So back to my tales of the desert we go…
Right after the sunrise, my partner and I started our backcountry road exploration. After all, we did rent an SUV just to do that so it was just about time for us to get serious.
The first short exploration we did was in Mosaic canyon, maybe one mile west of Stovepipe village. Ridding on for a few hundreds metres on an easy unpaved road get you to what actually is a hiking trail that takes you in the meander of a marble canyon. The hike is easy and rather short but walkers have to be careful about the sun and take plenty of
drinking water. We did the short hike at 9h00 in April and could feel the harshness of the sun… Can’t imagine doing talking this walk in July or in late afternoon. None the less, this is a fun little walk in a movie like scenery. If you just stop for a second and take the time to look up the canyon, you can almost see the cowboys hiding… 
After the walk we continued west on route 190 in direction of Panamint Spring. There we branched off on Emigrant Canyon road. A flat road first took us to the abandoned mining ‘city’ of Agueberry Point. The city is actually a camp consisting of a few abandoned houses : 
''Originally the town of Harrisburg was to be named Harrisberry after the two men who found the gold that launched it in 1905. Shorty Harris later took credit for the strike and changed the name of the town to Harrisburg after himself. Nevertheless, Pete Aguereberry, one of the original strike finders, spent 40 years working his claims in the Eureka gold mine. Harrisburg was a tent city that grew to support a population of 300. Today nothing remains of the town but Pete’s home and mine which are located to the right two miles down the dirt road to Aguereberry Point.'' 
For us however the real interest was the opportunity to walk a few metres in the actual mine. Stepping in there definitely take you back in time… Just don’t forget your headlamp or your flashlight!
After our encounter with gold digger ghosts, we continued our way up to Aguereberry Point. The road up there is amazing and the 4X4 finally got in handy… The trail is narrow and people with vertigo should definitely pass… The road climbs up a near 1900 metres… But boy is it ever worth it!! Seeing the vastness of Death Valley from above is a sight everyone should see. To bad the road was too narrow for us to stop during the ascent cause the pictures would have been amazing! But the sheer satisfaction of simply making it to one of the top was rewarding. Getting out of the car, we were greeted by cold icy wind… Even at noon, it was hard for us to stay out and enjoy the scenery. So we quickly grabbed a bite and slowly made our way down.H.
