Death Valley Overland - Part 4 - Ballarat, Goler Wash, Newman Cabin, Keystone/Lotus Mine and Barker Ranch

Goler Wash Heading In Towards Barker Ranch

So after a rough night's sleep in the wonderful World Beater Cabin (rough because the wind was howling and blowing smoke DOWN the chimney into the cabin - not because of the cabin), Paul and I decided we were going to get up while it was still dark and finish watching Helter Skelter.  

Mr. Jingles Waking Up From A Nap in the World Beater Cabin

As we slowly started to move around the cabin, Paul noticed a lightning fast movement when he picked up a piece of wood.  There was a little tiny mouse living in the wood pile!  Not more than a couple inches long, and cute as a button, Paul and I sat on our cots and watched him watch us for a bit.  As it was freezing outside, and he kept climbing up on the top piece of lumber (right underneath the stove), we assumed he was trying to get warm.  We decided to just enjoy his company, although obviously we double checked that everything was sealed up tight, etc.  It was - so no worries on feeding the little guy - but again, we think he just wanted to be warm.  We named him Mr. Jingles (after the pet mouse in The Green Mile - a movie we both love).

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy To Fill The Tummy!

I decided to make biscuits and gravy this morning as we had a nice little kitchen area and a new can of propane to try.  By this time, Mr. Jingles is warming up and is hanging out over by me (because I have the food) so I'm having to make sure every little crumb is picked up and the trash can lids are sealed down tight.  I don't mind - he's not hurting anything, and it IS cold outside...we are still occasionally stopping everything and watching him run into a hole in the floor...

Our Coleman Camp Oven - Sitting on the stove at the World Beater Cabin to see how hot it gets.

Our Coleman camp oven, which didn't work as well as we had hoped a couple nights ago, worked great this morning - so clearly, you need a full can of propane and some high heat to make it work well.  I had some canned biscuits left over from Christmas, so I popped those into a little pie tin I have in our mess kit, and cooked up the biscuits.  They didn't cook quite evenly, so I checked on them frequently, turned the tin around, then turned the biscuits over in the pan.  But for a camp oven - hey - it worked out great!  And it got HOT!  This is definitely an addition we will use for camp cooking in the future.  

Paul makes the coffee and tea while Bobbi Jo makes breakfast - Mr. Jingles is sleeping under the stove!

Meanwhile, I cooked up the remaining sausage, and got out the flour that I purchased in Panamint Springs.  I forgot to bring milk, so we use my "creamer" - which is actually heavy whipping cream that I then water down - to make milk.  I threw some pepper in, a little bacon grease, and made up some delicious gravy to go over the top of our biscuits!

Claire Camp Mill Workings

After we finish up breakfast - I decide it's time to wash my hair - it's been four days.  And Paul wants his washed too.  So I heat up some water from our water can on the trailer, and we wash our hair over the sink in the cabin.  The World Beater Cabin doesn't have running water, but it does have a sink that drains out and down into the wash.  So we sparingly use water and shampoo, Paul's hair dries almost instantly, and I put my hair up in braids, and we start breaking down our camp.  

Stamp Mill Hammers at Claire Camp

Claire Camp - Wide Angle of Mill Workings

Claire Camp Overlooking the Private Cabin - Lewis & Clark with the Expedition Trailer is right in the center!

After everything is packed up and we said our goodbyes to Mr. Jingles and the World Beater Cabin - by far the nicest cabin we've ever seen, we head back down.  We stop again at Claire Camp to take some better photos, and then head down Pleasant Canyon to Ballarat.  The ride down Pleasant Canyon is - well - pleasant.  

Pleasant Canyon by the spring

We stop for Paul to check out some potential mine adits (none of them panned out), and as Paul jumped back in Lewis & Clark and took off from the last one, he suddenly says "hey - did you see that guy?"  I was like "what guy?"  Apparently there was some guy that waved to us.  He was walking on the side of the road.  No vehicle in site.  No idea who he was, but he wasn't under stress.  Just waving hello.  We are several miles up a canyon from the nearest "living" place...so who knows who Paul saw - because I didn't see anything or anyone (insert spooky/scary music here...).

Austin-Western Grader left abandoned in Pleasant Canyon

Austin-Western Grader

Once in Ballarat, we stop as we wanted to take a look at the cemetery, the old jail/morgue, and the Tex Watson Power Wagon.  As I stated in Part 3 of my blog, I have some pretty definitive proof that this is not actually the Power Wagon that Tex Watson used to escape Barker Ranch, and then in turn got stuck in the mud flats outside of Ballarat.  This Power Wagon WAS likely up at Barker Ranch, but the one that Tex Watson used was purchased by a local miner, who took it up to his cabin and promptly took it apart.  It is believed that part of the Tex Watson Power Wagon is buried in the canyons, or abandoned and rusting back into the Earth.   But it's still a cool truck - and to know that part of the Manson family used this Power Wagon - well, that just makes it a bit creepy...and it makes for a great marketing point for Ballarat - which is clearly holding on by a thread.  

Panamint Valley Overlooking Ballarat from Pleasant Canyon

Power Wagon in Ballarat - Marketed as Tex Watson's Escape Power Wagon

We poked around Ballarat, saw the old jail/morgue - which didn't look very secure for a jail (it's been rebuilt), and then moseyed over to the cemetery.  The Ballarat Cemetery has some interesting characters buried in it.  The most "famous" is Charles "Seldom Seen Slim" Ferge.  Slim was a prospector in the Panamint Mountains.  He was born 1881 in Illinois, and moved to the Panamint Mountain area sometime between 1913 and 1917.  He was known as a cantankerous old recluse who was the last official "resident" of Ballarat.  He was another miner who didn't believe in showers or baths because they were a waste of water (a limited commodity in Panamint Valley!), but did take one annually.  

Charles "Seldom Seen Slim" Ferge's Final Resting Place

Ballarat Cemetery

Slim died in 1968, and his funeral was broadcast on television.  He is famous as the last of an old breed of prospectors - Walter Knotts had statues of him made and placed in Knotts Berry Farm and Ghost Town in Buena Park, CA.  His headstone has a famous quote of his on it - "Me Lonely?  Hell no!  I'm half coyote and half wild burro."  Rest in peace Slim - your memory carries on...

Ballarat Jail and Morgue

Old Buildings at Ballarat - Panamint Valley in the background

Paul and I leave Ballarat - we are anxious to get to Barker Ranch - someplace I've always wanted to go.  Since I was a child, I've been fascinated by Charles Manson.  Any cult leaders really - I'm fascinated by their hold on people and how they use that hold to do evil and despicable deeds.  As an adult, I understand the psychology behind it, but I still am drawn to documentaries, books and informational articles about them.  And today I'm going to see where Charles Manson was arrested.  Charles Manson - the mastermind behind the Tate-LaBianca murders, amongst others.  

Goler Wash - probably the best photo we have of Goler Wash

The ride down Wingate Road to the Goler Wash road is relatively boring as we travel along the Alkali Flat.  The Alkali Flat looks like a giant salt flat - but inches under the salt in this huge flat is a muddy, mucky base that is several feet deep - the store owner in Ballarat says he pulls people out almost weekly from this mess.  There are posted signs telling people not to drive in it, but apparently they always do.  It's an interesting phenomenon - this salt flat that looks dry but isn't.  As we drive along Wingate Road, we see small bits of marshes and you can see the large amount of water under the salt crust.  

As we turn off Wingate Road (more like Wingate Road turns into Goler Wash road), we start heading into the Panamint Mountain Range again - but this is stunning.  I mean, the video doesn't do it anywhere near justice - neither do the pictures.  We couldn't capture the immense beauty of Goler Wash from Panamint Valley to Barker Ranch - it was simply stunning!  Quite possibly the most beautiful place we had been this entire trip!  Excuse the "wobbles" in the video - still learning how to take videos.  Next time we will bring the windshield mount for the GoPro!

Newman Cabin

Window in the Newman Cabin with a Manson decal

As we came out of the wash, we came upon a "Y" in the road - with Jeeps coming out of the right hand trail.  They tell us there is a cabin up there, but that it is too tight to take Lewis & Clark with the Expedition Trailer up there.  So we park and hike in to the Newman Cabin.  There was plenty of room to park and turn around, but it was nice to jump out and hike a bit.  

Lewis & Clark with the Expedition Trailer where we parked at the Newman Cabin

The Newman Cabin was built by Wilmot (Billy) Hyder (1877-1954) who was a local resident of Ballarat.  He was a family cousin of the Newman family, who still own and operate a mining claim there.  There appear to be several different outhouses and other small outbuildings around - but the cabin is small, single room, and currently not in the best of shape.  I understand that periodically volunteers will "restore" the cabin, as it is over 80 years old now and is therefore historic.  

Keystone Mine Stone Cabin

Keystone Mine - Stone and Concrete Cabins

We left the Newman Cabin and headed up towards our first intended stop - the Keystone/Lotus Mine. As we pulled up, the Jeeps were coming down from the mine.  We waited patiently for them to come down and then we pulled up to the first set of buildings.  They Lotus Mine claims were acquired from Carl Mengel in 1935.  In 1972, Dr. Ralph E. Pray staked a claim at the location and renamed it the Keystone Mine.  He established a permanent camp in the old buildings, and the mine went on to produce several million dollars in gold in the 1980's.  Paul has been up here before, but said that it has been cleaned up since he was here in 2015.  It is possible they are getting ready to mine there again, or to mine the tailings - but either way, there were several buildings in very poor condition.  I understand there is much to look at up at the mine itself, but because we were unsure of the road, we opted not to pull the Expedition Trailer up there.  

Inside the Stone Cabin at the Keystone Mine

Lewis & Clark with the Expedition Trailer coming down from Keystone Mine

We poked around for a bit at the Lotus/Keystone Cabin site, but I was anxious to reach our big destination for the day - so off we went in search of Barker Ranch.  

Barker Ranch Interpretive Sign - With Photo of the Original Barker Ranch Home Before it Burned in 2009

I'm not going to go into a great deal of detail here about Charles Manson.  If you don't know who he is, you should.  A basic Google search will tell you.  But it was at Barker Ranch that Charles Manson and several of his "family" members were arrested - for destruction of property.  Unbeknownst to the authorities at the time, Charles Manson and the Manson Family were responsible for the absolutely horrific Tate-LaBianca murders in Los Angeles (among other murders and crimes). Charlie was found tucked into a bathroom vanity when the authorities came to arrest him.  

Barker Ranch Main House Ruins

There isn't much left of the Barker Ranch.  It was mysteriously burned down in May of 2009, and the remainder of the ranch is slowly crumbling back into the desert.  All that is left is the stone foundations and tumbling walls of the main house, an out building (perhaps a ranch hand cabin?), and the corrals and animal shelters.  But just knowing what they had done before they came here makes the Barker Ranch a rather creepy place to be.  

Barker Ranch - Main House Ruins

Barker Ranch - Out Building

On a positive note, we found where Paul had "signed" the wall in 2015.  We were there - to the day - 5 years later after Paul and his good buddy Mike "Duner" Schuette and Duner's wife Connie, came to visit.  Again - excellent memories for Paul, and fun to know we were honoring Duner's memory with a repeat - to the day!

Paul Pointing to his "signature" from December 31, 2015.  

Mike "Duner" on New Year's Eve, 2015 in the bathroom where they found Manson hiding

Paul - New Year's Eve, 2020 in the bathroom where they found Manson hiding.

Paul and Duner in the kitchen nook - New Year's Eve, 2015

Paul and Bobbi in the kitchen nook - New Year's Eve, 2020

While this was not the end of our day, I will save the rest for the finale - again, remembering good friends, and visiting famous, yet remote and far away places, has made for an amazing day of exploration and fun!  And who better to do it with than your exploration partner and best guy?

FJ Cruisers STILL Rule!!

Death Valley Overland - Part 3 - Viking Mine, Minnietta Cabin & Mine, Ballarat, Claire Camp/Ratcliff Mine and the World Beater Mine Cabin

Lewis & Clark at the Viking Mine Camp - Overlooking the Lower Centennial Flats

It's Wednesday morning - day three of overlanding - no shower for Bobbi and she's starting to feel a bit grimy.  But we slept amazingly well at the Boxcar Cabin with the wood burning stove putting off lots of heat and then the Mr. Buddy Heater, which Paul set up in the middle of the night to make sure we stayed warm.  

Paul and Bobbi Jo - up early at the Viking Mine Camp

We were lazy about waking up, and when we did get up, we were starving - our ever-favorite applewood smoked bacon and eggs for breakfast filled up our stomachs and then we decided to clean up and pack up so we could head out and explore!  We weren't sure where we were planning on spending the next night, so we were free to end up where we ended up - no specific plans and we hoped to make it to our destination early enough to relax and maybe watch a movie tonight.  Specifically we wanted to watch Helter Skelter as we knew we were headed to Barker Ranch on New Year's Eve.  Paul hadn't seen Helter Skelter and I wanted him to watch it before we visited Barker.  

Viking Mine Camp - note the Christmas wreath!

So we left Boxcar Cabin behind and decided to quickly check out the Viking Mine Camp - an abandoned talc mine camp.  As it turned out, it wasn't a quick stop.  You can see the Viking Mine Camp from the 190 - so we were really surprised about the condition it is in.  I've since learned there are volunteers who are attempting to keep the Viking Mine in stable condition.

Viking Mine Camp - Large Building With Multiple Rooms - Wood Shingles for Siding

The Viking Mine Camp is on a small hill overlooking the Lower Centennial Flats.  It was cold but sunny - and a stunning morning to overlook this wide expanse of nothingness.  I have absolutely no history whatsoever on this camp - but there are multiple buildings, and a "fire pit" building with benches that I've since learned was a former garage that caved in.  

Papa Smurf - I Mean Paul - At Viking Camp

We walked around the multiple buildings, and up towards one of the mines, however, we didn't see much up that way, so we turned around and decided to head in towards Panamint Springs again and over towards Ballarat.  There was a cabin we wanted to see on the way...

Little Fixed Wing at Panamint Springs

Back on the 190, we went by a pit toilet maintained by the NPS overlooking Rainbow Canyon, so I begged Paul to stop, and we did.  I mean, I'm doing pretty good with this overlanding thing - but a bathroom is a rare thing - so you must stop when you can!  The NPS is doing a great job during the California shut down of maintaining these pit toilets - they even have lemon scented hand sanitizer in all of them!  

We do one last stop at Panamint Springs, which we know will be the last stop with any semblance of groceries, etc.  I was going to get more eggs, but the truck doesn't come until this afternoon - so no more eggs this trip.  And we are off again...

Panamint Valley Road

We turn down Panamint Valley Road.  This is one of those roads that "goes off into the sunset" - it traverses the Panamint Valley - a large dry lake with occasional salt marshes.  I told Paul on this trip that when I first moved to Arizona from Colorado I thought Arizona was ugly - so brown and beige - nothing beautiful about it.  I've now lived in Arizona for 34 years and I find immense beauty in the desert - and today was one of those days that I found an immense amount of beauty in the desolate desert.  Here we are - just me and Paul - not another soul in sight - enjoying each other's company and the solitude of being offline, unwired and more connected to nature than usual.  What a beautiful way to spend a vacation~~

Minnietta Cabin - note the flag - the cabin is taken

We decide to take a brief detour to check out a cabin we had seen on Google Earth - the Minnietta Cabin and Mine.  As we drive down the 4WD road we pass the mine, and pull up to the Cabin.  The flag is out and there is a truck there, so we know that the cabin is currently taken - the picture here is a good example of how you know if a National Park Service cabin is available for use.  They are always first come, first served, and it is asked that you stay no more than 3 days.  You have to put the flag out, or the cabin is not considered "yours" for the night.  So we did not get to see the inside of Minnietta Cabin, but we did head back down to the Minnietta Mine/Little Mack Mine.  

Minietta Mine/Little Mack Mine

The Minnietta Mine/Little Mack Mine is a lead and silver mine.  It began operations in 1902, and then waqs on and off again until 1915.  In 1924 the mine was reopened and a mill and much of the modern equipment we see today was installed.  It appears the last bucket of ore was shipped out in 1952 - the Minnietta Mine produced roughly $1,000,000.00 in ore (per the National Park Service).  

Paul Being a Kid and Climbing on Things at the Minnietta Mine - This Boy Never Grows Up!

There were plenty of things to see here - the mine shaft up at the top of the hill with cabling and tramways coming down to the chute (which of course, Paul had to climb on - because he's Paul and he can't resist), what looked like an adit that had been collapsed, old building frames, and interesting old machinery.  There was even a geocache that I logged!

Panamint Valley Vistas!  Gorgeous...

We knew we weren't staying here for the night, so we headed back towards Panamint Valley Road, and the views were stunning!  We passed a number of Jeeps on the way who were likely trying to get to Lookout City - we had opted not to attempt that route this trip because we had the trailer and there isn't much to see except foundations.  But Lookout City was the first mining district in the Panamint Valley area!  

Ballarat - Note the Power Wagon on the Left - Supposedly Tex Watson's Escape Vehicle - More on That Later

We were now headed to the infamous Ballarat Ghosttown.  On our way there, we heard a VERY loud fighter jet coming, so we stopped and I jumped out - apparently the nearby base does tons of flights and maneuvers through the Panamint Valley - this thing was SO low - and SOOOO loud!  Any vehicles that were on the road stopped and jumped out.  Lewis and Clark was shaking it was so loud!  The jet buzzed us several more times - it was amazing!  But onward we go...we can't watch fighter jets all day.  (Well, I could...but we had places to go and things to see!!)

The J.B. Foote Foundry Co. Leader Automatic Block Machine

Ballarat is located at the base of the Panamint Mountain Range and began its long and storied existence in 1897 as a supply point for the many mines in the canyons of the Panamint Mountains.  It was named after an Australian gold camp by one of the first residents - Australian immigrant George Riggins.  Ballarat, Australia is where the largest gold nugget in the world was found - weighing in at a whopping 143 pounds.  I guess they thought naming this little town in Panamint Valley Ballarat might bring them good luck...

A Catalog from the J.B. Foote Foundry showing the Block Machine at the Bottom!

Ballarat has had as many as 500 residence, although conditions were harsh - summer highs were often 120 degrees or more, and the winter was bitter cold.  Everything needed for survival - water, timber, food - had to be brought in - but these pioneering residents persevered and Ballarat hung on.  

It is said that Ballarat soon had seven saloons, three hotels, a Wells Fargo station, a post office, a school, a jail and a morgue.  But no church.  This seems to be a recurring theme in a lot of ghosttowns.  Hmmm.  Oh, and they apparently had a "red district" of some kind as well - gotta have those "soiled doves"!  

Old Truck on the Way Up Pleasant Canyon to the Claire Camp

The primary draw for me and Paul was the power wagon that is at Ballarat.  The current resident/owner of Ballarat states that the power wagon was the one that Tex Watson (of the Manson Family) drove out of Barker Ranch when he went on the lam.  I wanted to see this power wagon, as I have read some very detailed and compelling information about it NOT being Tex Watson's power wagon.  But we are now in the early afternoon and are wanting to find a place to rest and relax for the late afternoon, and we knew we would be coming back down this way tomorrow before we headed out to Barker Ranch.  So after listening to the storekeeper tell us all about how Tex Watson left the power wagon there, we asked him if the cabins up at Claire Camp are available to staying in, and he said "they are private, but they don't care if you stay there."  We then asked about Briggs Cabin, which we happened to know had hot running water, and he said that the group of Jeeps that had just left (there were about 12 of them) were headed there, and we weren't likely to get the Briggs Cabin or the Stone Cabin next to it.  

Claire Camp Looking North - Cabin is No Trespassing

So off we went up Pleasant Canyon to go to Claire Camp.  This was an interesting, and wet, trip up into the Panamint Mountain Range.  We drove through lots of long grass and even some cattails while following a little stream up Pleasant Canyon.  Then - all of the sudden - the stream was gone (we had passed the "spring" where it came out of the ground) and we were at Claire Camp.  

Boilers at Claire Camp - Note the Two Crosses Up Top

We got very excited because there is a HUGE cabin at Claire Camp - but unfortunately, despite the size and obvious care taken of the cabin, there are No Trespassing signs on the cabin.  Which means that they do NOT want us staying there.  We decided to poke around the mine area for a few minutes - we knew there was another cabin a little further up and another one beyond that - so we had other options.  But this cabin was nice and had multiple rooms.  We were bummed. 

A Piece of Cut Steel Cabling for a Winch or Tramway at Claire Camp

There was a ton to see - boilers, old winches, old buildings - tons to see.  Again, we knew we were coming out this way and the sun was right in our photos, so we didn't spend a great deal of time as we planned to do so tomorrow morning.  

The Radcliffe/Ratcliff Mine was up the hill to the right, but access was corded off - the trail looked nasty anyway.  Henry Ratcliff began mining here in 1896 - his mine was called the Never Give Up Mine.  By 1905, the Ratcliff Mine has suspended their operations.  In 1930, W.D. Claire purchased the Ratcliff Mine and began to work the tailings - this is when it became Claire Camp.  I've seen posts that there were people living there in 2015, so this area has been worked on and off regularly.  

The Amazing World Beater Cabin - Note the Flag We Put Out

We decided to head out and up the canyon a bit further to find the next cabin - the World Beater Mine Cabin.  It was worth the drive and the wait!

As we pulled around a small switchback, the Cabin came into view - it was a gorgeous looking cabin, and we looked around and didn't see a flag.  Excited, we drove up to it, went inside, and put the flag out!  It was ours for the evening!  Easily the nicest cabin we had seen this trip (and ultimately the entire trip).  There was an outhouse, and a HUGE steel drum stove inside.  This cabin is privately owned, but the owners are gracious enough to allow visitors.  By this time, we are getting chilly, so we start up a fire and begin to unload the truck.  

Our Cots, Sleeping Bags and the Monster Stove at the World Beater Cabin!

Paul and I poked around the area a bit - we noted the rough looking road that leads up to the World Beater Mine (most of which burned down in the 1980's due to vandalism), and some remains from some hunters who had dressed their animals here (a pair of legs left out by the outside fire pit).  There was a sink in the cabin (no running water) that drained to the outside, a lovely patio, and there were even curtains on the windows!  The World Beater Mine shares a similar history with Claire Camp - the original owners worked together on the two mines, and abandoned them at the same time and went in together at the lucrative Skidoo Mine in northern Death Valley.   

Patio at the World Beater Mine - and Paul Making Drinks

Happy in the wait to get to this cabin, I made fried kielbasa and potatoes for dinner - comfort food in our comfortable cabin - and we watch the first half of Helter Skelter (it's more than 3 hours long!) in our surround sound FJ Cruiser!  

Bobbi Relaxing After a Long Day - World Beater Cabin

Tired with full bellies and a nice warm cabin, Paul and I tumbled into our cots late, and finished our day off.  The stove worked a bit too well - we were insanely warm.  But we learned quickly we had to keep a fire going because it was VERY windy and if we didn't keep the fire somewhat stoked, the wind would blow down the chimney and fill up the cabin with smoke.  But it was nice to be overly warm - it was the first time in 4 days!  We slept on and off while enjoying the sound of the wind - and the utter pitch black of the World Beater Mine Cabin at night!  

Paul and Bobbi on the World Beater Cabin Patio During Sunset