Thanksgiving Death Valley Adventure Day 2 (Nov 2021)

We pack up our things at the Minnietta Mine cabin and head out south to catch the Nadeau Trail. This is the same trail taken in the Winter Camping Day 2 (Jan 2021) trip, so if you haven’t read the posts in the Winter Camping (Jan 2021) series, go check those out.

We drive by a pretty extraordinary amount of donkeys at this time. We’ve seen plenty of donkeys around Death Valley, but the frequency at which we saw them on this trip and on this trail in particular was out of the ordinary for us.

Eventually we make it to the ghost town of Ballarat and make our requisite stop at the general store to see if there is anything new; as shocking as it may be for a ghost town, there wasn’t anything new. From here, we start driving up Pleasant Canyon.

A ways up the trail is the first free-use cabin – the World Beater Cabin. I am completely unsure of the history of this cabin, but it contains a wood-burning stove right in the middle of the room, plenty of space to sleep, solar power, and technically running water (as long as the tank is filled). The overall property is quite cool and it’s definitely a stop to keep in mind when choosing a spot to sleep.

Past the World Beater Cabin is another dwelling place, though it is not in near as nice a condition. It is also not named or otherwise specified on any maps, so it’s unclear how long the cabin has been there or what activities it supported. It is not in a habitable condition at this time, but I can see it being made livable with a concentrated cleanup effort. Although not pictured in this post, this is the spot we stopped to eat lunch.

Continuing on again after lunch, we arrive at the top of the trail at Rogers Pass. There is a neat memorial sign at the top of the pass with interesting history inscribed; I’ll leave it to you the reader to venture out to the area yourself to see what it says. At this point we’ve got to choose to turn north up a hill that looks less than appetizing (also knowing that it’s ultimately a dead-end) or turn south along the ridge – we turn south.

This eventually drops us off into a basin called South Park which at this time was just a giant, flat dust bowl. Interestingly, if you look at the right map, this long, straight, flat stretch of trail was at one point marked as a landing strip. On the outskirts of the bowl are plenty of abandoned mines or prospects. There’s also plenty of artifacts to admire.

After we get our fill exploring the basin, we keep on the trail which turns west and begins to take us through South Park Canyon and will eventually put us back on the valley floor. On the way through the canyon, we encounter “chicken rock”, which you can find videos of online, and two of the coolest wilderness cabins I’ve ever seen. There are two cabins in this canyon with running water and solar power; they are also plumbed to run propane (gas not provided). We can’t even see the water source nearby, but the water is provided by a pipe running from a spring further up the canyon. These cabins are truly an unexpected oasis. Just be careful if you’re ever driving through because folks like to shoot from the porch into the canyon and I can pretty easily see how an accident could occur if the shooter is not paying attention. With that said, you can hear motors coming from a ways away.

At this time, both cabins are fully booked for the night. But one of the occupants informs us that a little further down the canyon is a trail that takes you up and out of the canyon with an exceptional view and cellular signal. We decide we’ll check it out for the view.

And with the fire warming our souls, we close out Day 2. Day 3 is simply the return home and there was nothing picture-worthy or noteworthy. Go back to Thanksgiving Death Valley Adventure Day 1 (Nov 2021) if you haven’t read it already or see all the posts in the Thanksgiving Death Valley Adventure (Nov 2021) series. Feel free to comment with constructive feedback or simply to share your thoughts or your own stories. Make sure you check back in the “Trips” category to see the other trips I’ve taken with my blue yota!