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dezrtdave

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Posted  #1 
The arrow weed at the springs was introduced from the springs at Hunter Canyon, according to Mammoth Bob, who told me this many years ago.

One winter in the early 1990s several winter campers cleared a lot of the dead arrow weed from Hunter Canyon and hauled it to Palm Spring and piled it like huge teepee to the east of the Wizard pool. They planned to set it afire on New Year's eve, but there was a very strong wind from the northeast at midnight. There was a lot of debate about starting the bonfire, then someone went ahead and lit the pile of arrow weed. It was a high blaze, shooting up about 40 feet then went at a right angle to the southwest, almost directly over the Wizard pool. Several vehicles on the road were quickly moved to a safer spot. The high blaze soon came down and some post-midnight soakers got into the hot pool.
Major Tom

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Posted  #2 
Florida .... pupfish were introduced into Saline Valley from Death Valley too. That is how the fence came to be around the Upper Warm Springs. Turtle Jim used to claim it was to keep the pupfish from escaping. They must have escaped anyway. There used to be a guzzler outside the fence that would allow wildlife to get a drink from the fenced spring, but that has fallen into disuse and neglect since the Park Service came along.
Major Tom

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Posted  #3 
Not sure much could be written about it SalineOldTimer. How interesting can arrowweed be? There was the time 5th Wheel Kenny skewered his ankle on some that had been trimmed close to the ground. We stitched him up in camp because he didnt want to go to town. Needed to be irrigated later anyway. They make great marshmallow sticks!W
SalineOldTimer

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Posts: 21
Posted  #4 
Tom, it looks like arrowweed deserves a paragraph in your excellent book.
florida

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Posted  #5 
So, introduced from Death Valley itself? It is the plant that makes up the Devils Cornfield.
Major Tom

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Posted  #6 
I have it on good authority from yesteryear that the arrowweed in the camp was introduced. The majority of it has been removed in recent years.
florida

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Posted  #7 
Arrowweed is Native.
DVExile

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Posts: 49
Posted  #8 
Umm... when did arrowweed become not native? You do understand why it is called *arrow* weed?
Sam D.

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Posted  #9 
I can only speculate he was afraid of a large fire spreading in the wind?
johnc

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Posted  #10 
New Years 2005 or 2006. Got a ton of arrowweed stacked and ready to go. Ranger  shows up around sunset and bans it. This is the same type of vegetation cleared from around the sunrise pool. The ranger further says he is going to rope the pile and drag it down the road until it is dispersed.  When told he was in fact going to be spreading non- native vegetation by doing so, he lets us burn the pile little by little in the fire ring. 
florida

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Posts: 294
Posted  #11 
Also curious. I’ve never heard of anyone getting in trouble for having a fire. Now if you cut down native trees to do it there would be an issue. The palm fronds get trimmed and burned because they aren’t native.
speakeasy

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Posts: 64
Posted  #12 
johnc, when / how did you get in trouble for burning trimmed vegetation at the burn site? I am curious.
johnc

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Posted  #13 
Funny,
Was once at the springs when a clearance operation was going on for the vegetation around the sunrise pool by a visiting host. Many wheelbarrow loads were transported to the open area across the road from the outhouses, and torched. So this was legal, yet if we took it upon ourselves to do the same on new years, it is not?
hbmurphy

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Posts: 11
Posted  #14 
But just know that Timbo has more than an ample supply for these cold days and nights. 😉
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Unregistered2016

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Posts: 1
Posted  #15 
I guess we're left with pooping in the firepits, letting the poop dry and then burning it. What do you think, Mark?
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