DE VIII - The Owens Valley

[Hun]

Day 10 continued - now for the trains

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 several day’s journey. 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

 

[Scott B.]

Morning at Tuff Campground



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



The pillars

 

[Scott B.]

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.

 

[Hun]

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 forest, we were struck by the girth of the these ancient trees, some at least 8-10 feet across. We made sandwiches on delicious 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.



continued...

 

[Hun]

Day 11 continued



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

 

[Ace Brown]

Frenchie speechless????


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[Hun]

Frenchie speechless????

Notable. Indeed! May never see it again, but there it was. Jaw dropping speechless.

 

[Ace Brown]

Notable. Indeed! May never see it again, but there it was. Jaw dropping speechless.

So what did Keith say?


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[4x4x4doors]

Had to do a bit of enhance/filter to make this show up well. This is the overview of the Volcanic Tableland mentioned in Day 10 as seen from the White Mountain Rd.
Closeup of one of the Bristlecone seedlings revealed at Schulman Grove

In the Patriarch Grove
White Mountain Road

 

[Hun]

So what did Keith say?

Hm. Keith? Any idea? It was so quick, I have forgotten...

 

[4x4x4doors]

Hm. Keith? Any idea? It was so quick, I have forgotten...

Hey, it's your story, you tell it.
(Truthfully, I don't remember either. In the grand scheme of things, its not really relevant as it was probably not what was said but the particular alignment of the stars and coffee in a random moment and couldn't be counted on to work ever again. It was a cosmic event, either you were there when it happened or you weren't --in which case it would suck to not be there. Sorry, Ace.)

 

[Scott B.]

Hey, it's your story, you tell it.
(Truthfully, I don't remember either. In the grand scheme of things, its not really relevant as it was probably not what was said but the particular alignment of the stars and coffee in a random moment and couldn't be counted on to work ever again. It was a cosmic event, either you were there when it happened or you weren't --in which case it would suck to not be there. Sorry, Ace.)

That's a really longwinded way to say you don't remember...

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

We always gaze across from Mammoth. On the list for next season. Thanks for a beautiful travelogue.

 

[SirCampalot]

Very Nice report and photos! Next time, check out Manzanar!

 

[Scott B.]

Very Nice report and photos! Next time, check out Manzanar!

Thank you.

Stay tuned - we are not finished yet!