On Saturday we did Panamint Butte from the West. Road
coming up from the South looked ok for two wheel drive until the right turn to
the NE. 4WD might go another 1/4 mile. We then walked about a half mile to the
NE and followed the ridge all the way to the top, taking about 7 hours for
round trip. Was tougher than we expected.
Porter and Sentinel from
Pleasant Canyon was quite a nice hike, almost all of it being on an 8000 foot
ridge separating Death and Panamint valleys. The road up Pleasant Canyon was
rugged but manageable for 4WD. A couple of bad spots took me several attempts
but the Bartell's Cherokee had no trouble.
The road is as shown on the
15 minute 1952 "Telescope" map up to the vicinity of 7312 where it now
continues up what is a trail on the 1952 map. At about 7400 feet we parked the
cars (the road continues but switches to a Westerly direction) and spent the
night. The next morning we got started at 7. No sign of the trail shown on the
map as going to the saddle. Got to the top of Porter by 8. At 11 we were at the
second 8803 bump on the ridge. Chessie (the Doberman) was showing distinct
signs of wear by this time so I tied her to a 15 pound pack that we were
leaving on the ridge. Half way up Sentinel the dog's peakbagging Instincts
overcame good sense and she started dragging the pack until she got tangled up
in a bush, so I had to go back to free her. She got the peak (her fifth). Got
back to the cars about 3. Participants were Ron Bartell, Christine Mitchell,
Wendy Ruess, Chessie and myself. |