We packed up the Minnietta Mine Cabin and headed south to pick up the Nadeau Trail again. If you've read the Winter Camping (Jan 2021) series, you'll recognize this stretch. This time, though, we were heading the opposite direction, toward Ballarat and then up into Pleasant Canyon.
The donkeys were out in force. We've seen burros around Death Valley before, but this trip was something else. Every few minutes, another group was either standing in the road or watching us from a hillside. At some point you stop being surprised and just start expecting them around every bend.
Eventually we rolled into Ballarat and made our requisite stop at the general store to see if anything had changed. As shocking as it may be for a ghost town, it hadn't. From here, we pointed the rigs up Pleasant Canyon.
A ways up the canyon is the World Beater Cabin, a free-use cabin tucked into the mountainside. I don't know much about its history, but the setup is solid: wood-burning stove in the middle of the room, plenty of sleeping space, solar power, and running water if the tank happens to be filled. It's worth keeping in mind if you're looking for a place to spend the night in this area.
Past the World Beater is another structure, though it's not in anywhere near as nice a condition. It's not named on any maps and it's unclear what it was originally used for. Not habitable at this point, but someone with enough motivation could probably change that. We stopped here for lunch, though it's not pictured.
After lunch, we climbed to Rogers Pass. There's a memorial sign at the top with some interesting history inscribed that I'll let you discover for yourself. From the pass, the choice was north up a hill that looked uninviting and dead-ended, or south along the ridge. We turned south.
The ridge eventually dropped us into South Park, which at this time was a giant, flat dust bowl. Here's a fun detail: if you look at the right map, this long straight stretch of trail was once marked as a landing strip. The outskirts of the basin are dotted with abandoned mines and prospects, and there's no shortage of artifacts to poke around.
The trail turned west and started taking us down through South Park Canyon toward the valley floor. Along the way, we passed "chicken rock," which you can find videos of online, and then stumbled onto two of the coolest wilderness cabins I've ever seen. Running water piped in from a spring further up the canyon, solar power, and propane plumbing (gas not provided). A genuine oasis in the middle of nowhere.
One thing to be aware of: folks at the cabins like to shoot from the porch into the canyon. You can hear motors coming from a good distance, but it's worth being alert if you're driving through.
Both cabins were booked for the night, but one of the occupants told us about a trail a little further down the canyon that climbs up and out with a view and cell signal. We figured the view alone was worth the detour.
The tip paid off. We climbed out of the canyon to a perch overlooking the Panamint Valley just as golden hour was starting. The light turned everything warm and the valley stretched out endlessly below us. We set up camp right there, built a fire, and let the evening do what evenings in the desert do best.
Day 3 was the drive home. Nothing picture-worthy, nothing noteworthy. Just the quiet satisfaction of a trip that delivered exactly what we came for.