Sweetwater Mountains - Ride through the Aspens

It's a bit of a bumpy ride, but I promise it's worth it.

River of Gold

Jimmy and I hit the fall color motherlode this weekend.

Sonora Pass had some of the best we've ever seen...

Till we got to the Sweetwater Mountains in the Eastern California desert.

The aspens grow along a river. You can follow the River of Gold all the way up the mountain.

We rode through several groves, leaves rustling and quaking in the breeze, leaves raining down on our heads.

Since we haven't experienced a New England fall, we can't compare our amazing fall color to theirs, but ours is pretty damn good, too!!

Saying Goodbye

Sunday started out as a typical lazy day at home. Around 3pm, I logged onto facebook to see what was up and I saw lots of postings about the sudden passing of someone I knew. I couldn't believe it, and actually thought that surely, this was wrong information. It was facebook afterall, and who knows what's true till you get the information from a trusted source. She was only 2 years older than me and at first I honestly thought it couldn't be true. Unfortunately, it was.

She wasn't just an old high school friend, which would have been tragic in itself. But I have known her all my life. She was also an only child, we were somehow related (it all gets mixed up in our culture sometimes how we're related but we were). I think our mother's were cousin's in some way or another. Her parents were my godparents, and up until we went to school, I probably spent the most time with her growing up. Back then, we thought of each other as sisters. I looked up to her and wanted to be just like her.

My mom made these matching outfits for us. I may have been around 5 years old, she would have been 7.

This was Christmas 1970. I was 2 1/2 years old.

We still remained close though elementary school, but as we became teenagers, 2 years became a big gap in age and we belonged in very different social circles. But we had a bond that would last forever. We'd still hang out one on one every now and then and act like sisters do. Throughout the years, as we both grew up, got married, lost our parents, we always had respect and love for each other. Even though we hadn't seen each other in over 15 years, we still kept in touch.

She had 2 boys, the youngest just graduated high school last year. Her oldest got married within the last couple of years. Her husband of almost 30 years is inconsolable. My heart breaks for my own loss, but can imagine the heartache her family and her closest friends are feeling. It's not suppose to happen at 48, it's impossible to wrap my head around it.

When I got a call Sunday evening from the oldest one in this photo, who is 6 years older than me, there was no escaping the truth. She had just returned from the hospital and gave me the details. She was considered the oldest "sister" of all of us. I could always count on her the most, as I'm sure she was the one who always had the most responsibilities. After my mom died, she gave me the most help when I had to go back and forth to the High Desert every few weeks to sort everything out. She was always there and helped the most on arrangements. Once again, she's there to step up the responsibilities as oldest 'sister' with the passing of one of our own.


One funny little anecdote I remember from junior high school...
I was in 7th grade science class. One of the boys sitting next to me asked if was related Lourdes. I said yes. I can't forget the tone of his voice when he said "She is the hottest girl at this school."
At the time I thought it was funny that a 7th grader was saying that about a 9th grader, but you know what? It was true. Everyone at that school knew that she was one of the prettiest girls there.

11.21 Joshua Trees

Growing up in the Mojave Desert, there weren't many trees. Except for the Joshua Tree, which was a dominate figure in our landscape.

They came few and far between.
This was approximately the view from my front yard...no Joshua trees to be seen. Yet, even though I didn't see one from my doorstep, they were numerous enough that I'd see several on my way to and from school. And they always stood tall and proud.

For the first 10 years of their lives, they grow about 3 inches per year. After that, they only grow about 1.5 inches per year. If a Joshua tree was born the same year I was, it would be 6'9" by now. Most of the Joshua trees are hundreds of years old, some thousands of years.

Today, somehow I stumbled on this video produced by Sungjin Ahn. It's a beautiful and romantic video about this majestic tree. Enjoy...

Joshua from SungjinAhn on Vimeo.

11.19 It Took Us There

We wouldn't be able to explore the back country like we do if we didn't have this fun, hardy, tough little vehicle.

11.18 Videos of our Mining Towns Ride

Chemung Mine:


If the videos aren't already shown in HD, you'll want to change it to 1080p by clicking on the gear icon on the bottom right of the video. So much prettier.

Quaking Aspens.
One of my favorite sounds in the world. This quick little video doesn't come close to the sound or what it looks like, but I still had to try to capture it.


The full ride from start to finish. 9 hours in about 7 minutes.

11.17 Chemung Mine

You may recall that Jimmy and I did an amazing off-roading trip in the Eastern Californian Desert. I blogged about the more famously known Bodie State Park and Ghost Town.

But the Chemung Mine was my favorite spot of the day. There was something magical about this spot.

It might be because of the magnificent, freshly snow capped Sierra Nevada mountain range in the background.

Or maybe it's because the mine was up against the hillside next to a beautiful aspen grove. And aspens are my favorite tree.

More likely it was a combination of both in addition to the amazing buildings that was deteriorating, instead of the ones at Bodie that were maintained in 'arrested decay'.

I wasn't able to find out much about the mine. But according to a bit of googling, it was built in the early 1900's and was active till 1938. Then again in the 1950s and 1960s, a sole prospector worked the mine, supporting himself, but never striking it rich.

Now, if you can get to it, you can explore the mine freely. Just be kind to the surroundings so others can appreciate it, too. It's really a remarkable spot in California's mining history.

This main building seemed to take center stage.



But the other smaller buildings were just as amazing.



With breathtaking views.

Not sure if this was a place of worship, or just a power line perfectly placed...

But doesn't this invoke the Wild Wild West to you?

Exploring the ruins of the main building was very interesting.

Imagine the people and now ghosts(!) that wandered through these rooms.

Watching the aspens quake in the wind and change colors in the fall.


Or prepare for the bitter cold of winter. At 8100 feet elevation, winters were harsh, windy and covered in several feet of snow.

But the dreams of finding "gold in them thar hills" was enough to keep the mine running.


I'm sure you can see why this spot is so amazing. We could have spent half the day exploring this area, but we were just beginning our day.

But seven hours later, we rode by it again on our way back to the car and caught the mine at that perfect Golden Hour moment.











The best way to start and end a day packed with back country exploring.

Bodie Ghost Town

Last week Jimmy and I went on a long ride on the ATV in Eastern California and Nevada.
The area is very remote but in 1859, gold was discovered and the small mining town of Bodie, named after W.S. Bodey, was built. However, it wasn't till 1876 that the town became a 'boomtown' and grew rapidly. It became infamous for wickedness and badmen. Killings occurred regularly, almost on a daily basis.

It was known as the "worst climate out of doors" and can still be described as that. At an elevation of 8400', winters see subzero temperatures, an average of 93" of snowfall per year and 100 mph wind is not unusual. Summer days can be hot, yet nights are very cold, often falling below freezing.

The town went through many ups and downs in population through the late 1800s, but in 1915 it was labeled a ghost town, though it still had a few dozen permanent residents. In 1962, it became a State Historic Park but only about 5% of the buildings remain compared to what it had in its heyday. The remaining buildings are kept in a state of 'arrested decay' meaning that the structures will be maintained, but only to the extent that they will not be allowed to fall over or otherwise deteriorate in a major way.

During our ride, we approached Bodie from the north.
From here we could see how exposed it was to the elements and how much they had excavated the surrounding hillside.

We entered though the back way, but had to drive up to the main entrance to pay the fee. The sign says "Bodie State Historic Park Elevation 8375 feet".

The Methodist Church was built in 1882 and is the only church still standing.

The last service was in 1932.

James Stuart Cain residence. Cain came to Bodie when he was 25, entered the lumber business transporting lumber to the mines via barges he built on Mono Lake. Later he expanded into wagon and railroad freighting. He eventually acquired the Standard Mine and Mill and became the town's principal property owner.

Kirkwood house and barn. Kirkwood owned the main stable.

Metzger House. Henry Metzger came to Bodie in 1878 from New York and worked at the mill till 1916. Two of his seven children were born in this house.

Looking out towards Maiden Lane. That far building was on Maiden Lane or "Virgin Alley". Ladies of the night lived and worked here in a row of one-room cabins.

Chinatown. There were several hundred Chinese residents who peddled vegetables, operated laundries and cut, hauled and sold firewood. They maintained their separate customs and traditions. They had their own general store, saloon, gambling halls and Taoist temple but the Opium parlors were open to both Chinese and Caucasian alike.

Site of the Bodie Bank.

All that remains is the vault, the structure burned in 1932.

Ruins of a stone warehouse.

The Standard Mine and Mill. Its success caused the 1878 rush and within a year, the population rose from about 20 miners to 10,000. The mill last operated in 1938. It had produced nearly $100 million in gold and silver during it's lifespan.

Swazey Hotel.

Window into the past.

Inside one of the homes.

The 1st school house burned down by an early-day juvenile delinquent, so it moved to this location, originally the Bon Ton Lodging house, which was built in 1879.

Piano inside the school house.

A peak inside the morgue.

Inside a saloon.

Looking inside the general store and warehouse. Owned by Harvey Boone, a direct descendant of Daniel Boone.

Gasoline pumps in front of the general store.

This is what it looked like circa 1890
During its peak, there were over 2000 buildings buildings in Bodie. When it became a State Park in 1962, less than 175 buildings remained.
I found this image on Bodie's wikipedia page. Additionally, I got most of my information from the pamphlet they gave us when we the State Park.