Panamint City Trip Report

This trip is a tough one to start and this time was even more difficult.  To start, post trip we find out that the road to the trailhead is technically closed as it was washed out in several places resulting in occasional loss of traction and at one point it puts you into the river.  We made it, but it was sketchy at some points.  Last year the remnants of Hurricane Hillary ran through this wash, it was evident that the resulting flood changed the flow of the river and I noticed the volume of water was at least 4 times that of previous years.

The first half of the 8 miles in was in the narrow section of the wash.  There was no way around it, your feet were going to get wet.  In these conditions it is best to give in early and dunk the feet in the water, and we did just that.  At one point during the first half you have to take your pack off and pass it under a tree branch, then crawl under this section.  Thankfully it was not in the water. 

The second half was a grueling 4 mile, completely uphill hike in the river bed that resulted from the hurricane.  There was no trail, it was gone.  Imagine walking up hill in sand and shifting pebble.  Not fun, especially for the average Parking.

The landmarks to the Castle (a backpacker maintained cabin) were also washed away, so we bushwhacked up a few canyons until we found Sourdough Canyon where we found the Castle.  We rested, then set up to cut firewood.  There are bow saws at the cabin and we found a few dead trees.  We got our stash of firewood ready then lit up the wood burning stove for a nice evening fire and dried out out socks and shoes.

The Castle is fairly well secured, so there was minimal rat activity and we slept in the cabin.  I did hear them scarring around and saw one.  But not a big deal.  The next day we rested and explored what’s left of this mining town.  We cut more wood, found the spring for water and enjoyed a lax day.

The trip back was faster but as you know, the pounding on the legs 8 miles and 4,000 feet of elevation loss made for some sore legs!

The drive out was fine, like the way in a little spinning of the tires, but we did it!

A hard hike, but cool destination.