We went for a dawn soak in the Sunrise Pool, the upper pool at the lower springs, and met four people there who entertained us with stories of petroglyphs, local history, and clothes stealing donkeys. We were one of the few newcomers at the springs where many campers had been coming for more than 30 years.
Our new friends invited us to join them on an after breakfast hike to to see raven’s nests. We headed across the alluvial fan to the black hills above the camp and then scrambled into a small canyon on the other side. The raven’s nests were big messy heaps of sticks stuck in cracks high on the cliffs. Then we walked down the canyon and turned left across the alluvial fan towards camp. On our way we crossed the “chicken strip” where light planes sometimes land and occasionally crash.
After a scrub in the outdoor shower and another soak we dressed for the Halloween potluck at the springs. Ten people attended, mostly in costume, and we enjoyed a sociable dinner. Afterwards many left to party at Palm Springs while we took another soak in the Sunrise Pool.
The motorcyclists who were camped next to us did not return from their ride yesterday so we were relieved to see them tonight. After a long day of riding left them far from camp, they wisely rented a tent and sleeping bags at Panamint Springs then returned tonight.
