywhere along that stretch. There is a typical Park Service interpretive sign at one point, but that’s about it. There were only about three vehicles there when we stopped.

3:22 p.m.
We’re back from our walk out across the Sand Dunes. We walked out to the tallest dune and back. One source says that it’s one mile one way, another says that it’s two miles. I think that it’s two miles round trip. We had the dunes to ourselves while we were out there, but by the time we got back to the truck, there were quite a few people heading out. It was a lot of fun, working our way up and down and across the dunes. Closer to the road they are more rolling type dunes, like you might expect near a beach, but the dunes farther back are what you’ve seen in photos of the Sahara Desert, with the high peaks and sharp edges.

There are a lot of human tracks out there, but also a range of critter tracks leading off here and there.

We had to dump a lot of sand out of our tennis shoes when we got back to the Tacoma.

4:08 p.m.
From the Sand Dunes we headed back to Beatty.

Continue on to Thursday, February 22, 2007.