Burros and camping

[NEJ]

The burro population in southern California is mostly concentrated in the Panamint Valley, Panamint Mountains, Argus Mountains and Owlshead Mountains. You know they are around when you see their trails, usually up canyons where they establish regular routes to water holes and springs.

Along these trails will be burro rolls—places where the burros roll in the dust. Also along these trails are the bones of the fallen. I have hiked more than one burro trail and have noticed that the trails avoid narrow canyons with overhanging rocks where mountain lions can spring from ambush. If at all possible the trail will climb the canyon side and skirt such situations.

Another thing burros do is stand in places they feel are protected from the elements but still offer some safety from a mountain lion. I have found burro dung in mine shafts, just inside the entrance. I have found places where the burros come and spend time on a regular basis, year after year.

Burros will chew painted wood. Maybe there are minerals in the paint that they crave. They generally are in herds of three to five or even a few more. Two many and they will drink the spring dry. Too few and they are more apt to be prey for lions.

If burros are around where you camp, you may hear them braying. This can be almost anytime of day or night. The scariest sounds they make are very loud snorts. These usually occur sometime during the night and can be unnerving, especially because it sounds like it is right outside your tent. Then when you shine the flashlight around, there is no burro in sight. The sound carries well in the still desert air and the burro can be some distance away.

NJ

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Butte valley is one of my favorite places on earth. Below are shots of my buggy parked at the Geologist's Cabin with the Striped Butte beyond and a small herd at the base of the butte. By the way, isn't the butte a beaut?


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This herd is out in the Owlshead south of Wingate Pass where the famous Death Valley Scotty ambush took place.


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Here are a few in Pleasant Canyon at Claire Camp.


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Eventually all burros end up as bleached bones on the desert gravels.


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[Vtec44]

Oh wow, they do not look like they're afraid of human at all (at least in some of the pictures). Is that the average size? From the pictures, they do not look any bigger than an average doe.

[NEJ]

They are not large, but can be skittish. Bigger than a small doe--heavier anyway. Go up to the Panamint Valley or the Argus or the Panamint Mountains and Butte Valley and you will see for yourself. About a three-and-a-half hour drive from Costa Mesa to Panamint Valley through Trona.

You can see where mules get their ears. And why mule deer are called mule deer. They should be called burro deer.

Don't go until at least October.

NJ

[NEJ]

A warning to those who would head for the Owlshead this time of year. Last week the ranger found a stuck vehicle south of the Owlshead, I think I know right where the location is because I camped there two years ago.

The vehicle contained a live mother, a live dog, and a dead kid. They were buried up to the axles in sand and the temperature was getting up to 120 degrees.

Camp in the mountains in the summer and the desert in the fall, winter and spring, but be prepared.

NJ

[Vtec44]

I saw it in the news earlier this morning...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,538323,00.html

Sad situation :(

[NEJ]

There is an old trick for getting out of those situations. If you have a standard transmission, you disable the switch up under the dash behind the clutch so you can start the vehicle with it in gear. Then put it in first and use the starter motor to crank the vehicle out of the hole. I have used this in a number of tough spots. The gearing is such that the starter motor can do a better job than the engine. Just don't crank long before letting the starter motor cool off as it will burn up otherwise.

NJ

[NEJ]

A cross between a burro and a horse is a mule. If you look at a mules ears you will see from which of the two they come.

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From the Borax pamphlet:

"Iron tires --eight inches wide and one inch thick---encased the seven-foot high rear wheels and five-foot front wheels. Split oak spokes measured five and one-half inches wide at the hub. Solid steel bars, three and one-half inches square, acted as the axle-trees. The wagon beds were sixteen feet long, four feet wide, and six feet deep. Empty, each wagon weighed 7,800 pounds. two loaded wagons plus the water tank made a total load of 73,000 pounds or 36.5 tons.

"Between 1883 and 1888, the twenty mule teams hauled more then 15 million pounds of Borax out of the valley. During this time, not a single animal was lost nor did a single wagon break down....The road from Death Valley to Mojave covered 165 miles....The one-way trip from the mine to the railroad took ten days...

"Twenty mules were hitched to single- and double-trees then latched to a 120-foot chain running the length of the team. This chain was fastened directly onto the lead wagon. A long rope ran through the collar ring of each left-hand mule up to the leaders. Although the driver also wielded a whip with a six-foot handle and a twenty-two-foot lash, his primary method of giving orders lay in manipulating this rope---called the jerk line---which ran the length of the team. A steady pull on the jerk line turned the team to the left, a series of jerks sent it to the right. The driver also rode the 'nigh wheeler' (the left hand mule) on downhill stretches to operate the brake.

"To keep the chain going around the curve and not pull the team straight over the edge, some of the mules were ordered to leap the chain and pull at an angle away from the curve. These mules---the pointers, sixes, and eights---would step along sideways until the corner had been turned. Swinging a curve successfully was an awesome demonstration of training and teamwork."

NJ