| BEVERIDGE CANYON (INYO MTS) - | SEPT 27-29, 1990 | - STEVE SMITH |
The Inyo Mountains are identified as a Wilderness Study Area by the BLM. The eastern side of the range is within the BLM Ridgecrest Resource Area and includes 87,125 acres of proposed wilderness. As part of our on going field management arid monitoring work, we have been inventorying the area's historic trails, doing some rehabilitation work, trail signing, and some trail maintenance in areas where surface impacts are occurring. This is generally where hikers lose the historic trail and start cutting new paths.
Interim management policies for BLM WSA areas is very restrictive regarding any new actions so at this point, we can only do work needed to prevent new disturbance, take actions necessary for user safety, or reclaim past intrusions. A small group of volunteers has formed a "Friend of the Inyo WSA" group and in the past year has completed 3 volunteer projects in the WSA. I am providing information on this - for several reasons. Some of the work results and trail/route inventory information may be of assistance to DPS'ers hiking in the area, some DPS'ers may be interested in helping with future projects, I am beginning to compile management suggestions from users, and finally, I know many DPS'ers are interested in what the BLM is working on in the Inyo Range and have ideas possibie management needs.
In a future issue, I will plan on giving a listing of trail/route information we have so far for this part of the Mojave Desert. For now, the following is information regarding our last 3 day volunteer project in late September. Using a helicopter already in the area for other purposes, 6 of us were able to shuttle to a historic cabin located in a saddle on the Beveridge/Keynot Canyon Ridgeline at 8200'. This turn of the century cabin normally requires a minimum of 8 hours of hiking to reach from several different roadheads and was in danger of collapsing a year ago.
Our group completed a second work project at the cabin this time to finish bracing the cabin and reroof it using materials we had airlifted in. The cabin now seems stabilized and can provide good shelter for hikers in the area. We also have been leaving extra supplies for people to use and the register showed 12 people who had signed in during the past year. On the second day we followed an old, but generally in good shape, historic mining trail down to the mid-cart of the Beveridge Canyon Mining District at 5,800'. This is the standard point at the upper aerial tram where must hikers leave the canyon via another trail which leads up and then down to the Snow Flake Talc Mine.
Our goal was to follow the bottom of the canyon and proceed down into Saline Valley. From the upper tram, we proceeded through heavy brush and water to a lower tram, small cabin, and milling equipment at 5,400'. Continuing on we fought tough, sustained