Weird Secrets of Stovepipe Wells (Death Valley Solo 6/6)

[Music] howdy Wanderers a year forgive me but I spent last night at the side of the road huh well Panama Butte Road that is in Death Valley USA this is a dirt road that comes off of the main highway through Death Valley in Panamint Valley just before you get to pay them in Springs and well this is the middle of the corona virus pandemic all the campgrounds are closed except the one over there in Panama Springs but you know I don't like to camp in official campgrounds so the way it works here in Death Valley is if you want a backcountry camp or boondock you're free to do so off any dirt road as long as you go at least a mile from a paved road so the highway runs out yonder I drove down here last night about two and a half miles and well set up camp right here [Music] now it's morning and well I need cell signal and I also need to gas up to get ready for the day's adventures ahead and well there's really not that many gas stations out here in Death Valley for a place the size of I think Connecticut there's only three gas stations so you really have to plan your trips carefully there's Panamint Springs over on the west side and then there's furnace creek over on the east side and then there's stovepipe wells in the middle for some reason even when gas is 450 a gallon and furnace creek and 650 a gallon and Pyramid Springs it's usually weirdly reasonable in stovepipe wells I heard that's because snow fight wells is actually operated by the Park Service whereas the other two are privately owned but I'm not sure that makes sense to me because since when does the friggin federal government not want to gouge you either way you can't always count on the gas station in snow five wells being open because I guess they have some issue with the roof over the pumps and if it's windy if there's over twenty-five mile an hour winds then the gas station will be closed cuz I guess I'm afraid the roofs gonna blow off and hurt somebody I'm assuming this is a temporary problem and hopefully they fix it soon because gosh it sure would suck to roll into stovepipe wells on fumes and find it closed pit stop look what's here alongside the road I actually saw these busted old cars on my way to my campsite last night but it was getting dark and I didn't have time to investigate so figured I'd do it on my way out okay car guys here's your chance what was it what is it gosh that looks like from the thirties I guess let's look at the a I'm sure the engines gone because this isn't that far from the highway oh yeah well that's amazing to me that these are here at all because I mean we're at you can kind of see that we're in a wash so I mean I guess they washed down from somewhere up yonder but I don't know that there's any mines or anything up there so who knows where they came from maybe Bonnie and Clyde left it here Al Capone Wow look at all the bullet holes dang it looks like some old Buick or Oldsmobile to me how's my guess that little thing there but there's really nothing to tell us what it was Wow look at the bumper one more time yeah nothing nothing left to tell us what it was but somebody here probably knows okay now how about this one holy moly this looks more like 50s I guess this is the front end that we're looking at I couldn't even tell what was the front what was the back that shows you what kind of car person I am and then here's the look like I had sort of fins that's what made me think it was kind of more of a 50s car Wow look at how frigging rusted this thing is man I mean I see a lot of these rusty old cars but this one is I don't know something about it is just exceptionally rusted huh I'm impressed that it's not graphi teed up though being as it is right off the highway you know we're like a mile and a half off 190 and it's an easy road to get here so this is amateur hour man I keep hearing these freaking fighter jets flying around this is where they do the low low-level flying they come blazing through this valley a matter of fact before I was able to turn my camera on one came blazing through real low and it would have been an amazing shot unfortunately I was too slow on the uptake but I did capture one of them in my video I did yesterday at the Eureka dunes so check that out man what the hey I'm not in any hurry maybe I'll just hang out here by these rusted cars and drink some coffee here for a bit and wait and see if another guy comes through maybe I can catch that on film oh dang it and I don't want to wait here all morning so huh guess I'm not gonna catch one of them on camera today onward okay I know stovepipe wells has the cheapest gas but since I'm right down the road from Panamint Springs anyway I might as well stop in there and see what they're charging today hikers of course this being a national park they all gouge you although to be honest because of the corona virus epidemic gas prices are actually pretty cheap I mean I never thought I would see $3 gas and Panamint Springs usually it's like six dollars no kidding but there's no cell signal here and I think I could probably get it for cheaper in stovepipe wells so I'm gonna keep on heading down the road [Music] okay Wow I told you it's always cheaper here than it is anywhere else 280 oh I mean that's less than I've been paying in Nevada this is unbelievable I mean if there is an upside to this whole corona virus pandemic I guess cheap gas prices is it anyway since I'm here anyways I might as well poke around a little bit I mean I've been here a bunch of times over the years I mean I've stayed here at the motel which was fine and I've eaten at the restaurant which is fine but I actually recommend eating the food in the bar which is better cheaper and there's better ambience and then oh sometimes I'll just go over into the convenience store there and pick up a snack which unfortunately the cheap gas prices don't extend to they can be in store it's a pretty big ripoff but I'm usually kind of in a hurry when I pass through so I never really have time to poke around and figure out well what's going on in so five wells and why is it called stovepipe wells it's a weird name and I have a feeling there's probably a very interesting historical explanation for it and this number here is actually something I've been curious to check out for a long time too but like I said I never really have time to stop I think it's called burned wagons point gosh talk about an evocative name I can't wait to read why it's called burned wagons point okay the Sun is right behind it so it's kind of hard to read but it says near this monument Jayhawker group of death valley 49ers gold seekers from Middle West who entered Death Valley in 18-49 seeking the short route to the mines of central California burned their wagons dried the meat of some other oxen and with their surviving animals struggled westward on foot holy cow that reminds me of well I made that whole series of videos about the Donner Party and how big a struggle it was for them to make it to California well they weren't even going through Death friggin Valley I mean it blows my mind that anyone back in those days would have taken this southern route on foot with wagons and horses and oxen I mean there's no water here well I mean there is water obviously the place names like Panamint Springs and furnace creek and well I guess stovepipe wells there were Springs at well sometimes pretty great intervals that they had to somehow get from one to the next and well I guess that poor group they just had enough man they burned their wagons they dried out their oxen and hmm he just kind of gave up figure I might as well make another cup of coffee while I'm here I mean if it wasn't a friggin virus pandemic I would have just gone into the general store and paid their gouging prices for coffee but gosh I'm kind of freaked out about this virus so that's why I'm out here trying to stay to myself although I have seen a lot of travelers out here it's weird I mean right now it's totally deserted here check this out I mean I've never been in so fight balls when it's this friggin desert or there's one other car here ironically it's another white 4runner just like mine but ain't nobody else here it's crazy this place is usually jam friggin packed oh gosh that actually reminds me of well probably for me personally the most interesting thing about stovepipe wells is that well it's in Inyo County I nyo County California and well Inyo County is either the biggest or the second-biggest county in California it's a huge County it stretches all the way from the Nevada state line to the Sierra as to like you know where Bishop is mammoth all those places so Inyo County stovepipe wells is kind of like right in the middle of it so I heard this from a local in Tecopa California where I've been staying to sort of isolate from the coronavirus to cope is a little town way over near the Nevada state line in Inyo County but on the far eastern edge well the county jail for Inyo County is over on the western edge in the town of Independence so apparently according to this local I was talking to at the bar and to COPO once and I actually did seem like he knew he was talking about because the county is so big and the jail is so far away from Tecopa you really have to screw up royally to get arrested in Tecopa I mean according to this dude they will do just about anything to avoid having to take you all all the way to independence which is like a four-hour drive so generally speaking I guess if the cops are hassling you they will escort you either to the Nevada state line or the San Bernardino County line either one of those aren't too far away from Tecopa and they'll just sort of ask you to leave now again this is hearsay so don't quote me on it but it's just too good a story not to include in this video according to this guy I was talking to if you do screw up so badly that you get arrested in Tecopa or I guess Shoshone either one would apply supposedly the sheriff's deputy from Shoshone there aren't any sheriffs and Tecopa well you know they're Shoshone ajikko burly fireman's part anyway the sheriff's deputy from Shoshone will take you drive you here just of pipe wells and then a sheriff's deputy from way out yonder in Independence will come it's a two-hour drive from Independence it's a two-hour drive from Shoshone Tecopa they'll meet here in the middle at good old stovepipe wells and do a well a good old-fashioned prisoner transfer man I would die to see one of those happen but unfortunately doesn't look like one's gonna be taking place today anyway I'm just gonna make this coffee and then take advantage of the cellphone signal do you check my text messages and my email and stuff and then I think I found on the map the actual historical place where the actual stovepipe wells were so we can actually get to the bottom of this weird name finally once and for all uh-oh road closed I guess because of the virus they shut down a lot of the parking areas and stuff but that's okay I just parked here at the side of the road and I looked at my paper Atlas and it doesn't look like the historic stovepipe wells are very far down the road so I'm just gonna walk it's a beautiful day it's probably oh gosh feels like it's 70 degrees I mean I had to take my sweater off and put a short sleeve shirt on everything really nice and whatsmore huh it's wildflower season look there's all these beautiful flowers growing right out of the desert and they're all over the place out here I mean I guess if you're from like a place where there's a lot of flowers this probably doesn't look like such a big deal but trust me out here it is man this is an amazing day for so many reasons first of all it's gorgeous weather perfect time of year to be in Death Valley flowers out everywhere no crowds no traffic gas is cheap man I don't like to say that anything good came out of this whole pandemic but well I'm having a nice day it's just you know it is sort of tinged with an eeriness you know like I saw a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco which normally is like choked with traffic you know a lot of people drive back and forth to commute but it was totally empty all the lanes were empty and my mom I was on Facebook my mom commented on it that it reminded her of that song from the 60s I guess everyone's gone to the moon well that's what it feels like here deserts full of flowers all in blue everyone's gone to the moon anyway we're just walking along this dusty desert road ain't not a soul in sight so I'll sing whatever I want by golly but I think I've actually seen pictures of these stovepipe wells online somewhere my understanding was that the original pioneers people who are travelling across this godforsaken sun-blasted plane which can we just take a minute to look around this landscape here and remember that people crossed this in wagons with horses and oxen and screaming kids oh my god no wonder it's called Death Valley anyway I think I saw pictures where I guess there's some kind of natural spring or well here I mean you can see in the sand dunes up ahead there are some green bushes so there's some kind of water here and I think somehow they tapped down into it using old stove types hence the name stovepipe well spoiler alert so I don't know what if there's some kind of monument up here or if there's any stovepipes left over or what but gosh I'll just walk down this road until well until I don't feel like walking anymore and hopefully we find something okay I've been walking for a while now you can see my rig way back yonder still haven't seen hide nor hair of any stovepipes but I did stumble on this lonely grave gosh it seems like Death Valley is full of these lonely graves let's look at this one I mean look first of all it's just a pile a rocks couple creosote branches on top and uh well a wood headstone that I'm guessing is not original was it say Val Noland died August 1931 buried November 6 1931 a victim of the elements holy cow so Val could be a woman or a man I'm guessing it's probably a guy cuz back then women didn't travel around so much Val died in August and wasn't buried until November I wonder what happened poor guy was probably making his way across Death Valley and well died of exposure I guess and then nobody found his bones until November and then they buried him holy cow what a way to go man I'm sorry Val let me just pay my respects to Val here you can see other passers-by I have left coins jammed in the top of the heads down oh my gosh what a difference though from that other grave that I went to yesterday whether to little McKissack girls are buried I mean in that video it was first of all I was freezing it was blasting wind a snowstorm I didn't realize but a snowstorm was coming in which I was to be caught in in the next video man but I mean compare that to this where it's wide blue skies and this huge desert plane this I think we're around sea level here maybe a few hundred feet and those McKesson girls were up to more like four four or five thousand feet so both of those in the same national park though Death Valley is a land of extremes okay we're here some kind of monument and well I guess that's a stovepipe let's see what we can find out okay well first let's read what the sign says old stovepipe wells this waterhole only one in the sand dune area of Death Valley or I guess it's the only one in the sand dune area of Death Valley was at the junction of two Indian trails during the Bonanza days of rhyolite in skidoo Riley and skidoo were two mining towns in Death Valley it was the only known water source on the cross Valley Road when sand obscured the spot a length of stovepipe was inserted as a marker hence its unique name okay so I was close but not quite interesting so there was this was the only water source crossing this entire friggin valley let me just show you again what exactly that means I mean they had to get all the way across this and that little tiny well was the only water source and because we are right next to the mesquite sand dunes and as love well it's just real sandy here I guess it would get covered up with sand completely and well I mean it was life-saving water so they had to mark it with a stove pipe holy cow let's go up there and see if it still works I mean you can see here at the base of these creosote bushes or whatever those are cuz whatever plant that is yeah a lot of sand piled up and then you know sand down here stand here stand there everywhere sand and all there is to drink this is lonely little well holy cow Wow okay well looks like the wells been concreted over unfortunately but interesting and had it wooden lid on it and then they cemented over top of it what a shame I'd love to see inside it and then this is not a stovepipe this is just some kind of plumbing thing they put on it I guess maybe it does still water does still come out of it huh see climb up top and look down it just some rocks in it now interesting made in Indiana any Hoosiers watching this huh Wow crazy well now I know why stovepipe wells is called stovepipe wells and it's actually more interesting than I thought and gosh I mean yes of course I've thought about pioneers traveling through Death Valley before but this really drives home how extreme the journey was and how harsh life was out here whoa well I guess I'm just gonna walk back to my car now I probably I walked about a mile I guess but it was an easy walk beautiful day I'm enjoying the Sun and the freedom you know I've been out on the road for three days now on a little solo trip I got kind of antsy at my coronavirus isolation headquarters in Tecopa even though I have a really nice place to stay out there you know I wanted to get out for a few days and I did and boy did I I mean I had Sun and rain and wind and snow no kidding and I shot a bunch of videos so it seems like a fitting place to end my trip right here right now because well I actually just went in a giant loop I started my trip gosh I remember what day was Wednesday I guess I came down this highway to the Eureka dunes which are way back beyond that mountain range there I stayed at the Eureka dunes and then I drove around from that all the way to the 395 at the base of the Sierras it's the only place to get gas i gassed up in Lone Pine and then I circled around back down to California one ninety and came back into Death Valley through Keeler and and Panamint springs in well stovepipe well so I just made a big circle took me three days I got 60 videos I feel like it's a job well done and now I deserve a break so I'm gonna go back to Tecopa and take a little soak in one of them hot springs but I'm sure it'll only be a few days before I get antsy again and gosh by then hopefully the weather will be good enough that I could go just about anywhere see you then [Music]

Channel: Wonderhussy Adventures

Views: 50,869

Rating: 4.9607615 out of 5

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Id: VB4m8_xC_lY

Length: 21min 38sec (1298 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 29 2020