Mazourka Canyon & Papoose Flats
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JK-Forum Founder
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 36,534
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From: Laguna Niguel, CA
Mazourka Canyon & Papoose Flats
Itchin to get out and do something, WOLette and I decided to go on a crazy drive up to Lone Pine and have breakfast at one of our favorite restaurants, the Alabama Hills Cafe. What we would do afterwards was anybodys guess as we hadn't planned that far in advance but, just in case, we packed up some essential gear and headed up north. Of course, what started off as a simple spur of the moment bug up our butt turned out to be an epic adventure that would take us all the way up to Big Pine and back and all in one day. In fact, when all was said and done, we ended up totalling over 600 miles in a little over 18 hours and over 40 of those miles were chalked up off road exploring the beautiful Inyo Mountains and at altitudes in excess of 9,000 ft. above sea level. Anyway, here are some pics from our trip....
Spring is still going strong up in the Owens Valley and so were the bugs.....
Shot of the "Hard Rock Legends" wall at the Alabama Hills Cafe....
After a very hearty breakfast, we tried heading up to Horseshoe Meadows but, the road was still closed for the winter and so, we made a stop over at the Alabama Hills to checkout some of the cool rock formations and wildflowers that were in bloom....
There was a whole bunch of gorgeous Mojave Thistle in bloom here....
Tons of Acton Encelia amongst the rocks....
After looking over some maps, we decided to head futher north and explore Mazourka Canyon. Here we are making a stop over at an old mine hopper to air down near the old Kearsarge town site...
Just inside the mouth of Mazourka Canyon, we found a outstanding display of wildflowers in bloom including Mojave Asters....
Brilliant Hedge-Hog Catus (also known as Calico Catus)....
and bright yellow Prince Plume....
Climbing up out of Mazourka Canyon, we found ourselves on top of Badger Flat....
Looking east across Badger Flat....
View of the Sierra Nevada Mountains from the top of Badger Flats....
The weathered remains of an ancient Bristol Cone Pine in a tortured pose on a ridge top on our way to Papoose Flat....
Grassy valley on our way to Papoose Flat....
View of Papoose Flat from high up on a ridge....
Driving into Papoose Flat....
View looking west across Papoose Flat....
Stopping for some lunch over at one of the larger papooses....
Looking through the window....
A framed view of our Jeep....
On a ridge top as we make our way over to Harkless Flat...
Even on top of this harsh ridge top which sits at over 9,000 ft. above sea level, we were able to find very tiny Fremont Phacelia's tucked under some dead brush...
Down in Harkless Flat and near the end of our trail, we came across some Newberry Milk Vetch (Locoweed)....
Found a whole bunch of Long-Leaf Phlox....
and, we found tons of stunning red Desert Paintbrush everywhere too....
Back on pavement and heading down to Big Pine, we saw large bunches of Apricot Mallow glowing in the light of the falling sun....
We left home down in south Orange County at about 6:30 AM and by the time we got to Big Pine, it was 6:30 PM. It was a hell of a lot of driving to get where we were and we still had a hell of a long way to get back home but, for all that we saw and did, all I can is that it was well worth it
To see all the pics we took on this trip, simply click on the link below:
Mazourka Canyon & Papoose Flats Photo Gallery
Spring is still going strong up in the Owens Valley and so were the bugs.....
Shot of the "Hard Rock Legends" wall at the Alabama Hills Cafe....
After a very hearty breakfast, we tried heading up to Horseshoe Meadows but, the road was still closed for the winter and so, we made a stop over at the Alabama Hills to checkout some of the cool rock formations and wildflowers that were in bloom....
There was a whole bunch of gorgeous Mojave Thistle in bloom here....
Tons of Acton Encelia amongst the rocks....
After looking over some maps, we decided to head futher north and explore Mazourka Canyon. Here we are making a stop over at an old mine hopper to air down near the old Kearsarge town site...
Just inside the mouth of Mazourka Canyon, we found a outstanding display of wildflowers in bloom including Mojave Asters....
Brilliant Hedge-Hog Catus (also known as Calico Catus)....
and bright yellow Prince Plume....
Climbing up out of Mazourka Canyon, we found ourselves on top of Badger Flat....
Looking east across Badger Flat....
View of the Sierra Nevada Mountains from the top of Badger Flats....
The weathered remains of an ancient Bristol Cone Pine in a tortured pose on a ridge top on our way to Papoose Flat....
Grassy valley on our way to Papoose Flat....
View of Papoose Flat from high up on a ridge....
Driving into Papoose Flat....
View looking west across Papoose Flat....
Stopping for some lunch over at one of the larger papooses....
Looking through the window....
A framed view of our Jeep....
On a ridge top as we make our way over to Harkless Flat...
Even on top of this harsh ridge top which sits at over 9,000 ft. above sea level, we were able to find very tiny Fremont Phacelia's tucked under some dead brush...
Down in Harkless Flat and near the end of our trail, we came across some Newberry Milk Vetch (Locoweed)....
Found a whole bunch of Long-Leaf Phlox....
and, we found tons of stunning red Desert Paintbrush everywhere too....
Back on pavement and heading down to Big Pine, we saw large bunches of Apricot Mallow glowing in the light of the falling sun....
We left home down in south Orange County at about 6:30 AM and by the time we got to Big Pine, it was 6:30 PM. It was a hell of a lot of driving to get where we were and we still had a hell of a long way to get back home but, for all that we saw and did, all I can is that it was well worth it
To see all the pics we took on this trip, simply click on the link below:
Mazourka Canyon & Papoose Flats Photo Gallery
JK Freak
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 517
Likes: 0
From: Encinitas, CA
I Know that area
Hey way of life, That indeed is a cool area and seeing the pictures brought back lots o memories for me. The San Jose State summer Geology camps ( kind of your senior thesis) were there for 25 years. I went to one of classes in 1975. We lived in tents for 6 weeks on Santa Rita Flats. Used to see wild horses in the valley east of Papoose flats ( I think that was it) There is one of those wilderness fences there ( thanks Clinton, boxer and Cranston) On the saddle at the end of the valley indians used to make arrowheads and watch over the valley in both directions, east looks into Saline valley There is a small road that off shoots from the one to papoose flats that is a little challenging Last time I was on it I was in a fullsize fj 100 landcruiser. and it was fun. the first time I was on it was in a chevy Cheyene stepside pick up and it scared me. The geology is limestone and granite intrusions, dolomite and some metamorphics. There are a few wild cat mines in the area. I even found some gold flakes there once. In the valley where the fence is there are broken arrow heads sometimes. There is even an old cave hidden about 20 or 30 feet up from the valley floor. Yeah seeing Mazouka canyon is way cool. Very Nice trip.
