Memorial Day Death Valley Adventure Day 1 (May 2023)

Much like the first Death Valley story, we’re starting near Trona, CA – specifically, the Trona Pinnacles. This 3-night, 3-day trip begins on a Friday after work; as such, the Trona Pinnacles is a relatively intermediate destination for night #1 which is allows us to get close to our ultimate destination, offers terrific scenery which I have not yet seen in person, and is relatively easy to reach in the dark.

Gary and Brent arrived at the Pinnacles much earlier than I on Friday and therefore had the pleasure of choosing the campsite for the night. I arrived late and exhausted from my traffic-filled drive, so I turned in for bed early. In the morning, we reheat some premade breakfast burritos and hit the road again.

The goal of this trip is to enter Pleasant Canyon near Ballarat and complete the loop to exit on the South Park Canyon side – so that’s where we head next.

A ceremonial stop by the Ballarat Trading Post is necessary each time one arrives at Ballarat. Not much ever changes in Ballarat, but pausing to see (or re-see) the history contributes a little more context to the adventure and helps bring it all together.

The first major historical site is Clair Camp. Clair Camp is a relatively large site with slightly more structure remaining than I have generally observed in other mines/camps. Beyond Nevada Expeditions says:

Gold was discovered on a ridge above Pleasant Canyon by Charles Anthony and John Lampier on July 27, 1893. They called their find the ‘Mineral Ranch’, which in 1895 was purchased by a group of investors from Los Angeles who organized the Golden West Mining & Milling Co. and erected a 5-stamp mill in the canyon below. Due to poor management and inadequate resources, the venture failed, but some who were brought in by the operation continued to prospect in the area. One, Henry Ratcliff, made a new strike in May 1896, spurring a rush to Pleasant Canyon below. Other claims were quickly staked out, including the World Beater by George & Bob Montgomery (South Park Development Co.), and a new camp of 200 called Pleasant City formed in the canyon during 1897.

As the mines in Pleasant Canyon flourished, a new town called Ballarat was established in the valley below. It’s opportune, flat location led to its becoming the primary town in the district, and Pleasant City emptied before the end of 1898. Meanwhile in Pleasant Canyon, new stamp mills pounded away at ore into the twentieth century. New discoveries at Tonopah, Nevada in 1901 drew many away, and horrific storms that year washed out the canyon and ruined many of the buildings at the mines and in Ballarat. Early in 1902, however, the Ratcliff Consolidated Gold Mines, Ltd., reopened the Ratcliff mine, followed by the Montgomery brothers’ relocation of the World Beater in 1903, bringing new life to the canyon and Ballarat below. The Ratcliff gave out in 1903 after producing somewhere between $300,000-$1,000,000, and being the highest producer dealt a crushing blow to Ballarat. The World Beater worked intermittently into the 1940s, but was never a strong enough producer to revive the camp and canyon below.

In 1930, prospector W.D. Clair began reworking tailings at the Ratcliff mine, finding discarded rock worth $4/ton. A tramway was also rebuilt to the old Anthony mine in 1940, and Clair recovered some $60,000; the camp remained in the Clair family until the 1970s. Some inconsistent work has continued in Pleasant Canyon since then, most recently with the purchase of both the Ratcliff and World Beater in 2012. Washouts coupled with increased visitation and vandalism has resulted in a quick decline of the remnants there, nevertheless it is a scenic and intriguing place to explore.

Clair Camp, at the site of old Pleasant City, was inhabited at least as late as the 1980s, but today most modern buildings have been removed, leaving only ruins of the old 20-stamp mill and ball mill, once connected by an aerial tramway to the Ratcliff Mine over 1500 feet above.

I’d also like to mention at this point that this trip revealed the most burros I have ever seen in a single trip to Death Valley. It really was kind of fun (and sometimes eerie) observing all the different burros along the way. In the end, they’re really only after food, water, and shade just like we are.

Sure enough, once we started cruising away from Clair Camp, there was another set of four donkeys sauntering along the road in front of us. Of course, them being burros, their will prevailed and we waited for them.

Next stop along the road is the World Beater Mine. We had previously stopped to admire the World Beater Cabin in the Day 2 of the Thanksgiving Death Valley Adventure (Nov 2021), but we did not proceed past the cabin to the mine. This time, we did it. It is a real rough road and based on some of the rocks (boulders?) we saw along the road which caused some hesitation, I can see it occasionally being impassible due to fallen rocks and other debris.

Continuing along Pleasant Canyon Road, we reach Roger’s Pass. We split to the left up a “road” (more like just tire tracks) to continue climbing in elevation in the interest of discovering what lies ahead. Looking at the map, there appears to be a “Mormon Peak” ahead that might be cool to see, so I take the lead in exploring. It is a rather steep and not-so-solid climb, so the others stay behind and await my radio confirmation. What I find is one of the most perfect spots along the ridge – it is flat, wide, and the views on either side are stunning.

This wraps up Day 1 (technically Night 2) in the Memorial Day Death Valley Adventure (May 2023) series. Be sure to pick up the continuation of the trip in the Memorial Day Death Valley Adventure Day 2 (May 2023) post.