‘Old-timers’ along the traditional days of ‘49 mule trek relax of a recent evening. The crew won’t be able to take part in Shoshone Days this year. Advertisement

TECOPA, Calif. -- Riders in the annual '49er mule train reenactment, reached the Tecopa Campground as usual, in three days ride, over 50 miles of desolate desert country from Terrible's Lakeside Casino in Pahrump.

However, instead of a 45-mile trip the rest of the way from Ashford Junction to Furnace Creek, this year members of the wagon train will have 100 miles left to travel, on the 40th anniversary of the reenactment.

They moved their supplies from the Tecopa Campground to Wade's Monument south of Dumont Dunes Thursday, to continue traveling the final trek from there.

The journey ends in Death Valley in time for the '49er encampment Nov. 10 which includes a parade, a fiddler competition and an art show.

The extra mileage means they will skip Western Days in Shoshone Saturday, where they normally were part of the parade.

Trail boss, Norm Noftsier, from Green Valley, Calif., said people wanted to ride the 100-mile route into Death Valley National Park.

"They wanted to do the 100-miler, and a lot of them said, well, we still need to do the Pahrump deal. So we sat down several evenings trying to figure out a schedule how we could do it all. We came up with a schedule but I think it's still confusing to a lot of people," Noftsier said.

Riders moved up the start of the departure from Pahrump two days, leaving last Thursday, Oct. 25, instead of Saturday.

"It's a little more taxing, it's a little more preparation, a little more on the support crews," Noftsier said. "Water is our biggest item, carrying enough water for all the animals. They'll drink 10 gallons a day on a hot day."

A generator hummed quietly in the background as the sun set over the Tecopa Campground Tuesday evening. Riders enjoyed an extra hour of sunlight in the evening as Pacific Standard Time doesn't take effect until Saturday, a week later than normal.

"The weather's good, nobody's bothering us, everybody's glad to see us, so what else could you want?" Noftsier said.

Noftsier almost missed the start of the ride this year, due to the forest fires in Southern California when he had to evacuate some livestock. Fortunately the smoke cleared after the first day on the trail.

Seven wagon trains departed from Pahrump, spent the first night just past the dry lake bed south of the brothels, went up the low pass over the Nopah Range, traveled the old Spanish Trail, then bedded down near Resting Spring Ranch the second night.

"This year it's really pretty because we had that rain and everything is so green out across the valley. We even saw some wild flowers," Noftsier said, a fellow desert rat formerly from Lancaster, Calif.

Two wagon train riders with a horse hitch left the group after Tecopa. The remainder of the members are using mules, Noftsier said. Eleven riders will make the final 100 mile route into Furnace Creek.

Wade's Monument is named after Harry Wade, who was part of the California gold rush of 1849 traveling with his wife and children.

They became stranded with an ill-fated caravan in Death Valley until Wade found this exit route to Cajon Pass, according to the California Office of Historic Preservation.

Two members of the Wade party walked from the site of the monument all the way to Newhall, Calif., in the San Fernando Valley, after their ox-cart became stuck, Noftsier said, returning with a pack horse, mule and supplies.

A couple of descendants of members of the Wade party will ride into Furnace Creek with the group, or meet up with the wagon train at the monument, he said.

Members of the wagon train enjoy a leisurely pace. Magie Benson of Chino Valley, Ariz. estimated they travel at about 4 mph. That's judging from her watch from the sign, noting it was two miles to the Chicken Ranch, which they passed a half-hour later, as they left Pahrump going down Homestead Road.

There wasn't any evidence of high-tech gadgets like GPS devices on this ride. In fact one member of the ride asked if there was any news on the California fires since riders were outside of the news coverage area.

Instead, the only sounds on the desolate trail are the clip clop of the mule hooves and the jingling of the reins.

"It's a little piece of history that we just need to keep alive. There's so many kids these days that don't even have a clue about it," said Cathy Ditsch of Marana, Ariz., who is on her 22nd wagon train ride.

The first '49er wagon train reenactment 40 years ago was made using Shetland ponies, Ditsch said. They then started using quarter horses, then draught horses, then finally mules.

Noftsier said they do have some comforts the early pioneers wish they had. He modified his own wagon with a truck axle, rubber tires and some good springs to smooth the ride. Noftsier said one wagon train has the original steel wheels used by the pioneers.

Two portable toilets are towed along. They also have a Cabello shower that unfolds to about four and a half feet square and about six to seven feet high, with the water warmed by a propane heater.

Six years ago riders went over the 100 mile route from Wades Monument to Furnace Creek, Noftsier said. But some members of the wagon train will traverse it for the first time this year.

"We got one pull coming Saturday, a pretty good hill going into Ashford Junction. That's about the only one we got. Then Friday going into Furnace Creek, it's a sonuvabitch, down that pavement, up and down the hill and the traffic," Noftsier said.

They will be celebrities as they enter Death Valley National Park, but long timers on the wagon train note there's been fewer people for the parade in Furnace Creek than years before.

Members of the trail ride said people on dune buggies drove down to the road to see who they were.

"They're wondering what the hell this is, especially the Oriental people, or foreign people, man they take a million pictures of us coming in," Noftsier said.