DATE 1/23/2017
TITLE Shoshone
IDS 32212 98108
GROUP shoshone_point_1 shoshone_point_south_1
Continued...
I'd spent the night camped in Shoshone, a small desert town just south
of Death Valley. Light rain for most of the past 24hrs, on and off for the past
week as well, had left the desert areas fairly saturated. It was the first time
I'd seen water flowing in the Amargosa River, and possibly a first (for me) to
see any desert river flowing. I was supposed to have driven home the
previous day but was reluctant to leave the desert landscape during this unusual
time that I found so fascinating. I figured I'd get a short hike in when I
arose before starting on the long, 8hr drive home.
Shoshone Point and its near-neighbor to the south are the two highest points
in a small collection of hills just northwest of town. Both are found in
Purcell's Rambles & Scrambles, though not glowingly reviewed -
"forgettable" is used in the short description of one of them. I found the two
of them made a nice pair, connected in a loop with a decent ridge hike between
them that I rather enjoyed. I visited the higher of the two,
Shoshone Point, first, with a nice view overlooking the small town to
the southeast. A register was found from 2015 with seven pages
of entries, though it is not as popular
as it first seemed. The register was placed by Shoshone resident Patrick
Donnelly who made all but a few of the entries over the past two years. I
followed the up and down ridge to the southwest for a little under a mile,
taking in the desert views in cool, early morning weather, enjoying the
scrambling on the primarily limestone formation. The south summit held
no register that I could find. I dropped down its steep East Face,
entering
a wash system at the base. As I wandered east down the wash towards town, I was
surprised to come across a rock-lined trail.
I came to find there is a small
network of trails throughout the area, undoubtedly constructed by one or more
of the locals in their spare time. I followed branches that led back around the
base of Shoshone Point, passing through the
"Historical District"
which seemed to consist of a single, dilapidated homestead from the mining days
100yrs ago. I finished up back where I'd started
after about an hour and a half
at a leisurely pace. Somewhat reluctantly, I got back in the van to begin the
8hr drive back to San Jose. It had been a fun trip and I was wishing I could
spend another week out here. That will have to wait for next month, I'm afraid.