|
RECONNOITERING
IN THE EASTERN SIERRA NEVADA & GREAT BASIN
BY
4-WHEEL-DRIVE
Hosted
and Powered by 4WDTrips.net
|
|
HOME
PAGE
|
4x4
Trails:
Division
Creek / Armstrong Canyon
(Sierra
Nevada East Side)
|
Trail
Difficulty:
|
Moderate
|
|
Season:
|
Late spring,
summer, autumn
|
|
Elevations:
|
3937' @ Tinemaha
Road & Division Creek road; approx. 8265' @ road's end
|
|
Cell
phone Signal:
|
Good
|
|
Running
Surface Water?:
|
Division Creek
(Filtration required)
|
|
Trail
Travel Density:
|
Low
|
|
Nearest
Supplies/Emergency Aid:
|
Independence, Big
Pine – restaurant @ Aberdeen resort
|
The
Sierra's east side – bold, dramatic, sheer and convoluted. No
roads accomplish a complete crossover of its core, few probe its
depths, most stop at its feet.
|
Overview
of this byway.
|
Closeup
detail from the Division Creek powerplant to the end of the road.
|
|
Closeup
of road detail from Scotty Spring.
|
Driving
along US395 north of Independence, one may glimpse a path that
attempts a zig-zag path for the summits. This trail offers a short
but rich bisection of what the eastern Sierra has to offer:
geology, mineralogy, geography, biology and just plain 4x4 fun.
This roadway that
zig-zags up the sheer face of the Sierra was born for tungsten –
scheelite being the principle mineral used in hardening steel.
After the Great Depression prospectors combed the eastern Sierra
looking for this precious ore, as America needed harder steel for
purposes including armor plating for military purposes. High up
the face of the range here was found scheelite in quantities that
might be worthy of further development, so equipment was hauled up
to probe, thus requiring this roadway. A few mines – the
Valley View, Firecracker, Pinnacle, Rudy and Glacier – were
developed, this path was built to access them and haul in
equipment.
Scheelite ore was
found, but not in paying quantities, so the mines were abandoned
and the roadway left for our exploring pleasure.
|
This
road also crosses geological wonders also. Refer to Roger Mitchell's
“HIGH SERRA SUV TRAILS” for a complete description
of the geologic and botanical zones that this road bisects.
Mitchell's book is a must to have with you – along with the
Aberdeen quad of the USGS 7.5 minute series topographic map –
for more information on what you can see and encounter on this short
adventure. Mitchell also goes into the background, condition and
location of mines. Mr. Mitchell and I advise
you heed the warnings found in his book and here – stay out of
shafts and adits for your safety!
This
byway starts off the old highway south of the small community of
Aberdeen, due west of the Black Rock rest area on US395. Access to
the old highway from US395 can be from Goodale Road at the north end
or Sawmill Creek Road from the south. Either way, travel to Division
Creek Road, about smack in the middle of these two points.
This
trail starts off paved as far as the small Division
Creek hydroelectric plant, then maintained dirt to the bottom of
the range at Scotty Spring. Above Scotty, the pathway narrows and
starts its climb. The road seems narrower than it really is –
sagebrush tries its best to reclaim this byway, and so the outer two
feet or so of the road is covered in sage. The road is not
technically challenging but can be a bit spooky to those who are not
fond of steep drop-offs – along with some measure of
claustrophobia due to being hemmed in by the sagebrush and the side
of the mountain. There are a few places that one can turn around,
such at the radius of switchbacks. In some places rocks from above
have fallen on the roadway; and in spots that the roadway crosses the
large lava flow the roadway crosses gravely cinders which can allow a
vehicle to sink slightly, as if in soft sand. The byway ends in
Armstrong Canyon at a small flat well shaded by a pine forest.
Those
who wish to camp might find the mouth of Spook Canyon or Scotty
Spring a pleasant spot to set up. There is a small dam and pond at
the mouth of Spook Canyon, used to feed the penstock running down to
the powerplant below. There is a small spot to camp here or a grove
of oaks is nearby with a level spot to set up a camper or tent. At
Scotty Spring there is no surface water easy to get to due to the
heavy overgrowth, but a large grove of oaks and cottonwoods offer a
shady spot to camp. A fire ring and a few well placed flat boulders
also enhance the camping experience.
For
those inclined to hike, just above Division Creek powerplant is the
trailhead for Sawmill Pass and Sequoia National Park. There is
parking and a small kiosk with information.
The
photos below are from a drive up on a whim in the late afternoon and
early evening in July 2004 in my Toyota
Tacoma 4x4. On the way back to my home from a research visit to
Eastern
California Museum in Independence, a friend and I spent a couple
hours exploring but did not get very far up the face of the range,
time restraints forced us to turn around just past the large lava
flow a mile or so above Scotty Spring. When I get a chance to return
and make it to the top, I'll add those photos and a more complete
description of what is encountered. See Mitchell's book for more
photos and complete information about this scenic byway.
|
Starting
point on the byway starts at Division Creek Road and the old US395
south of Aberdeen Resort.
|
Above
the Division Creek powerplant.
|
|
A
shady oak glen at the mouth of Spook Canyon. The small pond and
check dam is nearby.
|
The
view of northern Owens Valley from the Spook Canyon camp.
|
|
A
refreshing small pond that feeds the penstock for Division Creek
powerplant below. A flat spot large enough for a camper is just
off the photo to the right.
|
A
shady camp at Scotty Spring. The byway up to Armstrong Canyon
begins here.
|
|
The
beginning of the roadway to Armstrong Canyon at Scotty Spring.
|
The
relative narrowness of the road is shown here, although the outer
edge of the roadway is an ample distance away under the sagebrush.
Those with larger vehicles might get a healthy dose of “desert
pinstriping.”
|
|
The
first switchback is encountered above Scotty Spring within the
lava flow. A nice view is afforded here out over Owens Valley. The
view is southward along the road and down to Scotty Spring and
Spook Canyon.
|
View
from the first switchback into southern Owens Valley.
|
|
This
is the end of my travel as of this date. The Valley View Mine can
be seen above the truck as a gray patch of rock scree, it situated
along the next leg of the roadway far above (the roadway behind
the truck goes off the photo midway, then crosses back above at
the base of the trees).
|
View
into Owens Valley from my turning point. The roadway into Scotty
Spring and the lower road up can be seen.
|
|
Beautiful
flowering plants profusely lined the roadway and pointed the way
upward in the middle of it.
|
Unfortunately
it was getting late in the day, so I had to retrace my path
downward and homeward. When the time comes that I continue upward
to the end of the road, those photos and road description will be
added here.
|
©2004,
2005, 2006 D.A. Wright
All Rights Reserved
Page
Revised: 08/14/2006
