Cerro Gordo

We got away from the rain. Mark has the week of Easter off from
school so we scheduled up a short trip to the desert. Gerald and
Quincy joined us from Upland and we met at Lone Pine.

This time we pulled the Chalet and it was so much nicer then a tent.
The first night we camped near Lake Isabella in the mountains above
Bakersfield. We chose to take the southern route over the mountains
since going north to Tahoe and then down Hwy 395 is a long drive and
requires more passes and mountain pulling and worse gas mileage.

On Saturday we arrived at Lone Pine and set up camp at Diaz Lake.
This is a county park around a natural pond created in a land
subsidence during the big earthquake of 1872. At only $10 per night
it was pretty nice. Gerald and Quincy arrived late Saturday after
taking a long scenic to Lake Isabella, thinking that was our meeting
point. Proving of course that two men giving directions to each other
is twice as bad as one man not asking for directions.

Sunday was the highlight of the weekend. We drove up into the Inyo
Mountains to Cerro Gordo, an old ghost town and hard rock mine that
is now privately owned and being restored into a rustic destination.
The road is steep but otherwise quite passable and we visited with
the caretaker when we arrived at the town. She showed us the old
general store which is now filled with the finds that have been dug
up around the mine and from the dump of the old town. Chinese laborer
clothing, lots of old bottles, rusty tools and newspapers from the
1870's have all been found. The hard rock mine still has a working
winch and cable and the owner descends into the mine from time to
time to check on a water pump system he has installed. We also looked
in the old hotel and one restored home. We were told we could make
reservations and stay the night in the old bunk house, sleeps 12, for
only $300 per night.

We then pushed on, down the east side of the mountains and into
another mining district on the edge of Death Valley Park. Here we
stopped to do some shooting with Gerald's two Glock automatics. He
has a Glock 9mm and a new Glock 40. The 9mm is about 17 years old.
Gerald bought it new and then ran short of money and sold it to a
friend. Just last year, after Butch (the friend and best welder I
have ever known) died, I redeemed the gun from his widow and gave it
back to Gerald.

We again started driving south on the dirt road and this time Mark
drove for over 40 minutes. This was his longest desert drive so far
and he is getting better. The whole driving thing makes him nervous
and tires him quickly but I want to get him ready for his permit in a
few years. After hitting pavement and switching drivers, Linda drove
us down into the Panamint Valley to Darwin Falls. Darwin Falls is a
year round natural spring that runs out of the side of a mountain,
down a canyon, over three water falls and sinks back into the earth
like it had never happened. It is a wonderful, short, hike and we
walked from desert and cactus into trees and water and cat tails and
birds.

Sunday was a long full day of hiking and driving. Back at camp we
packed up Gerald and Quincy and sent them home for a Monday at work
and we spent a windy night in camp before heading home ourselves on
Monday.