Slim's Peak Hike | Backpacker Magazine

Slim's Peak

ca

Distance: 1.5 miles

Submitted by: Averain

Mining Gear
Slims Peak
Four Wheel Drive Required
Radcliffe Tramway
Slims Peak Summit View 1
Slims Peak Summit View 2
Death Valley Boundary
From the Parking Area
Claire Camp
Claire Camp Cabin
World Beater Mining Equipment 2
World Beater Mining Equipment
Greenery
Ballarat Cemetary
Seldom Seen Slims Grave
Desert Flowers

Trip Description
Waypoints

SL0001

Location: 36.021556854248, -117.124862670898

Park your car off the road here. To your right is Slim's Peak.

SL0002

Location: 36.0211334228516, -117.123962402344

There is no trail, so just bushwhack directly up the ridge through sparse trees and desert vegetation. Be careful to stay close to the ridge as the scree on the middle of the slope is very loose and the footing is bad.

SL0003

Location: 36.016731262207, -117.123733520508

Climb to the top of the ridge and follow it around to the peak. Along the ridge there is a small scramble over a rock pile on the way to the peak but straying off of the ridge to avoid it leads quickly to loose footing on a steep hillside.

SLPEAK

Location: 36.0171737670898, -117.131217956543

Slim's Peak was named after Seldom Seen Slim, the last of the lone prospectors who travelled with their mules and belongings around the Mojave Desert in search of gold.

SLRT01

Location: 36.0316696166992, -117.117309570312

Take a right here to climb an amazing mining road that switchbacks impossibly up the side of the mountain.

Mining Gear

Location: 36.0327949523926, -117.134117126465

Mining gear from the Radcliffe Mine. There are numerous mining operations throughout Pleasant Canyon, but two very large ones, namely the Radcliffe Mine and the World Beater dominate the canyon. This is the bottom wheel for a cable tram which was used to run ore buckets up to the mountains where the main entrances to the mine were and back down to the central mining operations where the ore was worked.

Slims Peak

Location: 36.0171165466309, -117.131278991699

Slim's Peak is the highest one in the middle. It can be seen from where you park your car.

Four Wheel Drive Required

Location: 36.034107208252, -117.182342529297

There is beautiful creek running through Pleasant Canyon, but it makes the road difficult to navigate at times and due to the large tire ruts and steep terrain four wheel drive is a requirement. This picture was taken on the way down the canyon. At this particular section on the way up it took several tries to get past the large ruts seen in the left hand side of this picture.

Radcliffe Tramway

Location: 36.0320014953613, -117.136444091797

The mining cable trams in Pleasant Canyon are fantastic! The cables often run hundreds of feet up cliffs to the tops of the canyon walls or completely across the canyon itself.

Slims Peak Summit View 1

Location: 36.0178070068359, -117.131118774414

The view off of the summit of Slim's Peak is impressive. The peak is 10 miles (and a few canyons) to the north of the Myers and Barker Ranches where the Manson Family hideouts were and where Charles Manson was arrested.

Slims Peak Summit View 2

Location: 36.0157585144043, -117.131118774414

The Sierra Nevada can be seen rising over the top of the Slate Range. In the valley below is the town of Ballarat.

Death Valley Boundary

Location: 36.0355072021484, -117.04891204834

If you see this sign, then you have driven too far and missed the right turn. Slim's Peak is close to Death Valley, but not in Death Valley.

From the Parking Area

Location: 36.0214500427246, -117.124923706055

In this view from the parking spot it is possible to see the scree slopes under the ridge. The area in shadow in the middle of the picture is where the scree is at its worst and it is important to stay at a closer point to the ridge for safety's sake as the scree is extremely loose and the footing is bad.

Claire Camp

Location: 36.0322647094727, -117.137771606445

Claire Camp was owned by W.D. Claire who bought the old Radcliffe mine in 1930. This area was originally the site of the small town (population approx. 200) of people who worked the Radcliffe mine and although there are still extensive ruins in the area there has been significant vandalism.

Claire Camp Cabin

Location: 36.0319938659668, -117.138046264648

The insides of a cabin at Claire Camp.

World Beater Mining Equipment 2

Location: 36.0274772644043, -117.120971679688

The World Beater is the other large mine in Pleasant Canyon. Both of the mines were founded in 1896 and the World Beater closed operations in 1905. As with the Radcliffe cable trams ran ore from the cliffs down to the ten stamp mill where it was processed.

World Beater Mining Equipment

Location: 36.0262145996094, -117.120971679688

Old equipment from the World Beater.

Greenery

Location: 36.0334396362305, -117.179321289062

There is a large amount of vegetation surrounding the road up Pleasant Canyon due to the stream which runs through the canyon. For around 10 miles up the canyon at various points it is possible to see hoses running alongside the road that supply water to the few people that still live in Ballarat.

Ballarat Cemetary

Location: 36.0487022399902, -117.221862792969

The cemetary at Ballarat is an odd assortment of handmade grave markers and individual sites, no two of which are the same.

Seldom Seen Slims Grave

Location: 36.0493354797363, -117.22240447998

There is a tradition of tossing loose change on Seldom Seen Slim's grave. From his grave site if you look up at the nearby Panamint range you can see the peak which the USGS named in his honor. Slim, whose real name was Charles Ferge, died in1968 and had lived in Ballarat since 1917. He was considered to be the last of the lone prospectors who looked for gold in and around the Mojave Desert and Death Valley areas.

Desert Flowers

Location: 36.0165481567383, -117.124313354492

The peak of the desert wildflower season is usually from March to April and although there were a large number of flowers in this area of the Panamints what flowers there were looked healthy.

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After a rough (but beautiful) four wheel drive trail through a canyon full of historic mining ruins this easy climb of the peak named after the colorful desert character Seldom Seen Slim offers excellent views of the Panamint, Slate and Sierra Nevada ranges. To Parking Spot: From Highway 178 heading North to Death Valley take a right at Ballarat Road and continue straight on through the town of Ballarat and up into Pleasant Canyon. Turn right where the road forks at waypoint SLRT01 and head up past the World Beater mine and to the saddle. The parking area is at the saddle. From where you park, walk across the road and start your climb up the ridge on the other side.

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