Lone Pine Spring Desert Trip

Trip Overview: This was our annual Mt. Vaca Radio Club Spring desert caravan and camping trip. We camped in the Owens Valley near Lone Pine, Saturday, March 22, until Wednesday, March 26, 1997. Our Wagonmaster, Lew Barnard, WA6ESA, led us on several day trips..

Departure: We met Lew and Adrianne for breakfast at 8 AM Saturday at the Nook Restaurant at Cameron Park. We left afterward and traveled Hwys 50, 89, 88, and 395 to Lone Pine, 57 miles South of Bishop. Everyone caravaned together except for the Colliers. Jim and David traveled I-80 and were an hour behind us. Marsha and Rob arrived the next day. We used 147.555 simplex for all trip communications. We arrived around 3:30 PM after a lunch stop in Bridgeport.

Camping: We reserved five sites together at the Boulder Creek RV Resort, 4 miles South of Lone Pine on US 395. Lew, Doug, Ed, and Marc doubled up their tents on two sites. Fred, Les, and Jim had folding trailers and one site each. All our sites had electricity, water, TV, telephone, and sewer connections. The camp had showers, spa, store, etc.

Sunday: Lew led everyone (except for the two Colliers that hadn't arrived) on a trip to Nevada ghost towns. All our vehicles were 4WD. We headed North to Big Pine and East on Hwy 168 over Westgard Pass. Entering Nevada, we passed Palmetto and Lida, then turned South to Gold Point. After a short photo stop, Lew found the dirt road South to Tokop. There was nothing there, and we had lunch down the hill from a microwave station. But we did find old wood and stone ruins at Old Camp in the same district. We then 4-wheeled down Oriental Wash to the Death Valley - Big Pine road. This is a passenger car dirt road, but it had not been graded, and the washboard was very noticeable. Lew and Adrianne later discovered that the tires on her new Wrangler were overinflated by 60%. This brought us past the Eureka dunes to Big Pine, and then Lone Pine.

Like Comet Hayakutake on our Anza-Borrego trip, Comet Hale-Bopp made its closest pass Sunday night. This was viewed every night that was not cloudy. There was also a lunar eclipse Sunday at 8:39 PM.

Monday: In the morning, Lew led everyone through the "ghost" town of Darwin to the trail head for Darwin Falls. Most of us hiked to the top of the falls, and some went further, but it was not a simple stroll. After hiking back, we had lunch at a shady spring near the trail head. We drove out to the highway near Panamint Springs and returned to camp.

That afternoon, Lew led us through the nearby Alabama Hills, where many movies have been filmed, mainly Westerns. That evening, we watched a two hour video tape, about sites in the Alabama Hills used for various films, on the giant screen TV in the camp clubroom. This seemed to be more interesting than the Academy Awards, which were on that night.

Tuesday: Lew, Doug, and Marc broke camp and headed home. The remainder of us drove up to Cerro Gordo, a mountain top mining community East of Lone Pine. There are events put on there for mineral and rock people and we examined the bunkhouse, which may be rented by groups. The Colliers headed back to break camp and go home. The remainder, Ed and Sunny, Les and Matthew, and Fred, Bonnie, and Gary continued over the top. Lunch was observed near the junction with the Saline Valley road. After lunch, we continued the lengthy slow trip into Saline Valley. A lot more vehicles were seen on this road than on our last trip here in 1984, but this is now a part of the expansion of Death Valley into a National Park. We came out the same way, except that we went straight to the highway. By that time it was late and Sunny suggested dinner in Lone Pine, so we drove there and ate at CJ's Restaurant.

Wednesday: That morning, it was our turn to break camp. We then drove to Bishop and stopped at Schat's Bakery. We went a few miles North to the Laws Railroad Museum and Historical Site. The historical material is growing and is quite interesting. We spent two hours there, then returned to Bishop to have a tail-gate lunch in the Von's parking lot. We continued home, with Fred, Bonnie, and Gary stopping to camp at Lahontan. The rest of us got home about 6 PM.

Reference and Return Links

• The Spauldings' Photo Album - Doug, N6XKL & Joanne, KF6GXK - Includes this trip.
• Ham Radio Camping & Caravaning* - Explains, and lists our destinations since 1971.
• MVRC Activities Page* - Current schedule - Mt Vaca Radio Club.
• Mt. Vaca Radio Club - Home page.
• Les' Amateur Radio page* - W6TEE.
• Links to all other trip reports are found on pages marked*.