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On Tuesday, October 5, my sister and I drove our Toyota 4Runners to the ghost town of Ballarat in the Panamint Valley with the intent of 4-wheeling up Pleasant Canyon to Rogers Pass.

We passed through Trona and up to a pass in the Slate Range to this Panamint Valley overlook.

Ballarat is at the base of the Panamint Mountains on the far side of the valley.

Hunter Mountain can be seen in the far distance from the Panamint Valley overlook.

The road turns suddenly to the left just after going through the pass.

There are at least six wrecked cars in this picture. It appears that they have been there for decades and may pre-date the guard rail. More recent road construction has rolled large boulders down onto the wrecks. Does Inyo County just leave wrecked cars where they fall?

A trio of monuments marks the turn off to the dirt road leading across the dry lake to the ghost town of Ballarat.

Panamint City monument.

Ballarat monument.

Ballarat monument.

360-degree panorama of the ghost town of Ballarat.

Adobe building.

Just twenty minutes up the road into Pleasant Canyon, we reached a washout. There is black tire rubber scuffed onto the two boulders below the washout. They are too close together for a 4Runner to get between them. We got out and walked up the road a little way.

A small stream runs along the road in the narrows of the canyon. The stream has carved ruts along and across the road.

A little cascade of water erodes the edge of the road.

The view down Pleasant Canyon reveals the Argus Range on the far side of the Panamint Valley.

Driving back down to Ballarat.

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California High Desert

2008 Calendar

You can buy a 2008 calendar featuring my photographs of California’s High Desert.

California High Desert locations include Owens Valley, Panamint Valley, Saline Valley and the Inyo Mountains.

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