Winter Camping Day 3 (Jan 2021)

Day 3 is bittersweet from the very start, at least for me. As lame as it sounds, this trip was the start of something new for me. It was the first time I went overnighting with my new truck — and the truck was AMAZING. It was also an introduction to the seemingly never ceasing and always impressing Death Valley desert. I can’t ever imagine it won’t be one of my go-to places to explore.

After our very cozy night in the cabin, we eat breakfast and pack up our things and make sure we leave the cabin in better shape than we found it. It is unclear exactly where the day is going to take us, but the adventure continues nearby!

We spend an hour or two hiking around the workings of the mine before hitting the road for the day. We find multiple open mine shafts which allow us to venture into the earth much further than we probably should have! It is extremely fascinating seeing the old structures and other artifacts; we stumbled across the steel and rubber remains of a steel-toed boot with a few shreds of fabric leftover. After we get our fill of hiking the mines, we jump back in our rigs and hit the Nadeau Trail again.

The Nadeau Trail ends at Highway 190 and in spirit, so does this winter camping trip. It is a short drive west to Panamint Springs where we air-up and fuel-up. The slogan at Panamint Springs is “Where the adventure begins” and the irony feels strong. After the rigs are ready to roll, we hit the road back to Orange County. We make a final stop at Father Crowley Vista Point for lunch in hopes that we get to observe some jets fly by, but we are left with only a majestic view of Rainbow Canyon.

Thank you for taking the time to read my writeup of our Winter Camping 2021 trip! If this is the first post about this trip that you’re reading, make sure to go back and read about days 1 and 2 in the Winter Camping (Jan 2021) series. This is the first story added to my site and I’m excited to share all the others I have backlogged still! 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!