Wildrose Charcoal Kilns #1 Death Valley National Park, CA These are the Wildrose Canyon Charcoal Kilns located in Death Valley National Park. The kilns were completed in 1877 by George Hearst’s Modock Consolidated Mining Company. If I recall the plaque correctly, the kilns were designed by a Swiss engineer, built largely with Chinese immigrant labor, and fueled by about 100 woodcutters - including many local Modock Native American laborers. Each of the 10 kilns stands about 25 feet tall and is about 30 feet in circumference . Each kiln held about 42 cords of pinyon pine logs and would, after burning for a week, and cooling for at least another 3 days, produce 2,000 bushels of charcoal. The charcoal produced here was hauled by Remi Nadeau’s Cerra Gordo Freighting Company by wagon and pack train to the two silver-lead smelters that Hearst had built 25 miles to the west in the Argus Range. These kilns only operated for two years before being shutdown due to declining productivity of the Argus mines. This short production run is the main reason the beehive kilns remain in such excellent condition. These photos were taken on the night following my Rhyolite Ghost Town shoot and daytrip down Titus Canyon and to other Death Valley locations. The last five miles of road up Wildrose Canyon were very rough - steep and washboarded dirt and rock - by the time I arrived, I was thoroughly tired of jouncing along backcountry roads! Conditions at the kilns this night were excellent. Just after sunset, looking west down the canyon, I could see the recent (April 17, 2002) planetary conjunction - the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter all lined up like glittering jewels in the twilight glow. Lovely. The air here was crisp, cool, and clean; scented with sage, juniper, and pinyon pine. The night was full of dry rustlings in the underbrush, distant chorus' of coyotes, and the tremulous calls of a screech owl. This was one of the most peaceful locations I've yet to shoot at. Copyright © 2002-2004 Jerry Day If you arrived here by search engine, click here to see the rest of site. |
DarkSkyDreams Night Photography by Jerry Day |
||