I shouldn’t even be writing about this, because I haven’t posted the video yet… but I’m so stoked, I can’t help it! So here’s a sneak peek at an adventure I just finished, which I’m still working on editing.
Surprise, Surprise…I’m back in Surprise Canyon again!
The other day I undertook the grueling hike up Surprise Canyon to Panamint City ghost town for the third time. This hike is so grueling, I never thought I’d do it again — I can’t seem to find the exact stats online, but it’s between 5-7 miles, with a 4- or 5,000-foot elevation gain. Ouch!
I’ve already been up there twice, and made a couple videos showing the ruins of the old mining town. So why did I do it again? Well, it turns out I had somehow missed the coolest part of the whole dang town — hidden off the to side in another canyon, there’s a very nicely maintained volunteer cabin… with a wood-fired bathtub out front!
My friend Widget was the one who told me about it — he’d backpacked up there himself, and had taken a hot bath (with a glass of wine — he’s classy like that). Well, after I saw that photo… I knew I had to go back there myself. Even if it meant undertaking that monstrous hike for a 3rd time!
Thankfully, I found a buddy who was willing to backpack up there with me — a random guy I had met while soaking at a hot spring this past summer. We made plans to meet at the base of Surprise Canyon, then hike up to the cabin together and spend the night.
Sun rising over Surprise Canyon
Because of the crazy monsoons this past summer, the road to the trailhead was all washed out, and we had to park at the side of the road and hike an extra .75 miles — which made the journey even tougher! But it was fascinating to see the damage the water had wrought on the road — and the trail. And this wasn’t the first storm to wash out the road to Panamint City!
Back in the day, Inyo County maintained a graded road up to the mining camp — so people were able to bring heavy equipment and even trailer homes up there. At one time, around 2000 people lived in Panamint City! But a series of storms wiped out the road around 1984… and after that, only modified Jeeps and rock crawlers could make it up the canyon. Then, in 1996, the Gov’t closed the trail to vehicle traffic completely… so nowadays, you can only get to to this ghost town the old-fashioned way — on foot.
Trucks that were washed away in the 1984 flood still sit in the middle of what used to be the road
But the difficulty of accessing Panamint City is what makes it so cool — hardly anyone goes up there, so there’s tons of stuff left! Trucks, equipment, beer cans, houses… it’s all just peacefully rusting away up there, virtually unmolested.
But I’d already been up there twice to poke around the ruins — this time, I was on a serious mission: to take a bath! My hiking buddy and I made a beeline up the side canyon where this “nice” cabin and bathtub lay in wait, and we got there with just enough daylight to figure it out.
Home sweet home… for the night, at least!
First, we had to repair the plumbing — and when I say “we,” it was mostly my buddy! Water is piped to the bathtub (and the cabin) via a long PVC pipeline from a nearby spring up the hill, and the pipeline had come apart in several places. So all that had to be reconnected, so that we could turn on the water to fill the boiler… which was basically a giant 55-gallon drum rigged up on a bed of fire brick and rocks.
Then, as the boiler slowly filled, we had to gather firewood — enough to heat the bath water, but also enough to keep us warm through the night, as the cabin had a cozy little wood-fired stove inside. So we ran around gathering downed branches — which thankfully, because of the monsoons, were plentiful! When we finally had enough, I built a fire under the boiler… and waited for the water to heat.
The hardest I’ve ever worked for a warm bath!
Now unfortunately, time was against me — I would have preferred to wait until the water was piping hot, so that I could take a nice, hot soak. But daylight was fading fast — despite leaving camp at 7:30am, that monster hike had taken around 7 hours, so by the time we reached our destination, fixed the pipe and gathered the wood… it was already getting dark. And because I needed enough light to shoot footage… I ended up having to take a lukewarm bath, on a chilly evening. But it was still awesome!!
My hiking buddy joined me in the tub — it was no big deal, since we had initially met soaking naked in a hot spring, anyway! We drank some wine and tried to pretend the water was hotter than it was, as the sun went down and stars started to come out. It was magical!
I’m not shivering!! You’re shivering!
But eventually, I had to get out. I dried off by the boiler fire, got dressed, and went inside to make another fire in the wood-burning stove in the cabin. There were three cots in there, so we made our beds, boiled some water, and settled in for an evening of chatting and drinking whiskey-spiked hot cocoa. The stove kept the cabin pretty toasty all night long… even though I think it was in the 20s overnight, considering we were at 6200′ elevation.
Ran into this furry little tarantula on the trail
Anyway, it was definitely the hardest I’d ever worked for a warm soak… but I felt it was totally worth it. And it definitely made me appreciate the hot spring just a mile down the road from my house — which I can walk to in flip flops, carrying nothing more than a Ranch Water!!
Video coming soon… stay tuned!
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