Trona Pinnacles
Jan. 1st, 2023 04:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalker5 Days in the Desert travelog #25
Ridgecrest, CA - Wed, 28 Dec 2022, 1pm
We're close to wrapping up our "5 Days in the Desert" trip. Today we're headed home, but first with a detour to visit Trona Pinnacles just southwest of Death Valley. We've been wanting to visit the Trona Pinnacles for years, but it seems that each time we're in Death Valley there just isn't quite enough time to get over here. Thus we tacked it on to the end of this trip. It was an easy drive from Barstow to the town of Ridgecrest, California this morning. From there it was about a 15 mile drive out of town to reach the access road, then a 5 mile drive on dirt and gravel roads.
So, what are the Trona Pinnacles? They're a set of tufa spires, tufa being a calcium carbonate formation created underwater. Yes, underwater. This desert basin at about 1,800 feet elevation used to be 700 feet underwater. At the end of the last Ice Age, glaciers from the Sierra Nevada melted and formed a huge inland sea. What's left of it today is the mostly dry Searles Lake, several miles north of here.
The main access road to Trona Pinnacles is accessible to orindary passenger cars. There's also a short driving loop. There's a hiking loop, too, plus a number of shorter trail up to & around the various tufa formations.
We had fun hoofing it through the main clusters of formations. After that we drove into one of the other sets of formations. The roads to this other part of the park are rougher and require 4wd and/or higher clearance to avoid getting stuck. Here's a video from the 4x4 trail:
Now it's time to head home. Well, after we finish eating lunch in Ridgecrest it's time to head home.
Ridgecrest, CA - Wed, 28 Dec 2022, 1pm
We're close to wrapping up our "5 Days in the Desert" trip. Today we're headed home, but first with a detour to visit Trona Pinnacles just southwest of Death Valley. We've been wanting to visit the Trona Pinnacles for years, but it seems that each time we're in Death Valley there just isn't quite enough time to get over here. Thus we tacked it on to the end of this trip. It was an easy drive from Barstow to the town of Ridgecrest, California this morning. From there it was about a 15 mile drive out of town to reach the access road, then a 5 mile drive on dirt and gravel roads.
So, what are the Trona Pinnacles? They're a set of tufa spires, tufa being a calcium carbonate formation created underwater. Yes, underwater. This desert basin at about 1,800 feet elevation used to be 700 feet underwater. At the end of the last Ice Age, glaciers from the Sierra Nevada melted and formed a huge inland sea. What's left of it today is the mostly dry Searles Lake, several miles north of here.
The main access road to Trona Pinnacles is accessible to orindary passenger cars. There's also a short driving loop. There's a hiking loop, too, plus a number of shorter trail up to & around the various tufa formations.
We had fun hoofing it through the main clusters of formations. After that we drove into one of the other sets of formations. The roads to this other part of the park are rougher and require 4wd and/or higher clearance to avoid getting stuck. Here's a video from the 4x4 trail:
Now it's time to head home. Well, after we finish eating lunch in Ridgecrest it's time to head home.
no subject
Date: 2023-01-02 02:40 am (UTC)