Spreading the Blame. We
decided to climb Tucki by the shorter route suggested in 1970 by Andy Smatko
and described by Abe Siemens (SAGE 131) and myself (SAGE 214). Five of US: Andy
and Wynne Zdon, LeRoy Johnson, and Ski and I, drove to the start of the dirt
road near Emigrant Cyn. This road, best driven by a truck, cuts the Tucki
hiking time by about half.
Time Passengers. LeRoy stopped us at
the roadside at a flat bench. He summoned us to a trail that he had discovered
earlier, an Indian trail which had been in use for centuries. Perhaps it was
also followed by the Jayhawkers during their exit from Death Valley in 1849.
Brush had by now grown over the trail but it was easily seen when viewed end-on
as a strip of finer grained pebbles bordered by kicked-out larger stones. LeRoy
is a historian and author of the current authoritative book which traces the
1849 Death Valley escape epic. Underway again, we stopped briefly to study the
rusted hulk of an abandoned Model T lying alongside the road.
Road
Warriors. I drove in 2WD and twice in 4WD over short rocky steps in the
otherwise even road. The other drivers reported that staying in 4WD all the
time smoothed out the washboard vibration. In an hour we came to the plateau at
4880' where the former route from Skidoo comes across. A steep road led to the
top of P5532 where we parked. It goes down yet more steeply on the other side
but a winch cable stretched out on the ground is a warning to the
traction-impaired.
Now You See It--Not! From our high vantage
I pointed out the Tucki summit as being the one with the rock calm on it. The
others looked and I don't think they saw any cairn but they didn't say
anything. It was there on prior climbs but now I couldn't see it either. I let
it slide; they might have thought that I have superior vision. When we got to
the summit we found |
that the cairn's rocks had been scattered by
some deranged cairn robber.
Roller Coaster Ridgerun. We hiked
down the steep road and crossed a flat. The morning was sunny but humidity made
it hazy and there was a slight cooling breeze. The ridge that we took was
fairly direct but each time we imagined to be closing in on the summit another
saddle appeared. We could look back and see our parked vehicles but the summit
ahead was always out of sight. The final saddle of the three was the longest.
We had taken short rests along the way; time to the top was 3.5 hours, 3.6
miles and 2000'.
Krautburgers. The clearly superior lunch on the
summit was acknowledged to be the Braunschwelger burritos. The clearly superior
rest stop snacks were Andy's and Wynne's cool strawberries and cantaloupe
chunks. We perused the two register books; the first one went back to an even
earlier time than Bob Greenawalt's 1968 entry My earliest was in a snowstorm in
1973.
Abandoned Movie Set. LeRoy chose our return route to
follow part of the canyon north of our ascent. After driving back down we
explored the main road to its end at the "Journigan's Tucki Mine". Later
research showed this mine to have been worked at fair to poor profit which
ended with the 1978 Death Valley mining claims moratorium. A cabin at the mine
is furnished for overnight use and is managed by the Monument. Journigan also
operated the small gold mill at Emigrant Spring.
Tom Odet Sent
Us. We planned to explore the Skidoo area the next day so it was decided to
camp in any pleasant location. We first tried a roadside camp with a "hermit's
cave" but the hermit's ghost assailed us with tiny biting gnats. Andy and Wynne
then led the way to a fine campsite low on our road where Telephone Canyon
splits off. This is a suitable place for several vehicles and it is permitted
to camp here. |