DE VIII - The Owens Valley

Early morning in the Alabama Hills





Changing light




At the base of the hill, under the mine. Presumably, this was a miner's cabin.



Looking up at the mine from the cabin site.



Main winch. Some pieces are missing, but overall, it is not very big.



Pre-transportation storage



View of the valley below



Cerro Gordo, 9000' elevation





Inside the hotel



The hotel kitchen



Before records were flat...



Continued...

 

Looking west. The town of Keeler is at the base of the mountains.



The ice (making) house




I think this one still works...



Inside the church / movie theater



Another mine




Assessor's Office




The mined product was cast into ingots with "Cerro Gordo" - a form of theft protection



A rather small saw mill



The view looking down the backside (east)




And west

 

Awesome trip report and great pictures!

 

Thank you.

Stay tuned - more to come.

 

Day 9 - US Route 395

We rose with the sun and had a simple breakfast of oatmeal and coffee. The friendly neighborhood rabbit appeared again, ready to see the breakfast menu. The sun came over the hills and we took to the shade under a rock alcove. Deciding just to lay low for the morning, we rested in the shade and enjoyed the landscape of Alabama Hills in the foreground with the Sierra Nevada range behind. A British couple wandered by snapping photos and stopped to visit, excited to see the filming location of many of their favorite Old Western programs.











Nearing lunchtime, we packed up camp and headed north on Rt 395 to Bishop. We drove straight to Mahogany Smokehouse Meats, infamous for their smoked jerky. We dined first on deli sandwiches and then looked at about two dozen choices of flavored jerky to pick out a few morsels to try. With our selection in hand, bison and wild boar jerky, we continued our way on Rt 395. We thought it best to secure a place to camp being that it was a weekend night and Bishop is a popular recreational area with the mountains and lakes nearby. At Tom’s Place, we turned off Rt 395 southbound on Rock Creek Road into the John Muir Wilderness area. The drive was scenic and the high elevation would have made for a comfortably cool night if we had found a place to camp. There was nowhere really to pull off the road except established campgrounds. We circled through a few of them and found them to be crowded, nearly full, and just not our style so we came back out of the canyon and found a nice little spot, tucked into a canyon and not nearly as crowded, across the highway at the Tuff Campground.





The evening air was already chilly and for the first time this trip, we donned jackets or sweatshirts. We fixed nachos for dinner and listened to the nearby campers, a lively sizable group, laughing and talking. We were in Tacoma row as everywhere one looked, Tacoma trucks abounded. The sky turned red as the sun set and we watched the stars pop out.



Frenchie brought out a snack selection for us so we could do our favorite thing - sit together, share stories and eat munchies under the star filled sky. The night air turned surprisingly cold. Turning in, we were glad for our down blanket warming us nicely while we quickly fell asleep. 100 miles

 

Day 10 - Pillars and Trains

Brr. Talk about cold! We woke up to a frosty morning. The local weather station reported 32 degrees which called for steaming hot oatmeal with coffee to start our day. Our first destination for the day was the elusive Crowley Lake pillars. We headed out of the campground and turned right onto Owens Gorge Road. As we started a climb to higher ground, we passed by homey cabins nestled among large red boulders. We neared the southern end of Crowley Lake and drove over the Long Valley Dam which had barely a trickle of a stream some 500 feet below the dam level. Shortly after the dam we turned left onto Lake Crowley Eastside Trail and started to see the lake beyond.





Frenchie tried to get airborne but alas, he could only get one tire off the ground.



We found our way to the lake’s Eastern edge and lo and behold - the pillars, we found the pillars! The pillars, on the lake’s edge, look like stalactites and stalagmites, formed by the lake water lapping against soft rock.





We retraced our path eastward away from the lake, and turned left onto 4S45 making our way through an enchanting pine forest.





We turned onto Casa Diablo Mine Road, named after a mine established in 1895 to extract gold and silver. Once past the mine, the path started a rapid descent down through a portion of the 325 square mile Volcanic Tableland. The Volcanic Tableland is composed of tuff which is volcanic rock of compacted pumice or ash from numerous volcanic eruptions many years ago.







We were just north of Bishop and being lunchtime, we headed into town to find Las Palmas Restaurant for a pitcher of margaritas and a selection of tasty Mexican dishes. Having had our fill, we wanted to take in the Laws Railroad Museum and Historic Site. We had just a couple hours before closing to walk through the old-time town and relics from times past.





One of the first buildings we wandered through was a set built for a Steve McQueen movie, Nevada Smith. Also notable was the narrow gauge railroad engine turntable. With just 4 men, an engine could be turned from one track to another. My favorite display was the Borax 20 mule wagon, a recreation of the real thing, impressive in size. The mule wagon was instrumental in hauling borax from the valley to a shipping point in Mojave, a journey of several days. We found with the desert heat, a couple of hours wandering the outdoor museum was plenty of time. We headed back to Bishop for provisions and fuel



and then made our way to camp, picking a spot just north of Big Pine off CA-168 on White Mountain Road. We feasted on salad and taquitos compliments of Frenchie. We were at 8400’ elevation and the cold mountain air promised a good night’s rest for us all. Another clear, cloudless night with a star filled sky ended our day. 70 miles

 

I've done variations on this trek (at least the parts in my backyard, up the 14 and 395 hwys). I love all the spots you hit... Great write-up. Maybe too great... It's getting pretty crowded at the cool CA spots!

-Craig

 

Morning at Tuff Campground



Our first view of Crowley Lake. The last time I was on this lake was 30 years ago...



The pillars











The Laws Railroad Museum



The turntable. Only 4 people were required to turn (push) the table with a locomotive on it.





The museum holds a working replica of the borax wagon train ore cars. These replicas cost over $100,000 to build. I'm sure the originals cost no where near that much to build.

If you read the fine print, you will see that empty, these wagons weigh 7800 pounds. Each. The wagons were designed to carry 10 short tons (9 metric tons) of borax ore at a time. When loaded with ore, the total weight of the mule train was 73,200 pounds (33.2 metric tons or 36.6 short tons).

A train consisted of 2 borax wagons and a water wagon, containing 1,200-U.S.-gallons (4542-liter), pulled by 18 mules and 2 horses.







Quite the engineering marvel. The wood work, the iron work - the idea of moving so much weight.



For the curious, there is an original set of borax wagons and water wagon in Death Valley.

 

Love it.

 

Day 11 - Ancient wonders

Fresh Blueberry pancakes, coffee, and a gentle morning made a great start to the day. Keith, with a quick-witted comment, even made Frenchie speechless, at least for a moment.



We packed camp and headed north on White Mountain road headed for Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. The Bristlecone Pines grow only in the harshest environments, high altitude, low moisture, sparse, nutrients, and freezing cold winds make for a dense wood. These trees can live for upwards of 9,000 years. We were excited for a day away from the hot desert valley in the cool mountain air among these ancient wonders. White Mountain Road took us higher in the Inyo Mountains, and the shelf road afforded great views of the valleys below, the Sierra Nevadas in the distance, and the White and Inyo mountains nearby. Inyo is the Indian word for “dwelling place of a great Spirit.”

First stop was the Schulman Grove Visitor Center.





The Center was recently constructed and named in honor of Dr Schulman who studied these most ancient of trees. He came up with a more accurate ancient dating system than widely used carbon dating system. By matching tree rings of older and older trees, his dating accounted for changes in weather patterns over the centuries. The disruption in the soil when constructing the visitor center created conditions for numerous sprouts of Bristlecone Pines, each marked by small blue flags which dotted the surroundings of the building.



Frenchie listened to the Park ranger give a nature talk, while we got our history lesson inside the building in a well laid out display of the dating process of the ancient trees.

From the visitor center we turned north up the trail heading to the Patriarch Grove, 12 miles further and higher into the White mountains.



We climbed to 11,000 feet where the mountain tops turned white from dolomite and vegetation was low and grey.



A coyote walked onto the road in front of us and crossed watching us as he walked up a hill and disappeared into the brush. The views were spectacular overlooking the pine forests, the low scrub bushes and the rolling hills and valleys.





Arriving at the Patriarch Grove, we were struck by the girth of the these ancient trees, some at least 8-10 feet across. We made sandwiches on the tastey Sheepherder's bread, ate lunch at the nearby picnic tables,



and then walked the 1/4 mile trail at the top of the mountain through the Bristlecone pine trees.



After shooting a couple hundred photos of the beautiful pines in various stages of life, we retraced our route back down past the visitor center on White Mountain road,







south on CA-168, and settled on a wide open campsite just off the highway 3000 feet lower elevation than the Bristlecone Pine Forest. The ride down was tough on the brakes, especially Sib’s truck. At camp, the evening air was cooling fast so we set up the shower tent and one by one freshened up. We sliced the Schat bakery bread and served it with salad and burritos. The stars popped out and lit up the night sky as we visited well into in the night. 45 miles

 

@Scott B. I hope there is more coming- that sandwich looks delicious!!

 

Great post

 

Looks like a great trip, and a good report and photos! Just one correction though, the Californian “Bear Flag Republic” only lasted less than a month, and wasn’t really independent. It was the result of a revolt, or to be more accurate, an insurrection, by American residents of what was then Mexican California, instigated by US Army Captain John Fremont. The US either had, or was about to, declare war on Mexico anyway, and within a few weeks of the insurrection the US Army took over California from the Spanish. The local Americans just jumped the gun a bit, and in fact the local US government consul to Mexico called in the Army to try to prevent the insurrection until war was declared. It’s not really a very honorable chapter in our history, and quite different from Texas which, rightly or wrongly, did achieve true independence from Mexico and remained independent for 10 years.

 

Yes on both accounts!

There are a couple of more days of the trip, and the sandwich was great! Especially at 11,000 feet.

 

Blueberry pancakes, cooked on the old, reliable backpacking stove.



The Bristlecone pines are quite spectacular.





The first time this truck has crossed the 11,000 foot mark...













Dropping a little elevation sees a significant change in the vegetation.

 

Day 12 - Back to the Valley

We awoke high in the mountains still reminiscing about our trek yesterday through the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. Scott cooked a scramble of eggs, sausage, and onion to enjoy with our coffee.







Today we were headed back to Bishop for brakes, bakery and bbq. Sib’s truck needed new brake fluid, some of us wanted to visit the famous Erick Schat’s Bakkery, and a bbq lunch was always welcome. First, we carefully made the descent from our 8000’ altitude mountainside perch, down Ca-168, also known as Westgard Pass, to Big Pine. In Big Pine, we turned north on Route 395 for the 15 mile drive to Bishop. We secured the necessary brake fluid and oil change supplies at an auto parts store, then parked in the shade of city park trees while we strolled through the bakery, which has been serving the valley with the original Sheepherder’s bread since 1938. We picked out a few treats to take with us then made our way to Schat’s BBQ Restaurant for pulled pork sandwiches.

After lunch, we drove south on Route 395 to Independence where we stopped at Manzanar, National Historic Site. The Manzanar Interpretive Center tells the stories of the early Paiute Indian life, the homesteading era of the valley, the fruit-growing community of Manzanar, and the sobering War Relocation Center established for Japanese people residing in American during World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.



Manzanar was one of 10 War Relocation Centers built at the start of WWII to incarcerate 110,000 Japanese people living in the US. Forty years later, 2 US Presidents, Reagan and Bush Sr. apologized for the unconstitutional uprooting and offered payments of $20,000 to each of the 60,000 detainees still living. We took the self directed driving tour through the square mile camp feeling the sorrow for imposed hardships and past injustices.

We left Manzanar, flags flying at half mast for American lives lost 17 years ago today, on 9/11/2001, ever so thankful for our present day freedoms. We made our way south on Route 395 for one last stay at Lone Ranger Canyon on Movie Road. At camp, Scott jumped to action, first changing the oil in his Tacoma (-slightly ahead of the 4,000 mile mark), and secondly with Frenchie and Sib, flushing the brake fluid in Sib’s Ranger.











With truck maintenance complete, we grilled burgers seasoned with Red Eye Rub, watched the sun sink below the jagged Sierra peaks, and enjoyed an evening gathered round together.



At bedtime, Keith helped Frenchie clear his truck bed of all supplies to chase out little critters. Not bothered much by the chasing, one little bugger woke Frenchie up in the middle of the night and Frenchie came scrambling out of his comfy bed to clear the tight enclosure of the stray little beast. 100 miles

 

Our next to last night of camp. It was a very level cut out on the side of the mountain. We could not tell if the idea was to have a level, cut pad, or the dirt was needed somewhere else.



A model of Manzanar, when fully constructed. A very interesting place - very "military". Quite a story, seeing what these people did to make this place more like home.



Our furry friend returned to our camp in the Alabama Hills. We saw what could have been Mom or Dad in the distance, but the bigger one was very wary of people.

 

Day 13 - Up and Out

We woke up early to an already warming day. We snacked on blueberry cream cheese coffee cake, a Schat’s Bakkery specialty, while we packed up camp one last time on Desert Expedition VIII.



Keith took off first to find the shortest route to Maryland. Sib traveled south on Route 395 with us until he broke away at CA-14 heading to Thousand Oaks. We continued south on Route 395 with Frenchie headed to New Mexico.



It was our final drive through the bold and beautiful Owens Valley. We experienced some of what John Muir described as “a country of wonderful contrasts,” with rugged alpine peaks of the Sierra range towering over the deep trough valley in the high desert floor. The Sierra Nevada mountains, some 450 miles long and 80 miles wide in areas, are higher, wider, and more spectacular than any other mountain range in the US. Twice the length of the Rockies, the Sierra bloc stands 4000’ higher above its adjacent valleys than the Rockies above the Great Plains. Our path crisscrossed this great region as we took in the beauty and learned a small portion of the harsh history and the trials and conflicts over limited desert resources. The city of Los Angeles, with their never-full-enough 230 mile aqueduct pulled more water than the valley’s watershed could bear since the early 1900s drying up lakes and rivers in the valley. Since the 1990s, with court-mandated water restrictions in place, the valley is experiencing a rebirth of vegetation and wildlife not seen here in 90 years.

And now, for the trip home... homeward bound, west coast to east coast. From Route 395, we turned east on CA 58 to pick up I-40 in Barstow. Other than fuel stops and lunch at a hamburger joint, we stopped for dinner at a diner in Flagstaff and made it as far as Holbrook AZ KOA. We were just west of the Petrified Forest National Park, and one of these trips - we’ll take the time to see it! 570 miles.

 

Day 14 - Eastbound

Up early, we found our way back onto eastbound I-40. The Land of Enchantment state sign greeted us as we crossed into New Mexico. Cracker Barrel Restaurant in Gallup was a welcome sight. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, compliments of Frenchie. As we neared Albuquerque, Frenchie took off to the north for Rio Rancho while we continued eastward. Railroad tracks follow I-40 through most of New Mexico, and it was not unusual to see 3 or 4 engines pulling long, long rows of cars, sometimes box cars, sometimes ore cars. Set against the mountains in the backdrop made for a picturesque site - the kind of photograph you might see on a calendar.

The terrain changed to high plains as we crossed into Texas and the trains, so prevalent in New Mexico, changed to wind turbines and vast stockyards. The wind turbines stretched as far as the eye could see north and south of the interstate and continued for hundreds of miles. Cows dotted the landscape, small creatures under the sizable wind turbines. We had been looking forward to a meal at Tyler’s barbecue in Amarillo, but alas, upon arrival, all we could see were ‘sold out’ signs scrawled out and taped in the windows. Luckily, Rudy’s bbq was just around the corner. We were in Texas after all, bbq joints abound. Rudy’s was a huge establishment, even had gasoline pumps outside. We feasted on brisket and beans, cole slaw and potato salad, and chocolate pudding topped it all off.

With a couple more hours of road behind us, we stopped for the night at Foss OK to find a KOA campground. The fan in our teardrop provided a nice breeze in the arid, warm air. A secondary gain was the white noise drowning out the interstate highway noise and we fell fast asleep. 630 miles

 

Day 15 & 16 - Final Leg

When we woke up, the day was already promising to be a scorcher. We hit the road, eastbound on I-40 and shortly before Oklahoma City, stopped for fuel at a Cherokee Trading post. We fueled up, browsed the store, purchased a few tokens for friends back home, and went over to the restaurant for eggs, bacon, and hash browns.

We left the dry flat plains when we crossed back into Arkansas. The vegetation was lush and green, hilly and wooded. Just past Little Rock, we saw several billboards for Nick’s Barbecue and Catfish. Not wanting to negotiate Friday night city traffic in Memphis, we decided to give Nick’s a try. We pulled off I-40 in Carlisle and Nick’s had recently outgrown their restaurant and built a large, modern building. The bbq was delicious and we made a note to visit again next time we were traveling this way. Carlisle is due north of Crossett, a paper mill town from my paper-making days. We left a town full of good friends when we moved out of Crossett.

After dinner, we crossed the mighty Mississippi River, dropped south on I-55 through Memphis, and then onto SR 78 which turned into I-22. We were headed for Wall Doxey State Park. Alabama was playing Ole Miss in Mississippi on Saturday so campgrounds were filling with football fans. We secured a nicely wooded site, far from interstate noise. A hot shower, a little reading time, and then we were ready. When lights went out, so did we. 580 miles

We felt the humidity as soon as we woke up. Warm and muggy. Such a contrast to the desert air back west. Yes, we knew we were back in the South. W packed camp, ie, closed the vent and doors, and made our way back to I-22 southbound. Cracker Barrel was just a few miles down the road in New Albany.

A last stop on our journey, Bass Pro Shop outside of Birmingham, gave us a little time to stretch our legs wandering the aisles to see what goodies we needed for our next trip.





We piled back into the rig, drove across one more state line, and arrived at last, home. Time to settle in, unpack, wash up, and plan for next year's desert expedition.

So until next time,
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” (Rachel Carson)