A continuation of our Thanksgiving trip report.
On Monday morning we awoke to fresh snow covering the peaks that surround Eureka Valley. Clouds still hung around the ridges but they were slowly clearing out. While the guys picked up camp I took the opportunity to climb around the Eureka Dunes a bit. The overnight precip made the surface the perfect resistance for climbing up sand – instead of sinking I walked on the damp crust along the ridges until I crested a high point and found an amazing view stretching out in front of me.
Fresh snow on the peaks around our camp were all that was left of the previous night’s precipitation.
I was able to leave fresh tracks on the crest.
After our lovely morning in camp we decided to visit the ruins of Crater and Last Chance Mines.
The old ruins…
And sulphur rocks strewn about.
After wandering the ruins we followed a 4WD track up the ridge to the south. Parking just below the summit, we scrambled up the rocky ridge to the high point, Lead Peak.
From the top we watched fighter jets from the nearby military facilities run laps through Eureka and Saline Valleys, over the Eureka Dunes.
We ended our day east of the park outside of Goldfield, NV where we explored more ruins and set up camp at an old cabin with a view of the Sierra.
The next day was a resupply day in Beatty and Pahrump, but I still managed to squeeze in a short sunset hike up Rhodes Hill in southern Death Valley.
