Superbloom Reports for 2016

My final hiking report from the Superbloom trip features the outstanding hike to Owl BM, the high point of the Owlshead Mountains. I hope you enjoyed this series of reports and I hope to return to DV in November to carry out some more hikes.

Owl BM

www.panamintcity.com/owlshead/owlbm.html

shane, no problem, that was too bad about his retirement. He sure accomplished a lot in his 1/4 of a century in DV.

Kauri, I do know one person who hiked all the way down through Tramway Canyon from Ashford Peak. It's someone we both know but I don't think he'd want his name posted here, because it's probably a treacherous hike. I believe the upper tramway station is accessed from further up canyon. And I believe it may be fairly easy to bypass the major red dry fall which stopped me. I asked a different friend who has hiked the canyon (in the downhill direction only) what I missed and he replied:

"The major red dry fall, as you now know was beautiful. My notes show we did a bypass to the left as you look up canyon. Very soon after that there are some "narrows and challenging dry falls" per my notes. As I recall, these dry falls were a one way trip for us. Very difficult to get down. Maybe should have looked for a bypass to be safe. And likely not able to get up once down as I remember. We did hike up to the top of the tramway. There are some neat things up there. Old rail cars, a tunnel with laid rail tracks, etc. The rest of that canyon was fairly interesting. Changing colors and rocks. I remember that we enjoyed it."

I agree that USMM 142 Canyon was a pleasant surprise. It surpassed my expectations for that area, which makes me want to do the upper canyon and also the other 3 canyons which haven't been done. Personally, I'm expecting to find quite a bit of mining ruins up near the summit area (the USMM 142 marker) and at the end of the old road at the top. I think it's vital to gather up some information on the 4WD/HC roads above those canyons to find out just how long the hikes will be from the top and how close you can get to the canyons. Thanks so much for referring this area to me.

Hey Steve, I finally spotted your reports linked to here, and they look great! I have a few questions on your latest reports since both were hikes that interested me:

Tramway Canyon: From what you saw of the nearby terrain on this hike, do you think it might be possible to hike up towards Ashford Peak from the Tramway Canyon area? Also, I'm curious about the info you received regarding getting to the upper tramway station, and beyond the 2nd major dryfall. From looking at your GE map, I'm wondering if either a hiker could get back into the canyon from upper tramway station (if there isn't an easier bypass) or if the tramway station was accessed from further up-canyon. It just looks to me from the TOPO and GE that the most direct access from canyon to upper station is from above the second dryfall. My TOPO map seems to be indicating a building, mine shaft, and a shorter tramway up-canyon. If that's indeed correct (the annotations have been inaccurate before), it seems there must be a "good" way to access that area.

USMM 142 Canyon: Wow, this canyon looks way better on photos than it did on Google Earth--and it looked great from GE maps! Any idea how many of the old roads up by the USMM 142 are open to make hiking to the top easier from the Nevada side? Also, do you know if there is much evidence left from prospects/mining operations up near the summit? It seems like there is still a lot more exploring just in that canyon alone, especially as it looks like there might be some interesting colorful formations in the side canyons. And the "hidden canyon" doesn't look particularly passable but perhaps has some nice narrows.

I had a chance to meet Charlie on the copper cyn hike a few years back. He was great, it must have been a blast to go hiking with him. Thanks for letting us know about his retirement Steve.

I'm glad you enjoyed it, Andrew. Yes, the major dry fall in the narrows can by bypassed. I talked to someone recently who has done it. There are more dry falls ahead, though. I also heard it's possible to scramble up to the upper tramway station, but I couldn't tell you how to do it. Probably from a spot farther up the canyon than I reached. By the way, you should start your own personal topic in here for anytime you have updates to your Exploring and Informing site, so we will know when to check in.

USMM 142 Canyon (Funeral Mountains)

The fourth of my five new reports heads into uncharted territory deep in the Funeral Mountains. Charlie (from NPS) and I went out and explored a previously undocumented major canyon, which actually ended up being a nice alternative hike to Indian Pass Canyon (assuming someone doesn't mind hauling in all of their own water). This was Charlie's retirement hike with me. You can read more about Charlie's retirement on my recent Blog post. Anyway, USMM 142 Canyon was a great hike and I'm sure you'll enjoy the report linked to below.

www.panamintcity.com/funeral/usmm142canyon.html

That last one I've been drooling over forever, but haven't seen reliable information on its accessibility! Thanks for that, and the rest are also awesome. Cool mine site! Was there any way to bypass the narrows?