113-year-old tower in Death Valley National Park felled by traveler trying to get vehicle out of mud
A historic wooden tower was inadvertently felled by a traveler who used it to winch a vehicle stuck in mud in California's Death Valley National Park, federal officials said.
A historic wooden tower was inadvertently felled by a traveler who used it to winch a vehicle stuck in mud in California's Death Valley National Park, federal officials said.
The traveler recently came forward but will not be identified, the National Park Service said in a statement Thursday. It isn't clear if any action will be taken against them.
Concrete footings for the 113-year-old tower were released from their bonds with the desert floor in Saline Valley, about 150 miles west of Las Vegas, on April 19, the park service said.
Saline Valley Salt Tram tower No. 1 hit the ground, mostly intact, a photo from the park service shows.
The person eventually called a park service tip line set up to get to the bottom of the incident and took responsibility. They had used the tower to anchor a winch in "desperation" while a vehicle was "deeply stuck in mud" not far from a marked roadway, in the words of the park service statement.
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