We hired Farabee's to do a trailhead drop-off for us near the end of Owlshead Mountains Road:
This sign marks the trailhead for a hike to Epsom Salt Works. It also was the starting point for our hike toward Wingate Wash:
The three backpackers in our group (left to right) are Tobin, Debbie, and Steve:
The first part of the hike is simply following the old road downhill for a short distance:
This tarantula crossed our path in the wash. It was the first of three which we saw during our hike:
There is a nice view of Brown Mountain at the Davis Gate, which is where the trail (and old road) turns to the right:
Turning to the north, we now followed the fence line of the military boundary:
Our hike toward Wingate Wash actually follows the same route as the Epsom Salt hike. If it were not for the extremely long mileage we had planned for the day, we would have stopped by for a visit:
Zooming in on the beautiful and colorful Crystal Hills:
We began to find remnants of military testing and activity scattered around the area. This shows a small rocket or missile lodged into the ground:
Discarded gun shells can be found on every single hike in the Owlsheads:
We split up into two groups in order to increase the chances of finding something interesting along the western Owlsheads. Tobin and Debbie can be seen here hiking closer to the range:
Our efforts paid off when we found this fallen wooden structure. Perhaps this was something related to the Epsom Salt Monorail or Crystal Hills mining:
We were crossing a vast empty space of open desert along the western Owlsheads:
Steve and Debbie backpacking with the northwestern tip of the Owlsheads in the background:
We finally caught sight of Wingate Dry Lake very far in the distance. I had to zoom way in to get this picture:
Another piece of unknown military hardware or ordnance:
A picture of Tobin and Debbie backpacking with the southern edge of the Panamints behind them:
The Owlsheads are already seldom visited. But this part of the range is probably only visited once per year at best by hikers:
Hiking was fast across the easy terrain but the distances were vast. It was 9 long miles from our drop-off point to Wingate Lake. We were now over halfway there:
It's a bit hard to discern the ridgelines on this long range zoom, but on the left you can see Porter Peak with Mormon BM just below it. On the right, that's Telescope Peak:
View looking to the west toward the Slate Range:
The southeastern Panamints look quite scenic in the distance:
Zooming in for a closer look at some of the shapes and designs of the ridges and high points:
On the right, you can see a view of 4,819 foot Sugarloaf Peak that very few people have ever seen:
This is the colorful triangular peak to the left of Sugarloaf Peak. This small peak is only about 70 feet in elevation lower than the summit of Sugarloaf:
Speaking of rare views, Telescope Peak looked amazing from here:
The sky was stunning to look at above the vast wide open desert:
Tobin and Debbie maintaining a strong backpacking pace with the northwestern Owlsheads behind them:
We finally arrived in Wingate Wash a mere 2 miles northeast of the military boundary line:
Now hiking in Wingate Wash, we first aimed for the tip of the hillside seen on the left:
The hillside had a lot of sand on it, especially near the base:
The sand nearly formed a small dune at the bottom:
Just past the sandy hillside, we joined up with the old Wingate Wash Road:
Looking back, the old road is clearly discernable in the midst of the desert scenery:
There was a benchmark placed just a few feet away from the tracks of the Wingate Wash Road:
This benchmark was placed in 1955 and this was the first of four spots along the road where we found markers:
The tracks of the old road lead straight out onto Wingate Dry Lake:
Before exploring the dry lake, we relaxed on this rock outcropping and enjoyed our lunch:
Looking straight across Wingate Dry Lake from our lunch spot:
Soon it was time to begin our exploration of Wingate Dry Lake. An incredibly isolated and beautiful place:
Dried and cracked mud on the lake bed playa:
Tobin and Debbie gathering their backpacks and heading down onto the lake bed:
Panoramic showing the view across Wingate Dry Lake to the west:
This tall pole was still standing in the middle of the lake bed:
Backpacking across Wingate Dry Lake toward the northern end:
A picture of Steve showing a view of the lake with the southeastern Panamints:
Looking back at the vast stretch of Wingate Lake that we had crossed:
A panoramic showing a view of Wingate Dry Lake and the northwestern Owlsheads:
One more picture of Steve looking back to the south down Wingate Dry Lake:
Tobin nearly at the northern end of the lake now:
At the northern end, we found this fallen monument entrance sign:
The Wingate Wash Road must have still been open to vehicles when this sign was placed here:
Debbie propping up another fallen sign which says that no vehicles are allowed on the lake bed:
The edge of the lake bed doesn't have the same smooth level surface as the rest of the lake:
The terrain soon turned back to dirt and gravel as we left Wingate Dry Lake behind:
The Battle of Wingate Pass took place very close to this spot. Looking at this picture, you can imagine Scotty, his brother Warner, Daniel Owen, and their caravan having crossed Wingate Pass earlier (to the southwest outside of park boundaries) and now approaching these cliff bluffs where they were suddenly fired upon by "ambushers":
At the battle site and for a while past it, the main wash remained narrow and close to the right side canyon wall:
This was an interesting spot as it contained what can best be described as a sand fall:
Looking back, Steve is visible up on the cliffs above the wash checking out some of the views:
We still had another 9 miles of hiking to do after the lake. This photo was taken about 1 mile past the lake:
The upper part of Wingate Wash was a true wash with hardly any canyon walls for a couple of miles once we got past the battle site:
Some type of mining relic was buried in the wash:
The tracks of the old Wingate Wash Road once again became visible:
Finally, we reached an area which I call the horseshoe bend where the canyon walls (or hillsides) come close together once again:
Our group had a close encounter with this sidewinder rattlesnake:
The second of the four benchmarks that we found along the old Wingate Wash Road:
Just like the earlier one, this one was also placed in 1955, nearly 60 years before our hike:
Now walking through the horseshoe bend, the scenery was more enclosed:
In some areas, Wingate Wash was so wide that we had trouble choosing a path:
The main wash (and sometimes there could be many) usually had this type of ideal walking terrain:
The summit on the right side of the picture is Owlhead BM, one of the named benchmark peaks in the Owlshead Mountains:
Sugarloaf Peak once again came into view as seen on the right side here:
Zooming in for a close-up shot of the front side of Sugarloaf Peak:
It's too bad that all Death Valley terrain can't be this comfortable to walk on:
This shows the entire ridgeline of the front side of Sugarloaf Peak. I have the feeling that Sugarloaf Peak would have been one of the most popular peak hikes in the park if a paved road had been built through Wingate Wash into the park. But the through route was closed in 1943 by the navy:
We could now clearly make out the Black Mountains in the distance to the northeast:
One more look back at Sugarloaf Peak and the colorful triangular peak next to it:
The high point on the left side of the picture is the summit of Smith Mountain:
Arriving at the mouth of Wingate Slot Canyon, we set up camp for the night. Here, we have woken up the next morning to another beautiful day:
After exploring Wingate Slot Canyon, we continued hiking down Wingate Wash. We quickly encountered several bushes completely filled with butterflies. I counted 8 butterflies in this picture. How many can you find?
Two more pictures showing the butterflies of Wingate Wash:
We backpacked down Wingate Wash until we reached the turnoff for Wingate Slots 2 & 3 just past this area, about 1 mile from camp:
After that side trip (featured in our report on Wingate Slot Canyon), the backpacking continued again. The canyon walls around Wingate Wash then got much more interesting for a while:
As you can see, the hillsides were more colorful with unique shapes:
The next two pictures showcase more of the variety which I'm referring to through this area:
A picture of Steve on Day 2 of our Wingate Wash backpacking trip:
The Owlshead hillside peak seen here is kind of the divider between Slickenside Canyon to the left and what I call Wingate Canyon to the right. These canyons are the two largest in the northern Owlsheads:
Wingate Wash emerges from the narrower canyon area and opens up again:
We next arrived at the 478 Mine site and began exploring it:
The third benchmark of the hike was found on this rock wall above the wash. There was another benchmark pole in the wash, but the actual 478 Mine elevation benchmark had been stolen from it:
This benchmark listed the elevation as being 480 feet. This confirmed that we had found the 478 Mine being that the elevation was only 2 feet in difference:
Several of these giant barrels were found resting on the ground:
Some of the barrels were filled up with mining rock taken from this pile:
Notice that this barrel once contained Freon used in the mining process:
The next four pictures show various scattered mining ruins found in the vicinity of the 478 Mine:
Notice how the shack which once stood in front of this 478 Mine entrance has now completely collapsed:
An old tire which has become halfway buried in the wash over the decades:
Notice the long shadow that I am casting. One observation I had about our Wingate Wash hike was that we hiked in the best direction possible because the sun was almost always at our backs. Had we hiked it the other way, we would have been hiking into the sun all day:
Looking far down Wingate Wash past the 478 Mine, which we have now left behind:
Old mining relics continued to be spotted in the wash every once in a while:
Once Wingate Wash emerged into central Death Valley, we turned sharply to the left and continued following it:
The two peaks in the distance are Smith Mountain (middle of picture) and Smith Mountain South (right):
An unobstructed view straight up central Death Valley:
Using my long-range zoom, I was able to get a good view of the Grapevines far away:
The wash of Foundry Canyon can be seen at the bottom right and Smith Mountain at the top left:
As the sun began setting, this was the view to the west toward the Warm Springs and Butte Valley area:
Looking back for a final view of the Owlsheads, which have long felt like my own private hiking range in the park. I'm sure everyone else who does a lot of hiking there feels that way as well:
The fourth and final benchmark. This was my final picture taken before the daylight faded away. I made it back to the vehicle just before it got too dark to see without a light. That was 27 miles of true desert backpacking in 2 days:
