Wind and rain have tormented the region since Monday, shaking up travel plans just as Death Valley edges toward peak season. Southern California Edison has, in recent months, scheduled—and then canceled—equipment-upgrade outages more than once, and so far these storms haven’t knocked anything down. It did, however, offer a rare reward: the “snowpahs”—a fleeting, snow-bright silhouette of Mother Goose and her trailing goslings etched along the flank of the Nopah Range.
Even so, the week comes with its own practical choke points. An oversized load is slated to roll into Pahrump from Las Vegas on Thursday, February 19, with Highway 160 impacts expected from 6 a.m. to noon. On social media, Nye County Public Works flagged the transport of a transformer along the highway corridor. And after our last edition reported that BLM would make wild horses available through an online corral, weather has pushed that timeline back a month—now expected in March.
Cerro Gordo Talk: Mining for Purpose at the Edge of Death Valley
The Shoshone Museum will host Brent Underwood of Cerro Gordo on February 21 at 1 p.m. for a talk framed around mining with purpose—and the stubborn, romantic act of chasing dreams in a hard place.
Cerro Gordo’s story is built on extremes. Founded in 1865 high in the Inyo Mountains, it rose fast once silver, lead, and zinc were found in rich veins. Within a few years, it became one of California’s most productive silver districts, drawing fortune-seekers from across the West. At its height, the town swelled to nearly 4,000 miners, and the mountainside was honeycombed with more than 30 miles of tunnels—a scale of extraction that, in today’s terms, amounts to over $500 million in minerals.
The boom shaped more than a mountaintop settlement. Cerro Gordo’s output helped fuel early Los Angeles, earning the enduring nickname: “The mines that built L.A.” But the town’s isolation also bred a rough, myth-heavy reputation—stories of notorious visitors, late-night saloons, and a violence that local newspapers once tallied with grim regularity.
By the 1940s, mining slowed and finally stopped. Cerro Gordo slipped into a long, weather-beaten pause—sometimes tended, sometimes left to the elements—its buildings enduring brutal winters and desert heat while its history waited for a new chapter. Today, that chapter is restoration: rebuilding the American Hotel, preserving what remains, stabilizing what can be saved, and adding amenities meant to turn the site into a destination for generations to come.
New Stage Behind Kit Fox Café: Sound System Dreams, Plugged In
Kit Fox Café is building toward a new era of live events with a stage rising behind the café—an upgrade that hinges on a 100-amp power supply capable of supporting serious production.
Their first big swing: Unitecopa Desert Festival 2026, featuring reggae legend Don Carlos, Mello Banton, and Dub Siren on March 21 at noon.
Don Carlos is a celebrated Jamaican roots voice, widely recognized as one of reggae’s enduring artists and associated with the early era of Black Uhuru. Mello Banton brings Kingston-born, culture-forward energy—roots, message, and dancehall drive. And Dub Siren—founded in 2012 by Osaka-born Daisuke Sawa, creator of the Dub Siren iPhone app—has grown into a heavyweight in California’s sound system ecosystem. Since 2021, Dub Siren HiFi has powered the Cali Vibes Festival with authentic Jamaican sound system engineering, and now operates one of the larger setups in the state: an eight-bass-bin, two-stack configuration built for chest-rattling clarity.
In a place where entertainment often has to be improvised around power, wind, and distance, the promise of a dedicated stage reads like a bet on continuity—a belief that the desert can hold a calendar, not just a moment. Tickets are available now, and according to their event permit, will allow 400 attendees.
Liquor License Approved for Tecopa’s Soon-to-Open Taco Spot
An official Inyo County vehicle was recently spotted at Death Valley Hot Springs’ new restaurant Death Valley Tacos—another signal that the long-promised opening may finally be nearing. Locals have heard “two weeks” (including in reports months ago), but this time there’s a concrete milestone: their alcohol license for beer and wine has been granted as of January 29.
Whenever the doors actually open, it will add a new option to a corridor where visitors are hungry for quick, dependable food—and where “almost open” has become its own genre of local forecasting.
Amargosa Conservancy: Niterwort Restoration Tonight, Wildflower Weekend in March
The Amargosa Conservancy, with California Botanic Garden, hosts a community meeting tonight (Wednesday, Feb. 18) at 5 p.m. at the Tecopa Community Center (400 Tecopa Hot Springs Rd.) with presentations and Q&A on the Tecopa Hot Springs Amargosa Niterwort Restoration Project—refreshments included. Looking ahead, the Conservancy will also hold a two-day, in-person native plant program with desert botanist Dr. Naomi Fraga: an evening talk March 6 (6–8 p.m. PST) and a guided wildflower walk March 7 (8 a.m.–3:30 p.m. PST) in Death Valley National Park; spots are limited and proceeds support the Conservancy.
A Bargain Dump, a Public Burden
The new concessionaire at Tecopa Hot Springs Campground has been throwing ideas at the wall throughout their inaugural season, trying to pull visitors into the property with promotions and attention-grabbing offers.
The latest move is a $5 “dump and soak” offering that seems aimed at undercutting the other dump station in downtown Tecopa, priced at $10, by offering the stream of RVs and toy haulers riding out of Dumont Dunes the option to soak with their dump. The problem is that, across town, every other resort effectively makes dumping free with a stay—which means price competition is only part of the equation.
Google Maps reviewers of the County campground put a standard soak at $15—which means the operators are effectively knocking $10 off the price just to persuade travelers to empty their tanks on-site. Under the former concessionaire, the cost of a “dump and soak” would have been $10 to dump, $12 to soak, a rate of $22.
Competing on price is Business 101 in what not to do: once you train customers to chase the lowest number, you thin your margins, erode your brand, and still lose to competitors who win on experience and value. Which makes the pivot all the stranger—after brushing off early-season pleas from snowbirds to lower monthly rates, the concessionaire is now discounting in real time, undercutting its own business in a bid to pull people, and their dollars, through the gate.
The arrangement also has an unglamorous detail baked in. Last year’s campground RFP spelled it out: “Operation of the RV Dump Station (Inyo County will continue to maintain and operate the sewer lagoons).” In plain terms, the operator collects the $5, while the County keeps the long-term responsibility—and the literal downstream burden at the expense of taxpayers.
And then there’s the messaging. For travelers unfamiliar with RV dumping, the signage risks reading like a bizarre invitation—one that, at a glance, could suggest you can “poop and soak,” rather than dispose of wastewater and then enjoy the tubs. In a town built around hot springs, clarity matters.
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