California
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Californian varieties
Having failed to reach Cerro Gordo through the ridge road blocked by snow, we drove up the classic route. This is an abandoned mining town that was home to 2,000 people between 1856 and 1930. It had up to 7 saloons and the basement is dug over 35 miles (55 km) of galleries. It generated the largest amounts of silver from all the American West at this time.
1. Some buildings of this mining Ghost Town are made of corrugated sheet.
2. General Store transformed in a museum.
3. A 1946 truck.
4. Splendid furnace in hotel.
5. A restroom…
6. The next day, we stopped at Trona Pinnacles.
7. the sun is going Under the clouds.
8. This is tuff chimneys such as Mono Lake, which formed in a lake between 100,000 and 10,000 years before our area.
9. Some are 140 feet high.
10. Flaming sunset.
11. Unlikely colors…
12. Light reflected by the purpled clouds…
13. Another discovery : Red Cliffs Canyon.
14. The errosion sculpted amazing forms, sometimes colored…
15. … sometimes gray.
Change of scenery! We stayed for three days at the “King of the Hammers”, an off road race! The event takes place in the desert and alternates very fast sections on sandy tracks and pure rock crowling passages in canyons full of large blocks and obstacles. The winner took almost 9 hours to browse through three rounds of 45 miles.
16. Vehicles are buggies which most are between 800 and 1,000 hp!
17. This one has a distant silhouette of Jeep…
18. Back Door canyon entry.
19. Winching an obstacle, here a more than 10 feet high step! The co-driver is also the one that will tie the winch.
20. Some buggies are single seater.
21. Power passing…
22. Up in Back Door canyon, more than 600 feet above the desert.
23. Another obstacle that seems less impressive than reality on this image.
24. It is a city of nearly 30,000 inhabitants that rises from the desert during the race week.
Here is a short video taken with my cell phone…
Once the race is over, dozens of private vehicles are trying to hit obstacles of the race with the encouragement of hundreds of spectators that beer makes quite noisy ..! Here are two more videos, just to give you an idea of the atmosphere. They were shot around midnight…
After this fun experience, VivaLaVida began his eastward migration toward East travelling back to Arizona for a few days, still followed by Baja Shaker… To come soon. 😉
Salt Tram…
I met Andrew with whom I went to Baja last year. He’s gonna make a little way with VivaLaVida before I hit the road toward East…
1. Beautiful colors to the first camp together near hot springs.
2. Stop at Alabama Hills that I discovered last spring with Jean-Luc.
3. This place is really fun with these conglomerate concretions.
4. Withney Portal Arch.
5. These hills are located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada.
6. Visit of Mobius Arch I had already presented here.
We then went to discover the Salt Tram, a construction that I wanted to explore. We had seen some pylons with Jean-Luc in the Saline Valley, thinking it was an elevator built for mining. In fact, it was a tram designed to exploit the salt deposit of the Saline Valley. Built between 1911 and 1913, the numbers are just amazing! It starts from 3,300 feet above sea level in Swansea, in the Owens Valley, rises more than 8,000 feet and goes down the other side of the mountain in the Saline Valley. The hauling cable was 27 miles long!
7. Up the Swansea Grade, above Owens Valley.
8. The Sierras received some snow three days ago.
9. Owens Valley with VLV and Baja Shaker camping at 5,500 feet elevation.
10. I approach a first pylon.
11. Assembly.
12. The dry climate has preserved the wood for over a hundred years.
13. Second pylon.
14. One of the intermediate stations to cross a ridge.
15. The construction is very similar to modern lifts excepted it’s made of wood.
16. Hauling cable detail.
17. Framework.
18. Pylons alignment with the top station at the bottom.
19. View of a lower intermediate station in front of the saline still in use today.
20. Graphics of saline.
21. Baja Shacker going down the Swansea Grade quite steep and dissected in places.
To be followed in some days… 😀
Behind the Sierras…
1. Sunrise over Eureka Dunes.
2. Contrasts between dark cliffs and clear dunes…
3. … and between the softness of the sand and the harshness of the rock.
I then went to explore volcanic craters near Mono Lake, the few snow this year allowing to access it easier than usually in this season.
4. On the road, I spent a night near Hot Creek, a river warmed by hot springs.
5. I’m over 6,000 feet elevation and there is no snow…
6. It’s cold at night however, 10F that night – and lakes freeze…
7. Boondocking behind Crater Mountain, at 7,900 feet elevation.
8. Mounted in steep scree of porous and rather light volcanic stones. Worse than the sand: making three steps up, you descend two! 😀
9. at about 8,500 feet, I see Mono Lake in the distance.
10. The north slopes keep some patches of snow.
11. Patchwork…
12. Sierra Nevada is close toward West.
13. Scoria cone in front of Mono Lake.
14. Remnant cornice under the summit slope.
15. Arrival on the main crater or what remains.
16. There were many of such black stones that looked like vitrified coal, rather light for their size with smooth and shiny texture.
17. One of the only plants that manage to grow in this hostile environment. Tiny but pretty…
18. View of the crater from the highest point at 9,400 feet elevation.
19. The panoramic view of emerald color Mono Lake is impressive!
20. Going down on the way to some hot springs, VivaLaVida went through Benton Hot Springs, a historic place of passage.
After soaking in hot water two hours under the stars (what a joy!), I took a one day break to make an oïl change to VivaLaVida. Andrew (the guy with whom I had discovered the Baja California early last year) is being announced, I should meet him in the coming days to discover some new corners with Baja-Shacker.
To discover soon in a future update… 😀
Petroglyphs and sand of Death Valley…
1. Intense sunrise at Lookout City.
2. Softer colors over Panamint Valley.
3. Treasure of Death Valley, a waterfall going down Darwin Canyon.
4. End of the day near Hunter Mountain, in a beautiful forest of Joshua trees.
5. We discovered the Blackrock Canyon Well, a little-known petroglyph site.
6. This representation of wild sheep with her calf mouflon backs almost 3,000 years BC.
7. Shoshone Indians were admiring wild sheeps.
8. There are other representations which we don’t know the meaning on this site.
9. The change of patterns is amazing in some fifty petroglyphs we spoted.
10. Here is the largest of the canyon, near 10 feet high!
11. Likely a butterfly…
12. There are even some representations on detached blocks.
13. Jeff a little tense on the Road Linpincott…
14. We arrive at the top at sunset.
15. Stop near Eureka Dunes I had discovered with Jean-Luc last spring.
16. Wind pattern…
17. … and shadows…
18. Ripples…
19. Vegetal graphism on mineral.
20. Last sunrays lengthen the shadows…
21. Dune…
22. Sand waves…
This concludes the eight days spent with Jeff & Janet who continued their journey toward North. It was nice to share these few campfires and make them discover some hidden corners of this splendid Death valley.
Next of the journey coming soon… 😉
Death Valley
I went to join Jeff and Janet, an Alaskan couple who wanted discover some places of the Death Valley and preferred to do it in two vehicles. But before that, I installed the new compressor of VivaLaVida.
1. Beautiful sky over Arizona strip.
2. ARB was kind enough to replace the compressor with a new one, the previous being his fourth failure. Thanks to them.
3. To try to prevent this from happening again, I installed a “house made” air filter which should limit the amount of dust that it swallows…
4. On the road to Las Vegas Where I met my friend Christian for dinner, I heard a big “bang” and the back of VLV sagged while I was driving at 70 mph.
5. A tire suffered a carcass break, probably the result of fatigue of the carcass. Admittedly, these tires have rolled some 10,000 miles of trails at reduced pressure…
6. Met Jeff and Janet in Bed Springs Cabin, a pretty little miners cabin.
7. Saratoga Springs, south of Death Valley. There were a few ducks and a lot of frogs croaking! 😀
8. Arctictraveller going up to Black Magic Mine.
9. Wild donkeys or “burros”, presumably a mother and her young.
10. Late afternoon on the trail to Owlshead Mountains where we spent the night.
11. Diversity of mineral colors is pretty amazing in places.
12. One of the few stone cabinss, the Geologist Cabin.
13. Camp at about 4,000 feet above sea level, near the Striped Butte.
14. Raking light…
15. Striped Butte at sunset.
16. Twilight on this desert of rocks…
17. Jeff & Janet joined me in the night after going to fill Arctictraveller’s tank.
18. Jeff on Mengel Pass tral. It is not very experienced in offroading, I have therefore spoted him on tricky places…
19. There was quite a few steps!
20. And some quite off camber path to…
21. Panamint Valley.
22. Dusk from Lookout City, an old mining town over Panamint Valley.
And for a change, here are two videos of VLV in action. Thanksu to Jeff for having sent me. 😉
To be follwed in some days… 😉
D5 Creation