Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

-, ......~~" -, MU -, -, -, :" ", I : , ..... ... i U.O( ~ '" "- I , lV:':E. f .. .. ..·-.. "- I ........_~-;1 -t . . .. . . .., . ' ---i .~ , ~ .. . .\ : . : ::LL··-i · , DAYl Oto GfIAr,yt I III=f~lI"" '~ 1- - - _ .. _ ... . I I , ....... .. ~ , , This is all that remains of t he A sh f o rd Mill , built in 1915 wit h double-thick cement walls. , , ( &~'HG' ':'.,~ . ~ 2:~~"'TIII J GOl.D "''''U;E1' '. ..... . 00< ' ' ........u" , l , .' I ~ ,,!- p- - -- - - .. : : , IIUnE V"'lLE~ , , , 10. •_ • _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ _ -, : ···.r ·::-... . . .:.:: ::.:.. ! WAIl.. ' : .. ....{ • .".~ .. . .. .. .: _'5 " VAlI"n x, IHISCOl'f l1 .lJo" Of A'''' . CALI f Ne... BOUNOA RY ~ _ O"' '' M 8OU NOARY _ PAVEO ROAD • ••• • • • DIRT ROAD OR fR AIL . , .... . r "'S" ~OMO I "" IH I .. , . I I I I . I - . -- - '", , , , , , , I Maps do n 't convey the vast ness of Death Va lley . The Eagle Borax Works were the first attempt to mine borax in Death Valley. Transportation difficulties halted the operation. Badwater, at 279 feet below sea level. is one of the low est points in the United States, 190 , go rig h t to 6.5 mil es a nd en ter so ld severa l ti mes b u t fin a llv shu t T wcn tv Mul e Tea m Canvon. It was d o wn before a p rofit was mad~. Note here the fi rs t frame hou se in th e va lth e thickness of th e walls a nd Iou n lev was buil l. It now houses T he d ations. A d ouble order o f ce m ent Bo rax Mu seum a t Furna ce C reek was d eliver ed bv mi sta ke a nd it was Ran ch. A r ide th rough th e ca n yo n is ch ea pe r to u se it tha n send i t ba ck . kind o f fu n . T hey wer e shooti n g a T he d escriptive sign a lmost tells it m ovie and sever al trailers a n d a mil e a l l. o f ca ble a l mos t bl ocked th e road. At An ea sy return ca n be m ade by fol 9.2 mil es, resum e o n 190. You a re in lo w ing th e pav ed ro ad ba ck to Fur. Dea th Valley Wash, th e way th e '4ger s nare Creek. By using thi s route you entered th e a rea . T his was h div id es can visit Badwater .the Natura l Brid ge the Amargosa Range into th e Blac k a nd ride through th e Artists P a lette. Mount a ins o n th e so ut h and the Th e older fo lks on th e ride will probFuneral Mountains to the north . a bly welcome some smooth pav ement. Continue o n 190 to 13.6 mi les. turn Traffi c is usuall y no p robl em because r ig h t a nd in a sh ort distan ce will be it is li ghtl y tr avel ed. We us ed it \0 the en tra nce to th e Am erican Borat e sa ve o n gas eve n th ou gh it is a few Compa ny . A tad farth er is th e road to mi les long er. It a lso m akes fo r easy the to wn o f R ya n . The town o pe ra ted re trieva l if th e bike DNF. As in a ll fro m 19 14 to 1928. It is p r ivately Death Valley rides. a st reet-legal bik e o w ned a nd is sti ll preu y much int ac t. is need ed a lo ng wi th a C las s 4 licen se. It ma y not be vi sit ed . A narrow ga uge Round tri p o n th e a bo ve ri de wa s a ra ilwav co n nected R van with th e m oderate 94.6 mil es. T onapah and Tidewate'r Railwa y near Our secon d ride, a i4.8-mil e ru n , Death Vall ey Juncti on. Wh en borax was to be to Gold Val lev. We left was discov er ed a t Boron , Ca lfio rn ia , Furnace Creek aga in a t '1 a .rn. Set the min ing sh ifted ther e. your odome ter at 0.0 and h ead sou th When we left the va lley th e tem per) .6 mi les to th e junction of Highwa y a ture wa s id ea l. As we got a bov e 2000 190 and the Badw.uer Road. Go left , feet it began to drop. At 4000 feet stayi ng on 190 un til 5.3 mi les . H ere some ex tra clothing wa s needed. I tak e a right turn int o th e Zabriskie Point p arking lot. You us ed to be slip p ed into m yoId flannel shirt and abl e to drive fa th e top. but no m ore. stuffed my topo maps inside. Neat Th e po int is named afte r Christian . windscr een. Later it warmed a bit • _ld<\'heomaps had to come-out, Con• ore- ft o m- a "l1'e3f'bymiJI ~~;;~~~~~~~ $~trrnr. ~bri5ki _ n boss of cessm!l~. "~1"ll ope,..dtion urn to - 0' , .. .,j~·fO 21,.2 m iles and .;i.To..'ItShows bl y th e lea st visit ed pl ace in Death Vallev Mon u m en t. I hav e never see n a nyone o ther tha n my own group in there. I usu all y enter fro m th e Pana mint Val lev sid e via G ol er Wash . H a vin g been in Butte Vall ey five times we elected to h ead so utheast so me 12. I mil es to th e mill ru in s. T h is turned o u t to be a very wi se decisian as th e bike with th e sideca r. its p assenger and e x t ra wei ght. was drinkin g fue l like a th irsty ca me l. Th e 250, legal but sti ll a rac er , wasn 't d o in g much better. Th e 30· p lus mi les saved by skipping Butte Valley still had both running o n fum es wh en we returned \0 o u r ca m p site. My tru st y a nd th rift y TS wrung o u t a beautiful 69.4 miles to the ga llon. Southeas t o f th e Sa lt Well T anks we had to run th rough so me nast y silt beds . T hese were th e worst I ha ve ever been in . Being in th e lead I was in pretty good shape. but th e o ther riders had to back o ff to a half mile a pa rt just so th ey co u ld see. On e rider t hought I had don e a horific endo wh en I disappeared into the first bed. From the ta nks bear left a nd a t' 38.6 you cro ss th e road g o ing up Warm Springs Canyon and into Butte Valley. Continue a nd pav ement shows a t 4 1.5 mil es. T u rn r ig h t, m otor down to 43.3 a nd turn righ t. T hi s is the Ashford Mill R ui ns. up. G o righ t, stayi ng o n th e p av em ent , p ro ceed to a n d sto p a t 54i5 foot hi gh Dame's View. To th e ri ght th ere is a short trail . for foo t travel o n ly. o u t to Wh itn ev View. You ca n see 14.495 foot l\Iount Wh itn ev if it 's a cl ear da y. Down belo w is Ba dw at er at a minu s 279 feet. T elescope Peak , th e hi ghest point in th e m onument , is directly across th e vall ey. Retrace your route ba ck down to th e fo rk , yo u r mi lea g e shou ld read 32.6. Turn righ t o n to th e dirt and co n tin ue to 35.4 m il es. T u rn right and after crossing severa l faint side roads sto p a t 38 .8 mil es. T h ere sh ou ld be a road o n vo u r left. If it 's th ere.this is th e si te of Furnace. Both Furn ace a nd th e nex t site wel l vis i t, Greenwa ter. wer e lik e a n ea rly -day Lead field (see Death Vall ey V articl e Cycl e News , Nov ember 24 , 1982 issue ). S ma ll a m o u nt s of so -so co p per o re wer e h yp ed , so th e word sp read ca ll ing it " the grea test str ike" a n d " w ill exceed BUlle, Montana. " With this. th e rain bow chase rs rushed in . Furnace was fo u n ded s h o r tly a fte r G reenwater. There was very lillie are, so the town fo ld ed q ui ckl y. It is said that there wer e more pounds of stock certificates printed and sold th an pounds o f ore taken . T a ilin gs from several min es ca n still be seen . Finding Greenwater can be a littl e tri ck y, but with a tapa it makes it a lo t easierl'Frorn the center o r Furnace

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