panamintcity

My second trip this month found My little Bro and I heading back out to Panamint Valley on Saturday night. We arrived in Ballarat at about 3am. We crawled into the back of the 4Runner and hit the sack. Tomorrow would be a long day.

I awoke around 8:30am and began packing all the gear that we would need for our pack trip up to Panamint City. Today we would be meeting up with our Pal David Bricker, from up-state New York. David has not been to Panamint City since 1969 and was looking forward to seeing the city once again.

David soon arrived and we loaded up the gear and drove on up Surprise Canyon to the trail-head at Novak Camp.

We took the hike at a nice slow pace. The trail itself is becoming very overgrown now that 4x4's are not allowed in the canyon. Even the local wildlife is having a hard time traversing the canyon and new trails can be seen on the hillside where they try to get around all the overgrowth.

We arrived at the Hilton just after sundown and after a quick meal of chicken strips, we all went to bed.

In the morning I snuck out while the guys were still asleep. I wandered over by the Hippie Cabin and pondered the meaning of life while sitting in the outhouse. I then headed back into town and found that the guys were up and David was on his way back from exploring the ruins of the old mill. We then decided to head back over to the Hippie Cabin so David could check the place out. We soon went back to the Hilton where I made a late breakfast for us.

After we cleaned up the breakfast mess, we strolled up the canyon. Thompson Camp was our destination. On the way, we stopped to check out a few of the relics of Old Panamint. One thing that I really enjoyed was when David found that the Pinions were dropping their seeds. We spent about 15 minutes picking and eating pine nuts right out of the Pine Cones.

We cruised on up to Thompson Camp where we looked around for a few minutes then continued on up to the weather station at the head of the canyon. We then went back to the Hilton where David grilled up some Spiedies. Spiedies are chicken breast pieces marinaded in a special marinade that is only available in up-state New York. Thanks to the jug of Marinade that David gave me, they are now a favorite back home in Pine Valley.

Sunday morning found us loading the packs for the hike back to the real world. We would have to leave the paradise that is Panamint city behind until next time.

I want to thank David for coming along with Johnny and I. We had a great time and hope to meet up with him again soon.
Happy Trails