Donkey Trails

Share info and ask questions about great places to hike throughout the Death Valley and adjacent areas!

Re: Donkey Trails

Postby blackturtle.us » Sun Sep 11, 2016 7:58 pm

EMMA PEAK LOOP
The loop is eight miles (and change) with slightly over 2200' gain/loss. The etching on the rock says that the elevation is 5200', but my mapping software insists that the actual elevation is 4997'. I have no idea who created the etching.
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Re: Donkey Trails

Postby BallaratBob » Tue Sep 13, 2016 7:46 am

blackturtle.us: Interesting route. I'm sure I've been up every canyon in that area while out hunting. Some of that territory is step as fuck, to use a technical term! LOL I've seen the Emma Peak etching, but like you have no information regarding its origins. I doubt I could get there in my current state of decrepitness, but thanks for reminding me of some of my old hunting trips.
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Re: Donkey Trails

Postby mrfish » Wed Sep 14, 2016 7:55 am

Steep as fuck? So, it's like fuck, only steeper? Is that a technical term? I have a feeling it may be lacking in precision, although I'm sure it sums up the situation fairly accurately!
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Re: Donkey Trails

Postby CrustyOldFart » Thu Sep 15, 2016 7:13 am

And such is the problem with donkey trails. Donkeys have no sense of efficiency and often miners didn't do much better. A trail well planned is as direct as possible, without being overly steep. Many trails in this area are ridiculously steep and that's probably the main reason some are in such bad shape. That and the fact that they just don't get used that often, but that has a lot to do with their steepness.
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Re: Donkey Trails

Postby Cactus Jack » Wed Sep 21, 2016 8:59 am

mrfish: Can you define steep as fuck for me? Would it be gaining 500 feet in a mile or would it be over 1000 feet in a mile. What is the point where it goes from just plain steep to steep as fuck?
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Re: Donkey Trails

Postby blackturtle.us » Mon Nov 07, 2016 8:09 pm

Ridge Between Coyote Canyon and Goler Wash
Recently I visited the ridge between Coyote Canyon and Goler Wash. There's an old mine trail that takes off near the mouth of Goler Wash and climbs about 2000 feet in two miles to a mine camp and a group of mines associated with Gold Spur Mine in Coyote Canyon. The trail is actually shown on topographic maps of the area and is in pretty good shape considering it probably doesn't get used much.
PICS: http://www.dvplants.com/SITES/MANLY/COYOTE2016/
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This image shows Goler Wash including the intersection at the Keystone Mine Camp. Included in the set of pics is a shot of the Lestro Mine on the Goler Wash side of the ridge and a couple shots of the Gold Spur Mine on the Coyote Canyon side of the ridge.
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Re: Donkey Trails

Postby deathvalleyjake » Wed Nov 09, 2016 7:23 am

According to the information I have on the Gold Spur Mine, it is privately owned, sporadically worked, and it dates back to 1910. The picture of the tressel is very nice. It's a good angle, but just a little bit blurry.
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Re: Donkey Trails

Postby mrfish » Wed Nov 09, 2016 8:47 am

Two thousand feet in two miles? I'd say that qualifies as steeper than fuck. Most people wouldn't survive a climb like that. Even young people in good shape would probably turn around after a half mile. How the fuck do you climb a trail like that? Sane people don't even think about climbing such a precipitously steep trail! But thanks for the pics!!!
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Re: Donkey Trails

Postby BallaratBob » Thu Nov 10, 2016 8:52 am

I've traveled up Goler Wash many times and I've visited Coyote Canyon a couple times. I've been aware of the existence of that trail for a long time, but I've never ventured up it. Of course, it's unrealistic to think I'd make it up a trail that steep, but the pictures were interesting. Thanks to blackturtle.us for posting those pics!
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Re: Donkey Trails

Postby blackturtle.us » Mon Mar 27, 2017 4:29 pm

CRESCENT MINES
This map shows a miner's trail (highlighted) that's about 1.75 miles long. This is south of Goler Wash in Panamint Valley.
PICS: http://www.dvplants.com/SITES/MANLY/CRESCENT2017/
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