All Rovers are invited, including stock vehicles, as are ALL drivers of every level. We strongly recommend offroad tires. High clearance helpful; consider removing running boards & air dams. Sunday's trail will challenge beginners, as we will drive along remote, steep, high, unmaintained, mountain-side roads.
Saturday and Sunday, September 28-29, 2002
Our Saturday night's stay will be in Lone Pine, located on US Hwy 395, 200 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.
Gas along Hwy 395:
Gas along Hwy 14:
Lone Pine Lodging:
NOTE: Call TODAY -- The Best Rooms are Going FAST!
Sat & Sun Lunch:
Along the trail; pack your own.
Sat Dinner:
Dinner in Lone Pine or at campsite; we may have a group dinner option...
Sunday Morning Breakfast:
Breakfast on your own.
Saturday, September 28
Meet at either:
Special Note for Early Birds:
IMPORTANT: The following participant requirements will be imposed for the "Early Bird" side trip only:
After a brief orientation, the group will continue north on US 395 for about 20 miles to Fossil Falls, the reminent of an ancient waterfall on the now dry Owens River that once flowed into China Lake. Native Americans spent much time here, evidenced by petroglyphs, grinding holes, and obsidian chips from tool making. This site requires a brief 1/4th mile walk across level ground to reach the falls.
Time permitting, and if the group is managable in size, we may drive across the nearby Rose Dry Lake in hopes of finding an ancient indian tool making site.
Our next stop will be 30 minutes later at the Olancha Dunes OHV Recreation Area, just a few miles east of the town of Olancha.
After playing in the dunes for a short while, we'll continue north on US 395 to the town of Lone Pine and the beautiful Alabama Hills. The Alabama Hills has been home to Hollywood's westerns since before the talkies, with all of the great names in the business filming here: John Wayne, Hopalong Cassidy, Lone Ranger, Clint Eastwood, Gary Cooper, Randolph Scott, Audie Murphy, Humphry Bogart, Spensor Tracy...
We'll spend the remainder of the day surpentining around the hills, framed by the snow covered and majestic Mt. Whitney, passing cool mountain streams and TONS of places for the kids to rock climb. We'll visit some old movie sites and who knows what else until check-in time in Lone Pine.
Following check-in at area motels and campgrounds, dinner will either be on our own, or perhaps some group arrangements can be made in advance. We'll keep you posted...
Sunday, September 29
After packing bags and striking camp on Sunday morning, we'll find a good breakfast, then we'll gather at our meeting place.
Meeting Place:
After all are assembled we'll proceed east toward Panamint and Death Valley's for about 20 miles to the ghost town site of Swansea, on the edge of Owens Lake. Here we leave pavement and head into the Inyo Mountains, with our destination the very top of the ridge. After about 15 minutes we'll engage low range for pretty much the rest of the day, climb to the top past an old mining camp, to the center of the ridgeline where remains the ruins of a salt tram, once the largest salt operation in the world.
After continuing across the ridge, we descend and climb a few times until we reach the remarkably well-preserved ghost town of Cerro Gordo. Perhaps we can arrange a brief tour, or at least receive permission to poke around this site which is on private property. Follow our examination of the townsite, we return down to the Owens Lake shoreline via a graded, improved county dirt road, back to Hwy 136 only a few miles east of our starting point, Swansea.
From here, we begin the long ride home...