At first glance, Greenwater Valley seems - especially compared to the other valleys of Death Valley National Park - downright boring. In fact, it is. Even its most-visited attraction - Dante's View - is what I would describe as "just OK," if someone asked my opinion, before volunteering several alternative views in the park that I feel are significantly more amazing.
Thankfully, few people ask - and even fewer care - for my opinion, and the world continues to spin.
Still, it was with great excitement that we entered the southern end of Greenwater Valley on the first evening of our trip, after exploring the 7th - and final - sand dune field the park had to offer. We were in unexplored territory, a rarity for us these days!
28 miles - plus another 60 miles of offshoots - of never-before-travelled road!
There'd be no exploring tonight, however. Tonight, we needed to find camp, make dinner, and catch up on the sleep we'd missed in order to catch our 5:15am flight to kick off the trip. Deadman Pass seemed like as good a place as any - offering, we supposed, a high point to enjoy sunsets and rises - and we raced the sun to find an open spot to setup camp.
According to this marker, we'd arrived.
Finding a nice flat spot, the sun began to play with the clouds overhead.
I'd argue that there's nothing easier, tastier, and that requires less cleanup, than our usual dinner of tacorittos. Plus, we'd been lucky enough to pick up three perfectly ripe, extra-large avocadoes at the store - a feat so rare that we should have purchased lottery tickets at the same time. This made dinner even tastier than we'd expected, since - having no avocados at home to bring along - we'd planned to go guacamole-less for this particular trip.
As we ate, the show "Nature's Nature" played on the largest of screens to our west.
Soon after - and only a little after 7:00pm - we were covered by our comforters with Kindles in hand. Neither of us lasted long, and soon we were fast asleep.
The following morning...
Knowing that we had a long day ahead, I drug myself out of bed after a mere 11 hours of sleep, at what had to be the height of the morning display.
Deadman Pass camp.
I fired off our family whistle almost immediately for @mrs.turbodb - so she could enjoy it too - but it was so fleeting that even as she climbed down the ladder just a few minutes later, I think she missed the show. Soon though, the sun was sweeping across the hilltops and the clouds were doing their darndest to impress, so it was still a great morning to be out on an adventure!
Someone appeared to have sprinkled cotton balls across the sky.
Opting to skip breakfast for the time being - it was still just 6:37am - we packed up the tent, spread a bit of sunscreen on our faces, and set off for the opposite side of the valley. We were following in the footsteps of miners before us; miners sure that they'd hit the motherlode!
Off we go!
Our first destination of the day was a network of roads that worked their way through Gold Valley to the head of Willow Springs, and Willow Creek Canyon.
Willow Creek is one of the finest canyons in the park. The upper canyon, reached by a long, rutted road, is a lush and narrow chasm irrigated by a half-mile long creek with several waterfalls, a distinction shared by few in arid Death Valley. The lower narrows have numerous falls that add challenge to their charm, until progress is interrupted by a 70-foot drop-off.
We wouldn't be doing any hiking today - it was a scouting day only - but I hoped we'd get a sense for the area, and places we wanted to return on future excursions. At the very least, we hoped there would be mines to explore, and perhaps a few artifacts to enjoy.
We thought this was Funeral Peak at the time, but the colorful mountain in the distance is just one high point of many in the Blacks.
Looking back as we climbed towards Gold Valley.
Reaching the saddle between Greenwater and Gold Valley, we realized we'd made a mistake. This is normal, and we didn't do it purposefully, but the result was the same: we'd camped in the wrong place! Rather than heading east up Deadman Pass, we should have driven into the sun, and to a spectacular view overlooking the snowy summit of Telescope Peak.
"Dang, we messed up."
After mentioning out loud that perhaps we should return to this spot - as out of the way as it would be by the time we were looking for camp - we dropped down the west side of the saddle, into Gold Valley.
Gold Valley panorama.
Copper is Going to Make Us Rich!
In August 1906, as the copper rush in Greenwater Valley was reaching its full swing, latecomers exploring outlying areas stumbled upon secluded Gold Valley. What they discovered first was not ore but Willow Creek, one of the most plentiful and reliable streams in the region. In a short time, however, signs of copper were found around the spring, and it sparked a disproportionate frenzy. Almost overnight, Willow Creek became the new mining utopia. Promoters and prospectors poured into the area. In November the camp that had been established near the spring was organized into the town of Willow Creek, with lots advertised for up to $250. By the end of 1906 five companies had been founded, involving millions of dollars of capitalization. It was only in the winter, after the dust of the initial rush had settled, that the companies started seriously looking around for copper. The wealth of the deposits had been grossly exaggerated, and little valuable ore was found. The momentum, however, was not impeded by such details, and several more companies were created before things slowed down a little.
This is what crypto looked like near Willow Creek in 1906.
A few rusty cans, including canned meat with its cool peel-around seal.
After poking around at the end of a few old spur mining roads, we continued down toward Willow Spring.
Actually, There's Not Much Copper. It's Silver!
In May 1907, as the interest in copper was slackening, one of the companies discovered high-grade silver-lead ore on its holdings, and the rush started all over. Copper companies came back to assess their properties for silver. New discoveries were made, all fairly small, but local newspapers magnified them to such proportions that more miners joined the crowd. In anticipation of an unprecedented rush, the ground was surveyed to make Willow Creek a sprawling 31-block city.
End of the road at Willow Creek.
There's not much left at the Willow Creek townsite - besides the old road and an old short rock foundation of the only permanent building ever constructed in the district - but we got out to look around and scope out the head of the canyon for a possible future hike through its lush channel.
(left) A cool, fractured rock marked the mouth of the canyon. | (top right) We found this strange steel-and-concrete wheel, perhaps part of some larger grinding device? | (bottom right) I really liked the look of these starburst Chia seed pods. (Salvia columbariae)
Did We Say Copper and Silver? Trust us, it's Gold!
Everything changed again in June when gold was discovered at the southeast end of the valley. The ore assayed at $200 per ton, and it drew even more excitement. The area was advertised as another Goldfield. The Inyo Register asserted that "the surface showing is the richest ever discovered in this desert region, if not in the world." Again miners streamed in and new companies popped up, reaching a total of 13 by fall. Willow Creek quickly died as the town of Gold Valley sprang up near the site of the strike. Many one- and two-man operations were working the hills, and by the end of 1907 dozens of small gold and silver strikes had been made. Gold Valley, approved by the county to cover some 96 blocks, included a lodge, a barbershop, and the mandatory saloon. In February 1908 the collapse of Greenwater brought in a new wave of miners and merchants. The population soon reached 70. A few frame buildings were under construction, others were moved in from Greenwater, and application for a post office was underway.
People come and go, but us diminutive dinosaurs just keep on keeping on.
But even in Death Valley illusions don't last forever. In the aftermath of the Panic of 1907, financial backing was scarce and development slow. In the beginning of 1908 only a few companies were active. In May the first ore shipment was finally made, about 250 tons estimated at $75,000. Ironically, it coincided with the end of the boom. There was just not enough ore to justify the hard labor and high costs of transportation and living in this remote location. By early 1909 most miners had left. The boom had survived two and a half years and involved hundreds of people, but probably less than $100,000 had come out of the ground.
Winding our way out of Willow Creek.
The town of Gold Valley, it turns out, was not actually in the valley.
As we reached the intersection that once denoted the center of the bustling tent-town that was Gold Valley, there wasn't much to see. Here, the lack of permanent structures - and the lack of anything valuable ever existing in the ground - has allowed nature to reclaim much of what was once hers. Only a few small workings dot the hillsides, none of which looked interesting enough to distract us from the much more dramatic rocky backbones splayed along the ridges.
Vehicles were narrower a century ago.
When you're just trying to sell shares, the adit only needs to be a few feet deep. Deeper, in fact, might prove you're a shyster.
Colorful crags.
The best "gold" was left behind.
Heading out, thankful that our Tacoma wasn't one of the newfangled "American-size" behemoths.
Our exploration of Gold Valley complete, we had only one more road network to explore on the backside of the Black Mountains. Back out in Greenwater Valley, these roads would take us through the ghost towns of Greenwater and Furnace, and wind amongst the old workings of a myriad of copper workings from the historic Furnace Creek Copper Company Mine.
After lunch entertainment, as it were.
The clouds were looking great as we worked our way north in Greenwater Valley.
Spread amongst the hills of central Greenwater Valley, an astute reader will recall that the copper boom in the town of Greenwater was what kicked off the Copper-Silver-Gold debacle in the area we'd just explored. Greenwater itself - as the story goes - was no different:
Greenwater was the site of the most spectacular boom in the history of Death Valley mining. While other districts, such as Bullfrog, Lee-Echo, Panamint, Skidoo and Leadfield had their booms, which saw rushes into new mining areas and the establishment of new mining camps and towns, Greenwater surpassed all the others in the brilliance of its birth.
"All of the great copper magnates are looking to this section," reported the Inyo Register in May 1906, "which is destined to become the next great copper district of the world." That prediction seemed to be borne out a month later, as the copper belt was "proven" to be at least seven miles long. Four of the larger mines had by now been incorporated into full-fledged mining companies, and Greenwater seemed assured of a long and lively life.
Within a year and a half from the beginning of the rush to Greenwater, the deserted desert was home to over two thousand inhabitants in four towns, seventy-three incorporated mining companies, and was the focal point of over 140 million dollars' worth of capitalization.
But it was not only the amazing rush to Greenwater which sets it apart from other booms, for Greenwater also experienced the shortest life ever recorded for a boom camp of its size. Within one year from the height of the boom, all but five of the companies had left the district, and Greenwater was practically deserted. By the end of two more years, everyone had given up, and the Greenwater Valley, the scene of so much bustle and excitement a short time before, was once again completely deserted. This combination of a tremendous boom, a brief life and then complete desertion, all within the space of less than four years, has made Greenwater a name which is still anathema to the investing public, and dear to the hearts of desert folklorists. Few, if any, mining camps in the American west have ever combined such initial excitement with such total disappointment.
Climbing the western side of the valley, through land that was designated for the cemetery. The boom was so short-lived, that it was never used.
To the north, the dark flanks of the Funeral Mountains towered above the valley.
Someone has collected - illegally as DVNP documentation is quick to point out - many of the fuel cans from the surrounding landscape to build a monument at the old townsite.
Today, platforms - perhaps once the site of homes or workshops - make for splendidly flat camp sites, with layered views into the distance.
There was little to see at either of the old townsites, and soon we found ourselves winding our way into the mountainous terrain that once bustled with the largest mines in the district - the workings of the Furnace Creek Copper Company.
The roads here got a little rougher, but nothing that would cause us any sort of trouble.
The waste rock pile surrounded the large vertical shaft, fenced by the NPS to keep us all safe.
We've never seen barbed wire ringing a shaft before, and @mrs.turbodb gleefully suggested it was to keep me - personally - out.
Inside the shaft, horizontal levels reached out to follow the ore.
The waste rock piles at some workings were larger than others, and as we looped around from one to the next, the low rumble of jet engines high overhead caught our attention. Craning our heads out the windows, our initial instinct - to complain that the planes weren't low enough - was quickly replaced with enjoyment as we realized that we were watching a refueling operation!
Our priorities suddenly shifted skyward, the Tacoma abandoned on a hillside, engine still running.
The tanker (Pegasus KC-46) made several loops around the valley, each time fueling a different number of F-35s.
"I'm not ready to go yet."
And then - a surprise! Behind the first tanker, we saw what we thought was a second. Only, on closer inspection, it wasn't a tanker at all. Rather, it was some sort of communications center, a UFO-like saucer perched above the fuselage.
What type of plane are you, and why are you following the tanker? (AWACS Boeing E3, thanks Skidoo)
Eventually of course, we had to keep moving - the sun wasn't getting higher in the sky by this point - and we soon found ourselves a few hundred feet away, exploring another fenced copper shaft.
Another nice camp site as long as it's not too windy!
A wooden collar had been constructed in order to keep the shaft from falling in on itself.
Tempting, but resisted.
"We're gonna be rich!"
The crystalline structure of this copper ore was different than anything I've seen previously. (perhaps Fibrous Malachite?)
By now it was 3:30pm and we had one more road to explore before throwing in the towel as those who'd wandered these lands in search of precious metals had done 120 years prior. As with those we'd already traversed, this one led from one working to another. But unlike the others, it headed even higher into the hills.
Don't get too excited, only the road length and "DEAD END" portions of this sign are true.
Out to investigate.
These guys weren't dealing with small rigging. A 14"x14" beam (left), and the associated fist-size square nut (right).
Black Mountain saddle.
Reaching the saddle was both exciting and a little deflating. This would have been a fantastic place to wake up or spend the morning - with the sun streaming down to Badwater and the Panamint Mountains beyond - but this later in the afternoon it was shining the wrong direction, casting everything in shadow and an unenjoyably harsh light.
And with that, it was time to find camp.
Down we go.
Nearly back to the Greenwater Valley floor.
With no one else in sight, we once again got our pick of where to camp. Ultimately though, we didn't take much advantage of this opportunity, instead opting for a site that would enable us to quickly get underway the following morning. Then, the hunt would be on, and we'd need to "be vewwy quiet," as we were "hunting for wabbit."
Rock Art Along the Way
As we poked around the various sites throughout the day, we were lucky enough to run into a few petroglyphs. To help keep their easily accessible location a little less obvious, here they are out of context.
Solitary glyph, fading away.
A map? Perhaps to water?
The Whole Story
That strange plane is an AWACS Boeing E3. It is kind of a dinosaur being based on the old Boeing 707. Pretty rare to see one.
Awesome, thanks! I love the fact that so many people who know so much about this stuff, are always happy to pipe up! ✈
I was with the 964th AWACS in Ok City late 90's. Old plane, well maintained by the best techs.
I was just here a couple months ago. We parked at the turn around and hiked down to find the spring. Lots of animal tracks and droppings. Cool spot! 👍🏽
Awesome! Was a fun spot to visit, and one that we'll likely be back to in order to Hike Willow Creek! Not sure if you know of Diggonet, but if not, I think you'd really enjoy this book: Hiking Death Valley - Michel Digonnet
Appreciate the recommendation. I don’t know Diggonet, but I think I will soon. 😎👍🏽
That's such a cool area. Far less visited than other parts of the park. Spent a good amount of time over several visits exploring all over that area. Thanks for the memories, been a few years since I've been down there
Glad I was able to bring back some good memories for you! It's definitely not as visited (for good reason, it's certainly not as dramatic as other parts of the Park) but it's got its own charm for sure.
I've already got four hikes in the area I want to return for. Will be a fall trip though, as it's getting warm down there these days!
Plane is the usaf newest tanker which is replacing the kc-10. It’s the Pegasus KC-46.
The KC-46 is distinctive in looks as it only has two engines where the KC-135 has four engines and the retiring KC-10 has three engines, the third engine being in the tail.
Awesome, thanks so much! Story updated.
Lisa - good to know! I was a crew chief on KC-135R during active duty, and later with an ANG unit in Connecticut I got a ride out over Cape Cod Bay in a KC-10. I haven't kept up and wasn't aware of the newer KC-46.
Actinolite schist (?)
Could be. As I mentioned in the story, I've never seen anything quite like it. And I'm no "rock guy" beyond the frequent, "wow, check out this cool rock," so I appreciate the possible ID! 👍
Fibrous Malachite
Thanks!
How can you tell? (so I can in the future)
Maybe this could help: https://rockchasing.com/types-of-malachite/
We were just there a few weeks ago. Would have been surprised to run in to you there!
Malachite takes on many forms (if you google images) in nature. You were at a copper mine, and Malachite is a copper carbonate. If you found blue, that was probably Azurite.
At my mine, the copper starts as Chalcopyrite (Copper version of Pyrite). It degrades to Azurite, then to Malachite. The copper is late-stage (came in later), after the Amethyst.
Stop in if you are in Grand Junction, Colorado. I will teach you a few simple things about rocks...
I was clearly going to fast, and assumed that Actinolite schist was also a form of copper, because this was obviously copper, there was tons of (for me) recognizable Malachite on the ground. I'd simply never seen anything "fiberous" like this.
We've (naturally) found a bunch of Azurite along with Malachite in several places, but the most dramatic was in the Mojave a few years ago. So bright and blue!
Thanks much for the offer. I'm not through Grand Junction regularly, but have been a few times to pick up Alcan springs or on my way to/from CO adventures!
Looks to be a nice ladder!
THAT'S WHAT I SAID!!!
(and I may have mentioned that "Tom and Julie would go down there." Of course, we had no ropes/gear, and it had no effect on her opinion. 😉)
lol
Sucks you have to reserve camping in greenwater valley now
I hear where you're coming from, but it is not really all that big a deal IMO. Giving money to DVNP is a great thing (again, IMO) since it offers so much, for so little. Reserving a spot (now that you can do it online) is easy, so that's not really a hurdle. There are plenty of spots to camp, so that's no biggie. And, lastly, there are dozens of places that aren't along Greenwater Valley Rd/Furance Creek Wash that don't require a permit. So, IMO, no biggie, but definitely a change from the past.
Just seems like a money grab to me since it wasn’t needed before. My issue is if someone reserves a spot for for a few days then doesn’t show up the rest of us are SOL. Still love Death Valley to my core but not being able to move freely from place to place without have to make a reservation kinda takes away the uniqueness of what DV was.
It also seems like they are gearing up to implement this in the rest of the park as well which would really suck
I don't think they are gearing up for the rest of the park (from the multiple employees and rangers I've talked to), only trying to keep some of the "more camped" roads (generally, roads close to campgrounds where people go to escape the CG fee) from being overrun with too many sites/too much off-road travel.
I dunno, I have no problem with what I'll put in quotes as "money grab" for a place like DV, since it's all on the honor system anyway, and where so much amazing is available for the enjoying.
It's a little funny to me how when we really love something and want to support it (sports team, charity, restaurant, etc.) we are all about giving that entity money (tickets, donations, etc.), but when it comes to national parks (and similar abstract entities), we're like "I love this, but it should be free." Those abstract entities need our monetary support as much or more than the sports teams, restaurants, etc. (esp. in times like these) Anyway, just another way to look at it, and why I'm always happy to pay for my America the Beautiful, camping fees, etc. 👍
I would agree about the paying thing but we are already paying an entrance fee. Kinda double dipping imo. It’s def not a deal for me but if they are charging $10/night for a spot plus an entrance fee that could be then deciding factor for some less fortunate to not go. It was working just fine before so why fix what isn’t broke. I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t implement the reservations for homestake dry camp and all the canyons off westside road.
In conversations with people on the ground, it was *not* working well before. They were finding tons of toilet paper, poop, and trash in these places, and they were constantly trying to block off-trail tracks/driving.
The entrance fee thing is interesting. I'm doing a trip over to Utah's Cedar Mesa area soon (Bears Ears area), and one of the things you have to do there is get day hiking permits. Like everywhere else, they have an FAQ, and one of the questions is this one, which I think does a really good job of explaining the difference and why there are separate fees for entry and activity:
Q: Does my America the Beautiful Pass count toward my permit or pass?
A: America the Beautiful Passes typically count for entry to public lands. For example, if you were visiting our neighbors at Canyonlands National Park, you would show your pass to a ranger upon entering the park and that would grant you entry. But if you were planning to backpack in Canyonlands, you might need to pay for an activity fee in order to do so.
At Bears Ears National Monument, we do not charge an entry fee where your America the Beautiful Pass would typically apply. However, we do charge activity fees called "Individual Special Recreation Permits" for day hiking and backpacking. Because your America the Beautiful Pass does not cover Individual Special Recreation Permits, it does not apply toward your backpacking permit, Moon House permit, nor day hiking pass.
It’s hard for me to compare Death Valley and other national parks especially in Utah just based on the size and amount of people that visit. Death valley to me always had this kinda free feeling that’s other parks didn’t and I guess I’m just not ready for that change yet haha. I one hundred percent the permit aspect of death valleys change just not the charge per night. From my understanding adding all these extra fees and what not may increase revenue but that doesn’t always mean the budget will increase, all it does is give the park a reason to ask for more funding but I’m not sure how often that happens. I’ve never looked up that info but I’m sure it’s out there somewhere.
I’m jealous about your trip to Utah, I’ll be heading that way later this year to look at housing so I’m going to try and squeeze in a few night in the back country. Dope rig by the way I have you a follow on IG 🤙🏼
By the way - I want to also mention that I appreciate this discussion we're having and that we can have it cordially/respectfully. So much of what happens on social media is always so "attackmode" that I really appreciate this sort of conversation.
Yea man same here, I was going to say the same thing but you beat me to it. There’s pros and cons to both arguments imo and I understand the reasoning for the latter, I just don’t completely agree with charging people more money to do what we had been doing for years for free.
Here’s an example of what I’m talking about when it comes to adding more fees doesn’t generally mean good in a way. To note this has nothing to do with the currently state of the US & Canada nonsense going on rn. At homestake dry camp they installed a new toilet, great right? It looks nice functions ok and I’m sure cost a small fortune. My issue is when I looked who produced it I was shocked to see it was made in Canada , why is our park fees and camp fee money going to products not being made in the US for a US national park? I can’t imagine it was any cheaper to make in Canada than it would have been to buy from an American company. It’s a small issue in the grand scheme of things but to me an important one.
There's definitely a lot of purchasing stuff that we could be doing differently (I have no idea if this is one of them, but I think those conveyer belt toilets were something designed in Canada for a lot of their Provincial Parks).
Still, I like to separate "procurement decisions" from "contributing to a cause I like." I give the cause money because I like the cause as a whole, and not because I agree with all their decisions; I have to let them make the decisions, rather than micro-manage them.
I definitely think that everything on the menu is super-fantastic at my favorite restaurants, but I still want to support them. The Oakland A's (they will always be Oakland to me) have made some god-awful decisions with Moneyball, but I'll still pay for tickets to watch. (no idea if you follow baseball, lol)
At any rate, I get where you're coming from, and thanks again for the convo.
You know, one problem with Death Valley and all those alluvial fan areas in the desert is that you so often have to to dig shallow holes to level the vehicle that you have to fill in the morning or put rocks or some wedge-shaped levelizer under the tires. Life is so tough! It would be an awful thing if you weren't in a desert paradise! UJ
Great tale for us armchair adventurers. Excellent photos, great sunrise/sunsets, yep we got great ones out here the desert but, as you say, the peaks only last a few minutes, run inside to get a camera and then back out to find the fireworks are over! Appreciate your travels and tales even more not that we can't get out much, a big THANKS!
Thanks John! At least there’s always “tomorrow” for sunsets.