The Panamints: Panamint Mountains, Panamint Valley, Panamint Springs. I’ve written in the past about this area, more or less just in passing, and I wanted to give it some more detail and depth.

Here’s an overview shot, Panamint Valley from the rough/rocky Saline Valley Road to the north:

So what is it? Where is it? Sure, Death Valley is famous world-wide. Owens Valley is pretty well-known, at least in California. But any mention of Panamint Valley usually garners a quizzical look.  Looking at where Panamint Valley is situated partly explains its anonymity. The valley is the low-lying land in between Death Valley (basically the middle of Nowhere) and the dark eastern shadow of the Sierra Nevada, through which the spindly artery of US-395 winds its way.

Only the Saline Valley to the northwest is lonelier (but that’s for another story). In general, only long-term desert rats like myself know about and appreciate the Panamints. But — fortunate for us all — another group of people fell in love with the area, and they are the Cassells. The Cassell family, after long deliberation, took over the operation of Panamint Springs Resort a bunch of years back. Since then, their hard-work ethic and devotion to their goals have rescued the Resort from near-oblivion, and made it a true oasis — a welcome stopover in this otherwise un-populated region.

When I say “un-populated”, I don’t mean that there are only a few people living here. Aside from the Resort’s employees, who stay on-site, NOBODY lives here at all, for maybe a 50-60 mile radius. No houses or even a lonely shack, for as far as you can see. The neighbors are limited to jackrabbits, coyotes, roadrunners, a few burros, and other desert fauna.

Now having visited PSR several different times, I’m still drawn to the area by many different features. First of all is the vastness of the desert, of course, one of my favorite (generic) places to sit back, chill out, and appreciate big space and low noise. Panamint Valley is only fifty miles in either direction from the better-known areas flanking it, but the Valley and its mountains have their own attractions.

Immediately to the west a few miles, a long trail climbs up a canyon to Darwin Falls. This is a wonderful hike in any but the hotter parts of the year. If you’re fit AND courageous, you can even climb the cliffs surrounding the falls and work your way up to the upper falls, and eventually to Darwin. (This water is also the source of all the water use at PSR. You can see their pipeline when you hike the canyon; please don’t disturb, it is delicate in spots.)

For those of us less brave, the town of Darwin can be reached by (rough) road from farther west along CA-190. The town is — well, remarkable. It’s a small mining town out in the middle of yet another Nowhere, and there is no easy way to describe it. Driving through is a bit like visiting another country.

Southeast, the tiny, semi-alive ghost town of Ballarat offers old buildings, charismatic locals, and cold water and ice cream.

Out east on the way to Death Valley, a long twisting side-trip gets up to the high-mountain charcoal kilns. These beehive-looking monsters were used to cook down lumber into charcoal, used in the mine smelters back in the heyday of the mining businesses that were scattered around the area.

To the north, either paved roads, or really long and challenging 4WD tracks will end up at Devil’s Racetrack, the famous dry lake with the mysterious drifting rocks. (And yes, some guy finally figured out how the drifting happens.)

There’s also a lovely, rough back road down to the south, suitable only for high-clearance or 4WD, and it’s pretty slow to travel on. But that’s where we almost always run into a pack or two of desert burros, some of the most charming creatures you’re ever likely to encounter. Yeah, I know they’re non-indigenous, but they still seem to have earned a place in my heart.

And just over to the northeast are the sand dunes that decorate the northern tip of the valley. You can reach these only by a long and fairly rough road, but they are a great hike and a grand view.

Meanwhile, “back at the ranch” so to speak, PSR lies ready with all the amenities of civilization. Motel with 24 rooms, full restaurant (with really decent meals), full bar, gas station, and RV and tent camping just across the “street” (CA-190). It’s really a treat to go wandering in the desert for hours and then come back to camp for a great meal (prepared by someone else) and a cold beer. Ben Cassell is the beer-meister and happily/proudly maintains an inventory of at least 100 different brews.

This is an area with ZERO cell phone coverage, no TV or Internet. PSR does host some wifi capability, but like most “group” wifi’s, it’s a bit capricious. I always plan to be disconnected for a while when I visit.

Scenery-wise, there is little that can compete with the desert sky, or the colored bands of the Panamints at sunset. Watching the colors change and fade, while sipping a margarita on the restaurant view deck, is truly a sublime experience.

The view coming down CA-190 from the west is also something I perennially try to capture in photos (hardly ever successfully).

If any of this were ever to leave me wanting more, I needed only to wait for the morning and afternoon fighter-aircraft sorties. The valley is part of a Military Operations Area (MOA), and low-level flight and dogfighting are among the exercises here. On any given weekday, you might see anything from an F-16 to a B-52 working its way across the landscape. The world goes from dead silence to thundering roar(s) and back to zero sound again, in about a minute or two. It’s truly awesome to watch, not to mention the pride I always feel in our armed services and their capabilities. Jon Cassell has a stunning collection of photos of live-action jets (and a lot of other local stuff) that he’s shared on Facebook. For some reason, there’s no gallery (yet?) on the PSR web site. Here’s a sample:

Oddly enough, visitation during the summer is quite high, but consisting mostly of foreign tourists who want to experience such extremes. The other summer event is the Badwater Marathon (see this link). Now, I’ve done some witless things in my life, like skydiving, aerobatics, night scuba and such. But none ever threatened my life as much, or required as poor a level of sanity, or inflicted as much pain, as running 135 miles across the desert in July. For those poor demented souls, PSR has an unending supply of ice and cold water (and a satellite phone to call the ambulances).

One of the finest times of the year to visit is during Thanksgiving week. Besides the weather having lost the summer blow-torch feel, the Cassells sponsor a massive Thanksgiving feast. No charge, but donations are welcome. This has been going on since they took ownership, in both good years and bad. Word has gotten around too — one year I believe they served more than 500 meals.

Want more info? You can get lots of information from these web sites, and PSR’s Facebook page too.

• Badwater Marathon
• Panamint Springs Resort (Facebook)
• Panamint Springs Resort (web site)
• Panamint Valley
• Darwin Falls
• Desert USA