Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

Not that you know.

 

You must have cleaned it out because I can’t find a nugget to save my life!

 

Awesome photos, we were at Cerro Gordo Tuesday, then the Salt Tram, then down the hill to Swansea (camping half way down, because it was windy as hell at the top).

Speaking of Salt Tram, Bret (from Cerro Gordo), walked from the top tram station, down the hill to the bottom in Saline Valley. Insane hike.

 

I left you some nuggets here ...





Looking down a winze

 

Looks like he’s going to need a bigger magnet first before detecting anything good, but that means it will be hidden waiting to be found!

 

Nice footage. Friends of mine have made the Salt Tram hike on the Eastern side of the Inyos and told me about what's still there.
I checked out one of his other videos and it is concerning how he openly states he wants to collect remnants that are around the area. The Salt Tram is not Cerro Gordo property and while I don't know the exact property boundaries he should be careful about removing artifacts let alone giving others the idea that it is ok to do the same. His videos have a broad reach. It's a bummer when things are removed from areas. Other people who encounter the area will not have the same sense of wonder and/or joy when finding those treasures from the past if they have been removed.

 

To clear up about the cabin.

It's north/ northwest of the tram down the road toward Swansea. I wouldn't hike from the tram because you will be hiking down the road. Drive to the trailhead.

Unfortunately I didn't get a good pic of the trailhead, which starts as a road but due to rock slides turns quickly into singletrack.

This first pic is where I spotted the cabin and saw the trail to it. When you drive down to the flat spot you can see the cabin off to the right. The old former road, now trail, to it is fairly clear. Backtrack to that spot.


Second pic is the view.


Third pic is from the cabin looking south back towards the trailhead.


I'd guess the trail is about a mile each way and it is very flat and easy hike. It's too far from the tram to be use there, beautiful view, but I couldn't figure out a practical reason as to why it is there.

 

Beautiful bro!

 

I've been there back in 09. There's a mine nearby most likely related to that structure.

 

Man those shots around Cerro Gordo look awesome. Sick you made it out there.

 

This is part #3 of a four part series of videos between the owner of Cerro Gordo and Diesel Bros reopening collapsed mines and pouring the foundation of the Hotel

Very cool videos of inside the mines after being reopened 100 years from the last time anyone has been inside it

https://youtu.be/_muhaWvkH6I

 

A couple photos of the bar and interior of the American Hotel at Cerro Gordo before it burned down.

 

I love these photos, yet they are so painful now, in hindsight. Dang.

 

So sad. Think the painting was done by Sylvia Winslow

 

A couple more of Cerro Gordo from Summer 2014, starting with the front door of the American Hotel:


The kitchen in the American Hotel:


Town overview with the American Hotel roofline in the center of the photo:

 

WOW, good catch. Just found this about the painting:

"Painting over the bar in the American Hotel made by Sylvia Winslow featuring her daughter Susan. Sylvia originally painted her daughter in the nude and subsequently added the dress.

Born in Ireland on June 8, 1910. Sylvia moved to southern California in 1928 and settled on a 640-acre ranch with her cowboy-husband, Slim Winslow. A self-taught artist, her forte was landscapes of the Mojave desert. After Slim's death in 1973 she ceased painting. In 1990 she wed Phillip Kirby and lived in Kern County until her demise on Feb. 15, 1996."

 

I have two books from the Winslows. They were well known in the area and their personal history is very interesting. Sylvia was instrumental in creating the Maturango Museum in Ridgecrest. For those who haven't visited the museum I highly suggest it.

 

I wasn't sure which this was about. The lost hiker or the road/closures in the park.

Sad to read about the guy's demise and true to FB form, the sanctimonious replies that followed.