July 23 - August 2, 2026
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| It's been awhile since my last blog so this will be long one, but we have either been busy or traveling. We left Bridgeport, CA on Thursday, July 23 and headed for Lone Pine, CA. |
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| While we were there we went to the Museum of Western Film History. A lot of films were shot in the nearby Alabama Hills (more on that later). They gave us a brochure with a map of the museum. If you're in the area it's worth the stop. |
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| Old cameras. |
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| Several movies were made nearby with John Wayne. |
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| This is the jacket he wore in Rooster Cogburn. |
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| Who remembers watching The Lone Ranger? |
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After we were finished at the museum we drove a few miles away to the Alabama Hills. |
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| This is the same view as the scene from the movie above. |
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| More Alabama Hills. By this time it was getting hot so we decided to go up to Mount Whitney Portal for lunch. |
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| The Mount Whitney Trail intersects with the Sierra Crest Trail at an elevation of 13,645'. |
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| The lady at the museum told us about the store with a cafe, so we each got a hamburger. They were so big we could have easy split one. They had some picnic tables outside and we enjoyed the trees and shade. While waiting for our food I was talking with a young man who said he had started hiking in Yosemite three days before. It took us a good portion of a day just to drive the same distance. |
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| It was a LOT cooler up there! |
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| View of the valley on the way back down the mountain. |
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| Our next stop was Cerro Gordo. We stumbled on a YouTube channel about Brent, who bought a ghost town and has been restoring and exploring it. It's not far from Lone Pine so we decided to explore it for ourselves. The road up is 7.2 miles of one lane, steep dirt road, and it climbs almost 5,000' in those 7.2 miles. Silver deposits were discovered by Mexican prospectors in the mid-1860s. Cerro Gordo was once a thriving mining town in the late 1860s through the 1870s. It was the largest producer of silver and lead in California, and supplied the wealth that built Los Angeles Several thousand people lived there and nearly every flat spot once held a building of some sort. From the mid-1860s to 1938 the mines produced approximately: 36,000 tons of lead, 12,000 tons of zinc, 4.41 million Troy ounces of silver, 286 tons of copper, and 2,010 Troy ounces of gold. |
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| Valley view from Cerro Gordo. |
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| The Hoist House, which they still use today. We got the extra tour to visit this building. |
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| Not a good picture, but this mine shaft goes down about 1,200'. The tunnels add up to about 26 miles, going in all directions. Brent has explored as much as he can get to and it's sometimes a little scary to watch him. |
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| If you ever watch the videos, this is where Brent does assaying and chemistry experiments. |
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| The hoist has been converted from steam, to electric, to hydraulic. Keep in mind this is how Brent gets in and out of that mine shaft. |
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| The town of Cerro Gordo from the hoist house. |
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| View of Death Valley from the hill above Cerro Gordo. |
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| What's left of a tram trestle. |
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| More mine works. |
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| Belshaw House. |
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| Assay Office. |
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| The new American Hotel. They were going to restore the original one but it burned down in 2020 so they are rebuilding it. You can imagine that it wouldn't be easy to get supplies and workers up there but they manage. They're still waiting for permits to move forward. |
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| We were almost finished and saw Brent walking by so asked him if we could do a selfie. He was as nice in person as in his videos. |
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| The church. |
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| View of part of the road going back down the mountain. |
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| This was our view on the way back to the campground. We saw so many different views of God's handiwork today. |
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| We stayed at Boulder Creek RV Resort just south of Lone Pine for two nights. It was a large campground, and an oasis in the desert. We had full hookups for $83.13 per night. There really aren't any other options. It was hot there - over 100 degrees so the air conditioners and swamp coolers were on all the time. |
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| We left Lone Pine on Saturday, July 25 and went to SkyPark Camp and RV Resort for three nights. It's halfway to Big Bear Lake, where I originally looked for a campground but wasn't able to find anything. The Lord knew better than I did because the road just up to Skyforest was no joke. We came down I-15 and took Hwy. 138 which we should not have done. There were 10 mph hairpin curves where the truck took up the oncoming lane. Thankfully no one was coming down each time that happened. We found out later that we should have kept going south and picked up another road that was a four lane road. Needless to say we didn't go back the way we came. We had full hookups for $92.33 per night. The best part is that Joanne, my high school friend and maid of honor in our wedding, lives nearby and was able to come up for a couple of days. It was so much fun seeing her again as it's been seven years. We both went to high school nearby and I lived in the Los Angeles and San Bernardino area most of my growing up years, so it was familiar to me. |
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| We had a pretty sunset the first night. |
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| Joanne and I went to the shops on Lake Arrowhead but we didn't buy anything. |
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| It was nice enough to sit outside and enjoy the cooler weather. |
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| Bye Joanne. :-( |
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| View of the road going back down, overlooking the San Bernardino valley. |
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| Have you ever heard of this town off of I-15? It's for real. |
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| We left CA on Tuesday, July 28, briefly passed through AZ, and entered NV. |
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| We stayed at the Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort for two nights. This one was really a resort and not just a campground. They had a security guy before you get inside, they gave me a booklet that was 12 pages long of rules and regulations, and I had to sign and initial about seven different things. But I got the Passport American 50% off rate of $50.82 per night for full hookups. Once again the temperature was over 100 degrees and we were glad to have the a/c. We were only there for two nights, and spent the day doing errands, two of which were the fun ones - Sew Yeah Quilt Store and See's Candies. |
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| We left on Thursday, July 30. Here are some pictures of the views along the way. We weren't too far from Bryce Canyon National Park. |
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Our stop for the night was Painted Hills RV Resort in Parowan, UT. It was $65.71 for full hookups. I didn't get any pictures because it was a long day and once again it was hot, but it was a nice campground. We just stayed in with a swamp cooler each on us to keep cool. The a/c's were running full blast and as usual it was still well into the night before it cooled off. |
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| On Friday, July 31 we stayed at Green River KOA Journey in Green River, UT for one night. It was $68.88 per night for full hookups. Once again, it was over 100 degrees and we planted the swamp coolers in front of us. |
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| Saturday, August 1 we arrived at Uncompahgre River RV Park in Olathe, CO for three nights. It's full hookups for $93.78 per night. Although it's still pretty hot here (upper 90s) there are lots of trees that make it feel cooler. We have some plans for tomorrow and then we'll be... Roving on... Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will have no end. Psalm 102:25-27 |
