PRIVATE TRIPS

MCELVOY CANYON - INYO MOUNTAINS EXPLORATORY October 16-21, 1991 - Steve Smith

McElvoy Canyon extends precipitously down the eastern side of the Inyo Range. It is the canyon directly east of Mt. Inyo and makes a steep descent from the Inyo Crest at 10,000+ feet down into Saline Valley where it reaches the valley bottom at 1,600 feet. I knew of some people who had walked up into the canyon for a mile from the bottom and they told of being stopped by a high waterfall from going any farther up-canyon. Interesting, they reported the remains of an old wire and wood ladder at the bottom of the falls. In October, I had a chance to descend McElvoy Canyon and find out what was there. For the BLM, I coordinated a two day volunteer project at the Keynot mine which is located at 8,200' on the east side of Keynot Peak. Our project was to continue work started last April and involved cleaning up mining debris and repair an old cabin at the mine. Twelve members of Friends of the Inyo WSA and the Desert Survivors joined me on the project. Two small cabins at the top of the Keynot mine were damaged in a rock avalanche about five years ago. One was completely demolished and its debris scattered over a wide area. The second cabin was mostly intact but had several boulders inside and some structural damage. The group spent two days cleaning up the debris and started repairs on the remaining cabin. The inside was cleaned out and the walls and roof supports repaired. The remaining cabin is not yet weather proof but should remain standing and now provides a shelter for backpackers to the area. We also put all the numerous mining artifacts from the two cabins that had been scattered by the avalanche into the remaining cabin with a plan to use it to preserve and interpret the area's history. Future plans are to complete the cabin repairs and put in some interpretive materials on the area's history, natural resources and present day management. The descent of McElvoy Canyon was scheduled for the next two days over the weekend. McElvoy Canyon is the next canyon north of Keynot Canyon and on Saturday morning, eight of the group decided to go for the McElvoy Canyon descent while three decided it would take longer than they wanted to so they headed down the Keynot ridgeline trail. This seven-mile trail leads east from the Keynot mine and follows the ridgeline on a historic mining trail down into Saline Valley. Carrying six ropes and plenty of rappelling gear, the eight of us climbed 1,000' up from the Keynot mine and attained the Keynot Canyon - McElvoy Canyon ridgeline at 9,000'. From there, it was an arduous straight down-slope scree decent for 3,000' to reach the McElvoy Canyon floor at 6,000'. At that point, there was a small flowing stream and lots of thick brush. The brush looked

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