DE VIII - The Owens Valley

It is hard to believe this year is the 8th year of the Desert Expedition series of adventures. We have seen so much of the country - backroads, off-road, camping, and of course, BBQ restaurants! Our travels have brought us to many historic places, teaching us what we did not learn in school. We have met people from all walks of life, and several foreign countries - all on their own personal adventure or quest.

This year brought us back to California - specifically, the Owens Valley. An area of rugged country with a rugged history. Our group of adventurers was modest, with only 4 trucks. Our experience was large.

Keeping our own history, recorded by my co-pilot Laura, we created a daily log of our wanderings. Additionally, we captured about 1000 images. From these, comes the trip report.

Sit back, relax and enjoy.



"Life is either a daring adventure - or nothing." - Helen Keller

 

Getting There - Day 1

Packed, dined, and on the road by 2:15 pm EST. As usual our 2018 desert /bbq tour began with a meal at Slope’s BBQ just a few minutes from the house. Family run, and family fun. We call it our own and are just as likely to grab a meal there as walk into our own kitchen. Pork, brisket, or chicken. It’s all good. Every time.

Our first decision - brave Atlanta traffic on mid afternoon Friday heading into a holiday weekend, or meander through north Georgia mountains on our way to our first destination, Memphis. The mountain venture would have added one hour to a three/four day drive so we opted for what we hoped would be the shorter route. As we neared the city, and the ensuing gridlock, we did what all adventurous travelers would do and jumped off the interstate to meander through residential streets bypassing traffic. Our tour through the stately homes of Buckhead was an unexpected pleasure. We got to the outskirts of Atlanta unencumbered by highway traffic. As dinner time approached, and with a few hours of road behind us, we found Cracker Barrel on the outskirts of Birmingham for an evening meal.



Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and then crossing over the mighty Mississippi River into Ar-Kansas. It was palpable. I knew we were in Arkansas within minutes of crossing the river. I was back, and with it came a flood of memories. 20+ years just collapsed and I was back in Arkansas. My first big job, and my first move to the south in 1992 when I took the Technical Director role at one of the world’s largest integrated paper mills and moved my midwestern family out of Ohio into Ashdown Arkansas, the Deep South. And if that wasn’t enough, after tours of duty in Arkansas, then Louisiana, and then Georgia, I was back for a second tour in 1998, that time as general manager at another 3000-employee integrated paper mill in Crossett, Arkansas. Arkansas, where my kids and I took up shooting, shotgun and rifle. And leadership team meetings were hosted at gun clubs. One of our first family camping ventures those many years ago was in the beautiful Ouachita mountains of Arkansas. Anyway, I digress. Finally reaching our destination for the night, a campground on the banks of the great river, we showered and settled into our cozy Little Guy teardrop trailer for a well deserved good night’s rest. 400 miles closer to California!

 

Getting There - Day 2, Arkansas to Texas via Oklahoma

We started our day in Arkansas and ended our drive in Texas. Unlike living in Texarkana, which has the distinction of having the Arkansas-Texas state line running straight through town, our travel encompassed 690 miles. We awoke in West Memphis on the western bank of the Mississippi River to a cool breeze.







We found a Cracker Barrel restaurant nearby for breakfast, and headed west through Arkansas on I-40. Arkansas was lush, green, and hilly. West of Little Rock, the interstate follows the meandering path of the Arkansas River just south of the Ouachita Mountains. The Arkansas River, the second major tributary to the Mississippi River and originating in the Rocky Mountains, is the sixth longest river in the US. Traffic was fairly heavy and we noted our proximity to University of Arkansas a few hours before a scheduled football game. Stopping for fuel, we provided our first of many to come guided tour of our Little Guy Teardrop to some interested Arkansas tailgaters.

At Fort Smith, we left game day traffic and crossed over into Oklahoma entering the Great Plains. We found a lunch stop tucked away in the quaint town of Sallisaw, and then perused the wares at Cherokee Nation Outpost. Midway through Oklahoma we had our first spotting of a fellow teardropper, this one heading eastbound. Crossing into Texas some hours later, we watched a lightening storm move rapidly south to north over the plains in the distance ahead of us. One knows one is in Texas when the pasture becomes dotted with great white landmarks.



Rolling into Amarillo having caught just a few raindrops from the magnificent storm, we headed straight for Texas barbecue. Dyer’s BBQ, family run since the 1950’s, was a good find. We dug into plates full of ribs, slaw, and beans and left feeling mighty thankful for Texas, and Texas bbq. We pulled into the local KOA on the outskirts of town and settled in the cool evening air for a good night’s rest. The nearby trains rolling on the tracks lulled us to sleep under a clear sky and full moon.

 

Day 3 - Still Getting There, Pass Through Enchantment

Up early in the cool morning, we packed camp which in a teardrop is a 2 minute process involving closing the roof vent, and closing and locking the doors.



We headed for the nearest Cracker Barrel to start the day with our favorite on-the-road breakfast. We then wound our way through Amarillo headed for I-40. Amarillo is a town bustling with heavy manufacturing and holds the distinction of being the helium capital of the world, at times the sole producer of helium worldwide. Helium, interestingly enough, is highly prevalent in the universe but not so much here on earth. It is an inert gas, much lighter than air that easily escapes the earth’s atmosphere. Helium can’t be manufactured, so it is extracted from natural gas stores, the richest of which was found to be in Amarillo.

We left the helium capital behind, crossed the wind farms and massive stockyards of the Texas panhandle and entered the Land of Enchantment, New Mexico. We had a lunch date planned at Rudy’s BBQ in Albuquerque with fellow expeditioners so we trucked straight through.



The great plains changed to rugged, beautiful mountains scenes. Pulling up to Rudy’s some hours later, we saw our band of greeters awaiting us, Brian, whom we hadn’t seen since our 2013 Nevada ghost town tour, and Frenchie, a frequent expeditioner and his wife Karen. It was fun to reunite with old friends, catch up on each other’s adventures and reminisce about our trips together while enjoying melt-in-your-mouth brisket. We conducted the much anticipated inspection of the rig with ensuing discussion about each modification and upgrade. It goes without saying, and I'll say it anyway, we have one of the most unique and way-cool means of overland exploring this vast country of ours.

With miles of road to cover yet ahead of us today, we parted ways and continued westbound on I-40 to Kingman.



We came upon Flagstaff at dinner time so with Google’s recommendation, we found our way to a bbq/Cajun joint smack in the middle of the college crowd in town for the new school semester. As we waited for our food to arrive, and overhearing snippets of conversation around us, we marveled at diversity, and the glimpse into the worldview of the up and coming generations. Back on the road as darkness set in, so did thunderstorms. On top of that, the highway was under construction and necked down to one lane in areas. It made for a harrowing drive through the mountains at the end of a long day and we couldn’t wait to get to camp in Kingman and call it a day. 700 miles. Enough for one day!

 

Looks like fun Scott!

 

We had a great time.

 

Getting There - Day 4, California At Last!

We were up early, and had a look around the high desert camp. Traveling west a couple of time zones always helps with early morning rising. The campground, and even the very same campsite, was exactly as we remembered it from a previous trip some years ago. The friendly neighborhood Cracker Barrel was just a short drive from camp. After breakfast, we left Kingman behind traveling westbound I-40 through the last of Arizona to the border crossing at the California state line.



California was once, briefly (less than a year) an independent republic before overtaken by the US and still considers herself in some ways separate from the greater United States. It is the only state in the contiguous states that inspects every vehicle crossing into the state. We were asked by the crossing guard what fruits and plants we were bringing in and then waved through.

The view as one drives into Southern California from Arizona looks like many, many movie scenes of long stretches of straight highway with a panorama of high desert mountains all around. Our first stop was in Barstow for fuel. Finally in California, we had hoped to grab a burger at In-n-Out, but the lines convinced us otherwise. In Barstow we left I-40 and headed south on I-15. Arriving in Victorville a half hour later, we made a second attempt at In-n-Out and found it to be only somewhat less crowded than the one in Barstow. Satisfied with our California burger fix, we opted out of interstate travel and headed west on CA-18 into Palmdale, then south on CA-14, and west on 118. One knows one is nearing the populous city of LA when it feels like all 25 million residents are traveling the same direction on the same highway at the same time. The scenery is spectacular as long as you aren’t focused solely on the vehicles clogging the roads. In Simi Valley we dropped south on CA-23 for the last leg of the day’s trip before arriving at Scott's childhood home in Westlake Village.





We were greeted warmly by Scott’s parents, and settled in for an evening of visiting and a homemade feast of barbecued ribs, macaroni salad, cole slaw, corn on the cob, fresh biscuits, and chocolate silk pie to top it all off. We called it a night and Scott got to bed down in his mostly-preserved childhood bedroom from long, long ago. The day was hot but the night air brought a cool, crisp breeze perfect for a sound sleep.

 

Excellent! Subscribed!

 

Waiting for Owens Valley report!

 

Getting There - Day 5, Meet Up

Our morning was filled with trip preparation, laundry, grocery shopping, errands, and packing. At the tail end of our errands, an admirer of our rig drove up to remark on the teardrop. Seeing the NASA emblem Scott was sporting on his shirt, the visitor remarked how his dad, like Scott’s, had also worked on the Apollo mission in the 1960’s. A friendly conservative, turns out he is a professional chef and he gifted us with a couple of his meat rubs. Check out his company - Left Coast Foodworks. We had lunch back at the house and then with hugs all around, and Connie waving goodbye from the driveway, we set off with Sib desert-bound.



We negotiated LA traffic making our way north on CA23 to 118 east. Looking to save a few bucks on ridiculous gas prices in California, we waited in line at the Costco fuel pumps — long, long lines.



Continuing on 118 dodging traffic as best we could, we found our way to CA-14 North bypassing I-5. As the city faded in our rear view mirror, and the traffic congestion with it, the desert mountains arose before us. In Mojave, we stopped to fill our water jugs before heading into the open desert. Our plan was to meet up with fellow expeditioners, story-telling Frenchie coming over from New Mexico and quick-witted Keith coming down from Maryland. We turned off CA-14 onto Jawbone Canyon Road heading west into the Sierra Nevada mountains. We passed over the LA aqueduct which cuts from the north directly over the peaks in Jawbone canyon. As we rounded the base of a barren mountain, Frenchie and Keith were waving us in to the campsite, a wide open level space in the canyon.



We had the canyon all to ourselves. We settled in after greetings to rest and visit.



The passing storm left us a double rainbow to enjoy and marked the unfolding of a pleasant desert expedition.










Weary from our travels, we decided on a quick meal of hot dogs for dinner. And then the discovery... the regulator on our partner stove was plugged, blocked, as in - not working. After several clearing attempts to no avail, the single burner stove came to the rescue. Hot dogs and salad, with fresh New Mexico raspberries for desert made for a light, refreshing dinner.



At nightfall, we marveled at the beauty of the starlit sky, void of city lights to impede the view. Calling an end to the day, we quickly fell asleep in the cool night breeze.

 

Day 6 Jawbone Canyon to Trona Pinnacles via Last Chance Canyon

We were up early with the morning light. Frenchie was already preparing a morning feast of hot coffee and raspberry waffles for us all. The delicious waffles were gobbled up as soon as they came off the griddle. Reuniting with old friends while we shared a meal in the desert made for an excellent start to Desert Expedition VIII. Quick route planning for the day.



With camped cleaned up, and rigs repacked, we headed off to Jawbone Canyon Visitor Center. We passed by the 230 mile-long City of Los Angeles aqueduct which passes straight through Jawbone Canyon. More about water rights will come up throughout our time in Owens Valley.



At the visitor center, we perused the informational displays, picked up a few much need maps, and purchased a couple books to take home. Outside the center, Keith would have made fast friends with Mr. Bob the tortoise had he thought to bring some tortoise food for the eager eater.

From Jawbone Canyon, we headed north on CA-14 and turned off at Last Chance Canyon Road enroute to Burro Schmidt tunnel. We aired down in preparation for the off-road venture.



Last Chance Canyon road proved formidable even for the accomplished off-roaders. Frenchie took the lead to scout for passage issues for the teardrop we were towing. Much of the route was rocky and required sighting and planning to climb larger stone obstructions. Frenchie had the most work with trekking back and forth to check the path, climbing in and out of his vehicle, and guiding each of us through the tough spots. The near 100 degree heat added to tiring us out pretty quickly.





The roller coaster ride down one side hill just past the V slot passage was a real technical challenge and an adrenaline boost.





Keith evened out that rear bumper on his brand new truck as he descended down the side hill. He noted that he didn’t pay extra for his self compensating bumper. Although not so pretty to look at, it afforded him higher clearance for the rest of our expedition.



We were all thankful to reach Burro Schmidt tunnel and overdue for lunch, stopped and enjoyed sandwiches, yogurt, and cool drinks.



After lunch we hiked past the mine ruins over to the entrance to the Burro Schmidt Tunnel.



The cool air inside beckoned us and Frenchie and I, being the adventurous ones, made our way through the tunnel to the other side while the others sat in the comfortable cool air at the mouth of the tunnel.



Buro Schmidt hand dug this tunnel, over the course of 36 years. He had an idea to shortcut the trip around the mountain for ore mining, but by the time he finished 36 years later, the mining in the area had dried up. After spelunking, we headed north on EL-15 back to CA-14 and into Ridgecrest, home of the vast Naval Weapons China Lake facility. After a quick stop for fueling, and medication for my oncoming cold, we headed east on CA-178 to Trona Pinnacles. Turning off CA-178 onto Trona Pinnacles Road, we passed over railroad tracks busy moving borax out of Trona. Trona is the Borax capital of the world and it is mined there in nearly pure form. Traveling slowly over washboards, we arrived at the spectacular Trona Pinnacles. The campsite was level, wide open, and nestled in the surrounding pinnacles. The Pinnacles, formed some 10,000 to 100,000 years ago when the now-dry area was once a lake, rise up over the desert floor in splendor.



We dined on Connie’s ribs and salad and ended the day like we started, with a circle of chairs arrayed with good friends and good conversation. After nightfall, we heard the rustle of visitors and happened to catch a view of a pair of kit foxes darting off. A cool shower washed away some of the heat and dust of the day and we were fast asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.

70 miles traversed.

 

Let's start with the raspberry waffles!



Morning sun.



Morning view from camp in Jawbone Canyon



On the way to Last Chance Canyon



Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures on Last Chance Canyon trail. I did get out of the truck, but didn't pick up the camera.

Here we are, at the top of the mountain, at Burro Schmidt's tunnel - and homestead.

 

Day 7 - Trona Pinnacles to Alabama Hills

We woke up viewing the early morning sun lighting up the Pinnacles.



Frenchie was already busy in the kitchen preparing the coveted raspberry waffles and Scott added a second course of scrambled eggs and bacon.



These. Oh yes!



Sib came out of his truck bed camp nearly stepping in a surprise pile presumably left by the kit foxes sometime during the night (no photo. yuk). While we feasted on our breakfast, a hummingbird came buzzing in, first to a red bag in Scott’s truck bed, and secondly to an orange towel in Frenchie’s front door pocket. Thinking we might feed the little guy, we prepared a dish of hummingbird nectar, 1:4 ratio sugar to water. But alas, by the time we had the nectar ready, the little bird had buzzed out of sight.



We packed up and headed out of camp. On our way out of camp we watched 2 ravens swoop in to find any morsels left behind. We found our way out of the Trona Pinnacle recreation area southwest on EL143. EL143 followed railroad tracks through the desert basin where even more Pinnacles rose up scattered throughout the valley. In all, nearly 500 Pinnacles are spread through the desert in the Searles Lake area.



We arrived in Ridgecrest at lunch time and looking to get out of the desert heat, we decided on lunch at an air conditioned restaurant. Casa Cocina was cool and the buffet style spread had a little something for everyone’s palette. The lunch was good especially when Keith offered to pick up the tab for us all. With one last serving of flan, we left the air conditioning and Ridgecrest heading west on CA-178. We turned north onto Rt 395 into Owens Valley.

The valley is lined by the jagged Sierra Nevada mountains on the west which rise 2 miles above the 4000 ft valley floor. Within the Sierra Nevadas are 12 areas of active glaciers which gives one an idea of the height of this mountain range. Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous US at elevation 14,497 feet came into view among the granite peaks. The White Inyo range lines the eastern border of the valley. In Lone Pine we turned west on Whitney Portal Road into the Alabama Hills to find Movie Road, named for the 500 plus movies filmed here by Hollywood. Alabama Hills at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains looks surreal, almost like Hollywood brought in huge boulders for a spectacular backdrop.



We drove among the rock formations and picked out a nice open site for the night next to an old arastra. Arastras, circular pits lined by shallow stone walls were used to crush ore by donkeys pulling a rock crusher. The arastra here in this canyon was just a movie prop for good ole Hollywood.



To get some relief from the desert sun, we put up our newest teardrop awning - the side awning. Since the rock bed proved difficult for staking the poles, we resorted to truck tie-offs.







Scott grilled chicken tenders to add to black beans and rice seasoned with Rotel for a tasty dinner. And we baked our specialty - camp walnut brownies to complement fresh raspberries for dessert. We visited in the cool evening air, took the awning down, and then watched the dark sky fill with stars. A cool shower topped off the evening and we retired for the night. 110 miles.

 

Beautiful pictures. I have a friend in Independence and was out visiting a few years ago. The fish hatchery there is a nice stop if you get a chance.

 

I did see a sign for it. Given your recommendation, next time I'm out there, I will stop by.

 

Great pictures Scott. I can't wait for my trip towards Yosemite and Mammoths

 

Morning light at the Trona Pinnacles








We saw this on the way out -



As the morning passed, the light changed, but still created an amazing site



Afternoon in the Alabama Hills









The color of Inferno looks right at home in the desert

 

Day 8 Take the hill!

As the sky lightened with the rising sun, the cool air warmed quickly. Scott served hot cafe mocha (my personal favorite) along with scrambled eggs and bacon. We all packed up camp and wandered through the Alabama Hills rock formations along Movie Road.















We sighted a mine headframe high up a hill and pulled to the side of the road to stroll closer to the mine opening. The already hot desert sun deterred most of us from the full climb so we waited in the shade of our trucks while Scott and Frenchie explored the mine.



When we all reconvened we made our way to the end of Movie Road turning onto Rt 395 southbound to Lone Pine. We passed through the quaint town turning east onto CA-136. Coming upon the once bustling town of Keeler, a major transportation hub for mule trains, stage coaches and ferry boats, now home to 150 residents, we got our first up close viewing of Owens lake bed. The lake was drained not long after the Los Angeles aqueduct was put in service over one hundred years ago. The dry lake now is a source of soda ash and has become a major dust nuisance for miles around. Turning off pavement onto Cerro Gordo Road, we stopped to air down to make for a more comfortable, and safer ride.



Ahead of us was a steep ascent climbing over 4000 ft in 7 1/2 miles first in a deep tight canyon, and then on a shelf road clinging to the mountainside. That might not sound like much of a climb but we stopped twice along the route to cool down our transmissions from the strain of the climb.





We passed by a once active cable bucket tramway that transported ore and for the brave - passengers - from the mines to the valley below. Arriving at last at Cerro Gordo town and mines, the views from the top overlooking the mountains and Owens lake far below were spectacular.



Cerro Gordo, a mining ghost town, was recently sold, $1.4 million for 200 of the 500 acres, but so recently that nothing has yet changed.



We were soon greeted by Bill, the man with the keys, and our tour guide of the buildings still standing. We signed in at the hotel, named the American Hotel, built in the town’s heyday in 1871.



We walked through the saloon which doubled as a dining hall, the poker room, and the kitchen. A magnificent 7 foot wide iron stove hauled up the mountain by a mule train shortly after the hotel was built stood in the corner.








We stepped outside to the side deck and stepped into the ice house with piping still in place.



Next we walked through a small home turned into a store and purchased a few spice tins to take home with us. We walked through the never-used church, a sizable bunkhouse, the general store displaying pictures of the town from days of old, and finally the assayer’s office.



We took a break from the heat - and high altitude - and munched on sandwiches with iced tea while sitting on benches on the covered front porch of the hotel.



The great city of Los Angeles become a booming metropolis because of the Cerro Gordo mines, the most productive in all of California. Over 1000 claims produced $15 million of silver, then gold, and copper from these mountains. The silver was melted into bouillons, sent down the mountain via cable bucket ride, ferried across Owens Lake, and then carted by mule trains to LA for boat rides to San Francisco.

After giving Bill, our tour guide, a look inside our teardrop, we completed our tour of Cerro Gordo by driving over the mountain saddle, down the back side of the mountain a ways and viewed some of the mines still evident. We retraced our path down the mountains, the descent being much quicker and less laborious than the drive up.





Back at the valley floor, we stopped at the Owens Valley visitor center, obtained a California camping stove permit, and picked up a few trinkets and books to take back home. We made our way back to Alabama Hills, this time picking a camp site in Lone Ranger Canyon just north of our previous night’s stay.



We settled in for the evening with views watching the sun disappear over the peaks of the Sierra Nevadas. A small rabbit appeared from behind the rocks, hopped right up to greet us and found fresh greens to munch on. Scott was busy preparing rock oven pizza for us all. A delicious meal to end an adventurous day. We showered the day’s dust off in the cool crisp air and closed the teardrop doors for a good night’s rest. 60 miles.