Long Distance Errands: Trash, the Doc, 1800s Remi Nadeau Haul Road, Chinese Sleeping Circles, Darwin Wash Road to Eclectic Darwin Town

RECONNOITERING IN THE EASTERN SIERRA NEVADA & GREAT BASIN
BY 4-WHEEL-DRIVE
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RESN&GB4x4 Trips:

Long Distance Errands: Trash, the Doc, 1800s Remi Nadeau Haul Road, Chinese Sleeping Circles, Darwin Wash Road to Eclectic Darwin Town
February 3, 2003

My Tacoma on the Remi Nadeau haul road, with 11,049 foot high Telescope Peak in the Panamint Range forming the backdrop. Note the rock work supporting the roadway. An explanation to that in the text of this page.

On a sunny Monday morning I had business to attend to. I needed to make a 131 mile drive to set out my trash cans because I forgot to set them out the night before. I hate it when that happens!

At the time, I was living in the Owens Valley town of Big Pine, California; I was still working down in Trona, California, down near Death Valley. I worked a schedule of four days on, four off. My practice was to drive down in the early morning hours before my first day of work, return home after my last day. During the days I worked, I rented a two-bedroom home in town near the borax plants. But in my haste to get out of the industrial moonscape of Trona and back into the eastern Sierra Nevada, I forgot to set out my trash cans before setting off for home.

It wasn't that important, really, to drive down there simply to set out the trash. But I thought I'd make a day of it – not only going to Trona to take care of the semi-important task, but also to take care of a few errands and a doctor's appointment in nearby Ridgecrest. On the way home, my plan was to include a little reconnoitering. One part of the trip home would include a route familiar to me – the old Remi Nadeau haul road down the northern slopes of the Slate Range into Panamint Valley; the other part would be a new road for me – that running up from Panamint Springs Resort and into Darwin via Darwin Wash.

Come along for the reconnoiter!

It was my second day off of work. If it were the start of my working week, I'd be leaving no later than 3:30 AM to head for Trona. But on this day I left far later. My first stops were to be in Ridgecrest, so I would head straight south on US395 to Inyokern, California; instead of making my usual left turn onto CA136 at the south end of Lone Pine, California so I could head out into the empty wilds of Panamint Valley to drop south to Trona.

It was a chilly but clear February morning as I head south on US395. Listening to the local Bishop radio station morning news, an interesting fact was reported: An observer at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory – which is visible from my home in Big Pine – observed the space shuttle Columbia as it passed overhead. He noticed objects lit up falling off the shuttle and falling behind. The observer thought it was the plasma trail of the shuttle as it hit the atmosphere, as the shuttle routinely looses heat tiles as it hits the atmosphere. But from NASA data and his observations, he was actually witnessing the start of the breakup of the space shuttle Columbia prior to its explosion over Texas.

This page isn't about my trip to Ridgecrest and Trona, so let's get on with the good part already! I made my appointed rounds in Ridgecrest and Trona, heading north from the joint San Bernardino / Inyo County line on the north side of town at 1:44 PM. It was now time to reconnoiter!

By 1874, the wild and woolly frontier town of Panamint City had sprang up and was pumping out rich silver bullion, perched high up in a Panamint Range canyon named Surprise. To expedite the rich silver ore to the nearest center of population, a dusty burg known as Los Angeles far to the southwest, a road was built over the Slate Range by a certain Richard Jacobs.

Shortly afterward in 1875, lookout! - the town of Lookout, fueled by the Modoc Mine, sprung up on the slopes of the Argus Range across the valley. A smelter hungry for piñon pine operated there and Remi Nadeau; a prolific teamster and road builder already busy with business at Cerro Gordo, Darwin and also in Panamint City; took on the task of building a road due east into the Panamint Range to tap into the thick piñon forests on its slopes; while also building a road due south – straight as an arrow – down to the foot of the Slate Range where Jacob's original Panamint City road turned east to head over to the east side of the valley at a point that later developed into Ballarat. Nadeau utilized Jacob's Slate Range crossing, eventually merging with his own Cerro Gordo to Los Angeles road by continuing south into Searles Valley, down the west side of Searles Lake past empty desert where is now Trona, then west through Salt Wells Valley and Indian Wells Valley to connect with his Cerro Gordo to Los Angeles road at Panamint Station. The road north of the foot of Slate Range to Lookout was often called the “Nadeau's Shotgun Road,” as it ran straight as a rifle shot on the floor of Panamint Valley. Standing atop the Slate Range summit, where the modern Trona-Wildrose Road tops it, you can easily pick out the old road heading due north up the western side of Panamint Valley.


My Tacoma on the upper reaches of the Nadeau road. Nadeau's road can be running straight up Panamint Valley at the left side of the image, hence it is still often referred to as the “shotgun road.”	At the summit of the Slate Range, Richard Jacob's road crosses the modern auto road – the Trona-Wildrose Road, and heads east, winding down the northern slope of the Slate Range for 3.2 miles before crossing the Trona-Wildrose Road again out on the Panamint Valley floor. Nadeau used a system of large wagons and long mule teams to do his freighting business, so set about improving Jacob's route over Slate Range by 1875 to easier accommodate those long mule teams and heavy wagons. Where the road traversed steep slopes, Nadeau employed Chinese stone masons – highly skilled in setting local stone so tightly without the use of any kind of bonding agent – to create stone embankments to support the road. This practice was used commonly in those days, supporting roads, buildings and railroad grades. And the Chinese were masters at the craft. They were so good at building the stone supports for Nadeau's road, that his road outlived him and his Chinese employees, being used as the automobile route north from Trona to Panamint Valley until after World War II, when the current road was built down the Slate Range. But locating stones and locking them in place isn't a swift or easy job and in those days the Chinese weren't merely transported to the nearest motel after their shift. They had to build their own. The frugal Chinese built numerous stone enclosures simply big enough to crawl into and sleep for the night. The so-called “sleeping circles” were generally less than three feet high and covered with canvas tarps. Being that the typical Chinese man was of slight and short stature, he did not need to make a large shelter. Just something in which to get his bedroll out of the prevailing wind and weather during the night. On the norther slopes of the Slate Range are approximately 33 sleeping circles built by the Chinese laborers working for Remi Nadeau. It's obvious that their doorways are turned from the prevailing southwestern wind – their openings face northeast. Look closely in and around each – rusted grommets from their covering tarps are present. These hovels are built with the primary native stone – all basaltic and volcanic in nature. The roadway embankments are also built of the same stone. And their work has lasted for more than 130 years. THESE SLEEPING CIRCLES AS WELL AS THE EMBANKMENTS OF THE NADEAU ROADWAY ARE HISTORICAL ARTIFACTS – PLEASE ADMIRE AND RESPECT THEM!
Chinese sleeping circle.	Chinese sleeping circle.
Three Chinese sleeping circles in a row.	This elaborate sleeping circle is unique in that it has a long, curved entrance, which would add even more weather protection and expressed the individuality of its builder.

In ten minutes after I had left my rented dwelling in Trona, I was at the top of the Slate Range and turned down the Nadeau road. I already had spent considerable time in the past exploring the ruins of the Chinese sleeping circles, and even cataloged them for the local museum. But they are a fascinating part of the region, although not exclusive to it. Chinese sleeping circles can be found along various and now abandoned railroads in eastern California and Nevada.

History of another kind is present and visible shortly after you turn onto the Nadeau road. Look along the slopes below the present auto road – you will see numerous cars from years past that didn't make the first curve or two – their steel bodies contorted and smashed from violent impacts as they bounced through the boulders below the highway.

The crossing of Water Canyon.

By 2:34 PM, it was time to continue north. The crossing of Water Canyon wash was foremost on my mind, as that canyon gets washed out often and with road closing results. Only a time or two was I ever able to drop down my former truck – a 1996 Chevrolet S-10 4WD pickup – down into the wash, cross and get up the opposite side. Dropping into Water Canyon wash is usually afforded because diligent off-roaders carve a notch and build a ramp to ease one's vehicles down over the 10-20 foot high vertical walls making up the wash's sides – these roadbuilding efforts erased with each cloudburst that comes roaring down this way.

I needn't have worried, as the notch and ramp was intact, and my Tacoma has far more ground clearance than the Chevy and a locking differential.

Northward I drove on both Trona-Wildrose Road and Panamint Valley Road, which T-bones into CA190 – the main highway between the Owens Valley and Death Valley. Turning west, the temptation to stop by for a beer on the porch of Panamint Springs lasted only for enough time the resort was in sight, as I kept going west for a short distance until just inside the mouth of Darwin Wash as it exits the Argus Range. Here I turned onto the road of history for a second time, only this time it was history of another era. Two eras, actually, for I was also making my own personal history as this was the very first time I was to ever take this road for myself.


E.W. “Bob” Eichbaum's toll road from Panamint Valley to Darwin. Photo from D.A. Wright collection, courtesy of Eastern California Museum.	The road up Darwin Wash between Panamint Springs and Darwin was once part of a toll road operated by E.W. “Bob” Eichbaum during the 1920s and 1930s. The road ran between Darwin and Stovepipe Wells Village (another Eichbaum enterprise) in hopes of opening up Death Valley to the tourist trade just prior to the creation of Death Valley National Monument in 1933. Today, the road is still a popular run, is semi-maintained, although I'd certainly recommend having all-wheel-drive or four-wheel-drive as there can be some sandy stretches along the way, and there are some steep and rocky climbs. Subaru Outbacks can generally make it, but keep an eye out for your lower ground clearance. Otherwise any other vehicle that can drive all four wheels should have no issues, unless there's been a recent washout. At a point 2.3 miles in on the road is the access for the short walk into Darwin Falls. I did not take the time to go in as it was already 4:00 PM and I still had a long way to go home, but a waterfall and refreshing pool of water in the middle of a desert wasteland is something unique and a must see. Just past the pullout and parking area for Darwin Falls, is a sign indicating that the rest of the road is for 4x4's only.
On the Darwin Wash road at the junction with CA190, which can be seen climbing the mountain wall to the right above the sign.	The road above the parking area for Darwin Falls.
	At a point 4.0 miles up from CA190, there is a large wooden ore chute and ruins of a stone building. The views here begin to open up to the northeast into the upper portion of Panamint Valley, the Panamint Range and Hunter Mountain. Modern CA190 can be seen snaking its way down toward Panamint Valley a fairly short distance northward.

Continuing up the main road are several inviting trails that branch off up the western face of the Argus Range, numerous mining structures and flumes can be seen on the mountainsides. But I didn't go to see them, as there was no time.

At the 5.7 mile mark, the road drops into a deep canyon, loosing considerable elevation gained on the way up. And then at 6.3 miles, an unsigned junction is reached. I gave logic the coin toss and drove uphill, thinking it would be the way to go, as I didn't have any maps with me to guide my decision. It turned to be the right one. It must have been – it's the main thoroughfare for the wild horse and burros, as their fresh and abundant droppings indicated.

Turning up the canyon, the road turned sandy, hence the need for 4WD. On the day of my visit, it was obvious that the road hadn't been traveled recently, as the tire tracks in the sand was faint. At times it was difficult to determine which was the wash bottom and which was the road – or if they were one and the same.

By the time the 8.3 mile mark from CA190 is hit, the canyon has widened up a bit and a set of ruins is reached. They appeared to have been associated with the acquisition of water. A tank, a water pumphouse and piping. Remains of an electric powerline was present with the ruins. Several large trees indicated that water was or is present here. I'm not certain as to what this water system served – as Darwin's current water source is south of town near the Coso Springs within the China Lake Naval Weapons Center.


The view south up Etcherren Valley.

At 8.7 miles since leaving the CA190 highway, another junction is reached. This one was signed, however, but the sign at the time illegible. One road heads on south, the other turns west. I had a hunch I needed to take the road west, as the other road seemed that it would soon get to the boundary of the northern limit of the China Lake Naval Weapons Center and be gated. I found out later by consulting my maps it was the best choice to make.

The road west turned to pavement immediately, confirming to me, anyway, I had made the right choice and this was once the main road into Darwin. The road, as I later found out, was Zinc Mill Road, and numerous tailings piles and foundations of structures were everywhere to be seen.

Climing ever higher into the Darwin Hills, I knew that at any time I was going to break over the top of them and look down onto Darwin. However, as I continued to climb, an overgrown road well supported by massive stonework indicated to me, anyway, Eichbaum's road, now unused. As I neared the crest of the Darwin Hills, a glance back over my shoulder brought me to a stop to enjoy the late afternoon winter sun on the Panamint and Grapevine Ranges of Death Valley to my east.

At a point 11.9 miles from leaving CA190, I topped the Darwin Hills and immediately started coming upon signs of habitation of the outskirts of Darwin; my reaching the center of town at 12.2 miles. Darwin is now a funky old town, inhabited by people I can only describe as those who highly guard their privacy and showing signs of being aging hippies that haven't quite yet let go of that era. A few picturesque old buildings, but not those of original 1870s Darwin but of later revivals, are found amid old Volkswagens, dune buggies, old American trucks and cars in various stages of ruin and assorted junk around most of the dwellings. The post office still operates here in this remote outpost. North of town are the remains of the huge Anaconda copper mines, mill and company housing complex.

I left Darwin at 5:17 PM. At that time in the middle of winter, darkness was already well in progress when I left. An hour and a half later I was home.

Page Revised: 03/22/2009