Rendezvous With Friends in Panamint Springs - December 2023

December 7, 2023 - Does anyone remember Pearl Harbor Day? That was eighty-two years ago on this date. By Noon that day, I was heading back over Towne Pass to Panamint Springs Resort. I stopped at the top of the pass to use my Zoleo satellite communicator, texting home to report my progress. Next I would be heading down the steep grade to the Panamint Valley. After texting, I irresponsibly left my $200 satellite communicator on the hood of my truck, where it later slid away into the wilderness.

While I was reviewing the many pictures I have taken in Panamint Springs and Death Valley National Park, I came across an interesting image of a camp worker at Panamint Springs Resort from 2017. As we spoke about the Panamint Valley, he told me that there were ancient fossilized sea beds found at the lowest points. Having not yet studied the geology and natural history of the Panamint Valley, I was shocked to hear that this most desolate of places had once hosted a branch of the Pacific Ocean.

I asked to take his picture, to which he consented. He said his name was Brent. Looking at the picture of him now, I believe that the camp worker was Brent Underwood, who is now an international YouTube sensation with his channel, "Ghost Town Living." Brent Underwood now resides in the ghost town and former silver mine of Cerro Gordo, which is only about fifteen miles from Panamint Springs, as the crow flies.

Upon arriving at Panamint Springs, I realized that my Zoleo was gone. Immediately, I retraced my route, searching in vain for my device. Similar to when I get a small ding on the paint of my car, I was recriminating against myself for being so foolish as to lose my emergency satellite communicator. Alas, I did not find the device and was forced to use the balky Wi-Fi system at Panamint Springs to communicate back home.

Luckily, I had learned in Furnace Creek that if a Wi-Fi signal is strong enough, I could use it for telephone voice communications, as well as texts. As soon as I arrived in Panamint Springs, I sat down on the porch of the general store and initiated a Wi-Fi call. It worked perfectly. Later, I would learn that the Wi-Fi signal was strong enough to use only if I was seated in front of the store or in the nearby Restaurant & Bar. This was a bit of an issue because my coach was several hundred yards away, making it quite a trek just to call home. At that time I was in denial about an injury to my left hip joint. While preparing for the trip, I had hefted one too many Jerry cans into the bed of my truck.

The result was a shooting pain that would not subside until March 15, 2024, over three months later. At that time, I went in for surgery and a total hip replacement. After I awoke from surgery, the hip pain had miraculously vanished, leaving only soreness from the incision and procedure. With my other hip in the same relative condition, it was only a matter of time before I experienced a similar painful experience, so I elected for surgery on my right hip, as well. On may 31, 2024 I had my second total hip replacement. Now, if I could only fix my torn rotator cuff and detached right biceps tendon, I would be as good as new.

As I sat there, calling home, the friends I had met at Panamint Springs almost two years prior pulled up in their rental car and we exchanged greetings. Don Goodman and his wife Natala have piloted their Cessna 150 airplane all over the continental U.S. and as far as the Bahamas. Don is a retired sales and marketing executive with the Boeing Corporation. At one time, he was responsible for the sale of all Boeing jet aircraft in the South Asia region. Needless to say, Don is an excellent pilot.

Two Years ago, they had landed at the gravel airstrip behind the general store where I now sat. After our first chance visit, I could not imagine seeing them both again at Panamint Springs, yet there they were. Originally, we had planned to rendezvous on this visit for a demonstration flight in Don's plane and a four-wheel drive adventure in My Nissan Titan XD. Because of questionable December weather, they had flown commercial to Las Vegas, rented a car and made their way through Pahrump, Nevada, Death Valley and on to Panamint Springs.

That evening, I prepared barbecued salmon, steamed artichokes, fresh rolls and fine wine for my guests. After dinner, we planned a 4X4 trip for the next day. First, we would venture out into the middle of the deserted Panamint Valley. After that, we would take an off-road track I knew from a previous visit. If all went well, it would lead us down the Nadeau Road, which was the first wagon road through the wilderness of what would later become Death Valley National Park.

Almost lost in history, the French-Canadian mule-skinner Remi Nadeau had pioneered the use of mule teams to pull heavy wagons throughout the Mojave Desert. His caravans brought food and supplies to remote mines and hauled ore and smelted metals back to civilization. The famed Twenty Mule Teams servicing Death Valley and its Borax mine were Nadeau's invention. To drive part of Nadeau Road had always been a goal of mine. Now, with Don and Natala, I would soon make that trek.

During my many visits to Panamint Springs Resort, I have always stayed in a full hookup RV site. Other accommodations at the resort include an updated "Miner's Cabin" on the edge of the Panamint Wash, ancient motel rooms, concrete-floored tents and a handful of “luxury cabins.” With their appealing name, Don and Natala elected to stay in one of the luxury cabins. In this case, "luxury" consisted of a bedroom and a bathroom. Any lounging would have to be on the bed. The accommodations were fit for sleeping, showering, dressing and not much else. There was no mini-bar, lounge chair, kitchenette or TV. But there was room heat, air-conditioning, hot and cold running water and electricity.

None of these luxuries had been available in 1849, when those first emigrant 49er's had escaped Death Valley one hundred and seventy four years ago. Compared to those old timers, both the Goodman's in their luxury cabin and me in my full hookup RV site had it good.

After a roaring campfire beside my rig, I bid Don and Natala goodnight. We planned to meet again the following morning for our 4X4 trip around the Panamint Valley.

This is Part Four of a Seven Part article. To read Part Five, Click HERE. To return to Part One, click HERE.