The Golden Valley Wilderness
The Golden Valley Wilderness
The Golden Valley lies between two mountain ranges.
Stretching across the north and northwest is the Lava Mountains,
and to the southeast, the Almond Mountains close off the valley.
The valley is literally surrounded by mountains and is probably
one of the most secluded areas in the Mojave.
While we were Google Earthing the area, we were only able to find
one little road entering the valley.
But, could we find it when we were actually there?
What's interesting about the Golden Valley is that it's relatively
untouched, there's awesome potential to find wildlife and archaeological
artifacts. If this visit
proves fruitful, we will come out again later in the year.
Very little is written about the Golden Valley, everywhere we
looked on the internet (flashes of websites), even Wikipedia, bestowed
the same description. But
one of the things the Golden Valley Wilderness is best known for its
wildflower display. This was filmed
in June, so we were at the tail end of it, but there were still
flowers around.
But the road started getting a little too rough for our Toyota
Highlander, and we decided to explore the areas around Red Mountain, in
an area still considered to be a part of the Golden Valley Wilderness.
In particular, we were going to Joe’s old stomping grounds, when
he and his friends knew a local legend who lived around here.
They called him Virgil Ramey.
The ‘Steam Man.’
When he was younger, Joe and his buddies found old Virge shortly after
his trailer had burned down.
So, they built him a new home out of plywood, planks, and PVC pipe.
The reason the place is called Steamwell is that there is a
natural steam well. Virge utilized it to his advantage.
On cold nights, he’d turn up the steam in his home and that would
warm him up. The only
problem is that the steam also has sulfur, and the smell permeated the
area. Sometime circa 1983, Virge’s property was bought out and he moved
to the town Red Mountain, where he died.
As Joe said, “I guess he couldn’t handle the Big City.”Virge died
in 1984 and is buried in Johannesburg cemetery.
Before they knew better, Joe and his buddies would put obsidian
chippings on his grave.
_______________________________________
Desert Dog Down!