Thanksgiving East Side Tour

Lighthawk

Lighthawk

Weekend warrior
Joined
Jun 22, 2010
Messages
3,334
Location
Nevada City, CA
We're still this side of the retirement divide, so our travels often coordinate with the dreaded holidays.
Someday we'll climb that mountain and travel on our own schedule. This trip was based on having Thanksgiving plus the weekend. We were headed down to Benton, to camp, soak and explore ;) Our 14 year old lab, Sadie went with us.



The cats stay home with the auto-feeder.

Susan had a great suggestion for us to leave on Wed afternoon to avoid the crowds on Hwy 80, our gateway to the East Side. We were thrilled to see that the detours and rough road had been eliminated and we were among the first travelers to enjoy sweet, brand new freeway dropping into Truckee. That's about when I first noticed the wind.

We dropped onto an old friend in Incline (Income Village :LOL: ) to return a pair of skis. I had tried to teach Susan how to downhill and well, uh let's say she doesn't want the skis anymore :(

We continued our favorite ride along the east shore of Tahoe then down into Nevada side. Traffic was light and we were heading out!
We snagged some quick mex at Super Burrito in Minden, which was pretty good. The salsa bar had hot carrots, so they made a friend out of me. :) Winds continued to increase and finally when I went for a big passing move around an 18 wheeler I got hammered by the strongest blasts of wind I've experienced with the FWC/Tundra. The West Walker has carved a deep canyon and the river and the highway barely fit the narrow confines. It funneled the wind and I was uncomfortable going over 50mph until we got out of the canyon. I kept a sharp eye out for rocks and debris blown loose into the road.

Soon enough we were dropping into Bridgeport where we have our favorite springs to soak in.
We've just about got this down now. We can leave our house, drive three hours and de-stress in the hot springs with nearby dispersed camping. If we do that the night before, it extends our trip, which is the whole point. Not having to set up tenting at night makes this very reasonable.

We enjoyed the dark sky loaded with stars. Jupiter was overhead and Orion was rising. We soaked long enough, the constellations continued to march up from the eastern horizon. Next we could see Taurus with the glaring red eye represented by Aldebaran. The occasional shooting star punctuated the night.

As we left the Travertine area, we encountered a sheriff driving into the parking lot. I stopped to do some map work on the way out, so the sheriff ended up coming out behind us. Even when I'm fully legal, I don't enjoy being followed by law enforcement, but I guess the guy was bored, or maybe jealous of my rig :D We turned off 395 onto 182 and our friend followed along. Finally I turned off on Aurora Canyon Rd. and he kept going. But soon enough he swung past the cemetery where we were parked looking at our maps again. Once I hit the dirt road we were left alone. As it should be. Later in our trip, we got some info from a friendly Mono Co. sheriff that gave us some insight.

We drove up Aurora Canyon in the dark until we found a nice double track heading off. Soon enough we were dozing off as the winds settled down.

I don't have any photos from the first day of travel to share. But I've got a google map to show some of the dirt routes we used over the next four days.

Mono Lake vicinity

I tried to embed some HTML so you could see the map instead of a link, but don't quite know how to make that work. DD, a little help??
 
Continuing ...

Thanksgiving morning found us in the Bodie Hills. Susan walked around our campsite and found numerous obsidian chips. It made sense to me. There was a great down-valley view to watch for game or intruders. A small brook was nearby with year 'round water. We walked up the double track taking in the sharp smell of sage. The strong winds were gone, although lenticular clouds were present. The day was going to be fine. Time to hit some new roads!



We traveled up Aurora Canyon until we met the intersection where a left would take us to Masonic and a right would head to Bodie.



I had been concerned that there might be snow on the route, which exceeds 8,000' Last month we got up to 10" of snow at elevation near Tahoe, but the snow was largely melted away. The route down the Geiger Grade only showed one set of tire tracks in and out, before us.

We saw a very large hawk (to be identified) just above Bodie. At first I thought it might be a golden eagle, due to the huge wingspan. My photos don't do justice, so won't be shared here. My best guess is a ferruginous hawk.

It was interesting to see Bodie from a different perspective. How bleak and barren a site! Just think, they had to haul firewood via rail from south of Mono Lake just to operate.



There weren't many people in Bodie, but we had other plans so opted to just do a drive by.



As we drove along, I noticed NO STOPPING signs posted along the road which parallels the townsite.
Still, I paused and shot from my drivers' seat, seeing no harm in my actions.



As we approached the kiosk at the entrance there was a car from Idaho that appeared to be abandoned, right on the corner of a turn. Apparently the occupants felt a need to exit the vehicle, without any thought about blocking the (limited) holiday traffic. Oh well, no matter, I thought and drove beyond the entrance to the fork where Cottonwood Road heads to Mono Lake.



There was an interesting ruin just above the sign, so I parked, well off the traveled edge of the road. As I photographed the town from a distance I noticed a rangers' truck moving quickly towards us. He stopped near the parked car, inside the entrance and got on his bullhorn, "There is NO PARKING allowed in this area. Move your vehicle!". I assumed he was yelling at the idiots who left their car, but then I realized he was yelling at us. Jeeeez! :oops:

We got in our truck and started to drive down Cottonwood Rd. I paused when I saw a really cool smelting facility just above the road. As I fumbled for camera gear, I realized the ranger was right behind me! What the heck? I felt compelled to start driving and missed the shot. Now I had the guy glued to my rear bumper as I went slower and slower. I finally had it and jumped out. I went back to his truck and asked, "Are you following me?". He responded, "No!". "Well, you're right behind me.", I observed. Then I asked, "Is it a problem if I want to stop and take photos?" I was pissed and I'm sure it showed. His response: "Maybe!" His smokey the bear hat didn't help the look as his chin stuck out. I knew I shouldn't mess with The Man, but it offends me to be over-regulated, especially on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. :unsure: I only wanted to stop and take a photo without hassle. I told the guy, "Have a good day!" and he drove off in a huff. Oh brother.

We drove down the 'rough' Cottonwood Rd., which could be done in any passenger car :)
A few miles of dirt and our Bodie experience was left behind. :) We soon dropped down to the ranches at the base of the Bodie Hills, near Poleline Rd. (aka Hwy 167). But my plan was to follow dirt ranch roads to the east, seeking historical clues.

Views of Mono Lake, with the backdrop of the Sierra was magnificent.





I had researched the Bodie & Benton Railway before our trip. It was built in 1881 in only at a cost of over one million dollars. They broke ground in March and were done by December The rail line was 32 miles long from Mono Mills to Bodie.



The climb of over 2,000' required the train to split in two after skirting the eastern edge of Mono Lake. While viewing Google Earth I had noticed an interesting feature, where I could clearly see a three-point-turn shape, clearly the way they split the train. This was exciting. I used google map to draw a shape over the feature, which I then exported the KLM file into my BCNav app I run on my Droid phone. Sounds techie, but not really :D
You can see the shape if you go to the map link and zoom way in close, along Dobe Meadows II.

We drove along Dobe Meadows Rd. with an occasional ranch every so often. We noticed a lot of Flying M Ranch signs, of which we learned more later. Eventually I said to Susan, "Ok, we're approaching the rail line!" And sure enough, I stopped where my google map shape was drawn and we saw the telltale rusty cans in the sage. I followed my smarty-pants phone GPS into the waist high brush and started to find the old rail ties lying about.





Some of the pieces of wood had been drilled and worked for some purpose.



I traced the three-point turn through the desert. The main clue was parallel ditches on both sides of the raised rail bed. Those guys must have enjoyed eating sardines! I found dozens of those tins.

The setting was spectacular.



We continued east along Dobie Meadows Rd., heading towards our intersection with 167.
I knew there was a lime kiln somewhere nearby and soon enough we found it too.



Again, the surrounding area was littered with rusted tin cans. I mean hundreds, if not thousands of cans. I'm going out on a limb here, but thinking the kiln was connected to the construction of Bodie and the rail line.

We encountered our first pavement of the day!



We carefully crossed the highway and kept on going. The next stretch was purely a gamble on my part. I had spotted Dobie Meadows Rd. while googling for an alternate route along the east side of Mono Lake, but had no idea as to the quality of the road. No problem! It was a Nevada style dirt highway. I kicked it up to 50mph (sorry Mark, 60mph is too fast for me :p ) and we made good time along the floor of ancestral Mono Lake. After a few hills, we entered Adobe Valley, near Benton.

We connected (reluctantly) with the paved Hwy 120 and crossed the basin of Adobe Valley.



At my request we revisited the cabin at River Spring (shown as Historic Cabin on the map) where we had photographed a herd of mustangs last year. Susan counted sixteen horses out in the middle of the valley, but they were beyond the effective range of my longest telephoto, so we pressed on. After all, it was Thanksgiving!!! And I had a turkey breast to BBQ, along with sweet potato and home made apple pie, thanks to Susan. :)

We checked into Benton Hot Springs where we had a two day reservation. Our site (#6) was roomy and more private than some of the others. There are about ten sites and I recommend #6 thru #9 for the most room and best tubs. It's gone up in price at $50/night, but you have your own spring and a reserved spot. I swear it was $35 last year! They have wifi at the lodge, where they do a B&B for about $100/night. We've had rooms there twice and it's clean with antique furnishings. All rooms are heated hydronically as they have more hot water than they can ever use. The stream through camp is hot and feeds several ponds across the street. The surroundings are volcanic tablelands and granite boulders with an abundance of petroglyphs. It's brought us back year after year.

To be continued . . .
 
Our stay at Benton required a fine line of balancing soak time with activities. :p
It's a tough job, but . . . you know the rest.

We brought bikes along, using the new mounts I installed earlier this year.
They worked great and the the bikes held on, even when we did some really rough roads later in the trip.
We toured the Benton Valley and watched northern Harriers dive and swoop the fields. Sadly, tumbleweeds have dominated whole sections of the valley floor.



Views of Montgomery Peak and Boundary Peak of the White Mountains were spectacular.





The springs charge the water table creating several ponds popular with the duck crowd.
In 2008 the Eastern Sierra Landtrust created a conservation easement of 900 acres to continue to protect the land from development while continuing to be a working ranch.



I find the history to be fascinating. Across the street from the resort is the original Benton Store (closed) with a collection of authentic wagons from the Bramlett ranch.
On the hill above the store are found a number of decaying buildings and artifacts.

















I am particularly fond of this building. It's funky, but the stone is some of the native rock cut from the nearby quarry. You can see this building stone in use on a number of historical structures nearby. The ditch in the front yard is also hot spring water.








 
Great narrative.

AFAIK, that's a Fordson model 'F'. The agricultural equivalent to the model T...
HDR265012-M.jpg
 
Good tour. I saw the sign when we went to Bodie. I will go that way next time,


If you use Dobe Meadows/Cottonwood you can cut 20 miles off the distance and stay on the dirt. :)

If I was starting from Bishop I would include Fish Slough/Chidago Cyn./Yellowjacket to get to Benton. You'll go right past several major roadside petroglyph areas and Chidago Canyon is an amazing tight red rock drive, not to be missed! The roads are all fairly smooth and you'll see some awesome country.
 
Continuing . . .

Our time at Benton was coming to a close. It was nice to keep the rig parked for two nights, using hiking and biking instead. We did have a slight hiccup when we ran out of propane somewhere in the middle of the last night. :oops: I had tanked up in October and this was our eighth night of usage. However, we were decadent and used both the furnace and the Wave to dry us and our towels off as we came back from the hot spring in 25F temps.

I had hoped to retrace our route from Adobe Valley, via Dobe Meadow Rd. back to the north side of Mono Lake, avoiding all but five miles or so of pavement. But now we needed to make a run to Lee Vining for propane, so we used empty Hwy 120 to go west and pick up 395 north to LV. We ran up the west side of Mono and turned east again on 167/Poleline Rd. effectively circumnavigating Mono Lake in a clockwise direction. I took a nice detour along Cemetery Rd., just past the (now closed) Mono Inn, recently run by Ansel Adams daughter.

There's a public access to see the tufa here on the north end of the lake with mature cottonwood trees and pasture. Just past that it goes back to gravel, and you see the cemetery located on a prominent knob overlooking the lake. Wonder if the dead are enjoying the view??



We wonder if anyone ever kayaks this area. Near Black Point there appear to be some roads that access the north shore of the lake.

Our choices now were to return via Cottonwood Rd. to Bodie or try another (unproven) route just over the state line, heading north through Alkali Flat on NFD058. Our goal was to reach the old stage stop of Fletcher. We also thought we might visit Aurora on the way. Maybe it was my negative experience of getting chased off by the ranger, but I decided to try the Alkali route.

At first it was signed road, but following some mighty powerful transmission lines. We got out to view a large flock of bluejays(?) feeding on the junipers and noticed the ground was making snapping and popping sounds. I felt the hair on my neck lift up and we both got nervous and jumped in the truck and got the heck out of there. Except the next twenty miles would keep us there, as we were now stuck on the utility road. So, if the evil EMF have cooked my brain . . . Well, you can decide for yourself.

We saw a nice size hawk. I think it's probably a rough-legged hawk.



We saw some different perspectives of Mono Lake that I haven't seen posted before.



Our road got rougher and rougher. We were climbing back to 8,000' again. A better road to the summit of Aurora Peak looked promising, but was only for servicing the radio towers. At this point the straight utility road went directly down the fall line, so the ruts caused one side to be a rocky stream bed.



We hoped to get to Aurora soon and be done with the kidney wrenching, lower back tweakin' jeep trail. Finally down the steep hill, we turned left and zoomed over to the major mining site of the Esmerelda Mine.



Everything was looking good. We would get to Fletcher and head north soon! As soon as we leave Aurora. Soon we would find the right turn to leave. The next road looked promising and Oh No! We were behind a locked gate! Yikes. I did a sixteen point turn on the narrow road, almost dropping my wheel into a culvert hole (sorry Ted!) and returned to the utility road from hell which would skirt the lava beds east of the Aurora Crater. Bump, bounce, wham, oops didn't see that rock, boing, bounce, bump, bump, bumpity bump. Down the trail we went, slowly losing elevation.
 
FS 058 is labeled "other state route or main connector" in our DeLorme Nevada Atlas - nice thick red road. I was so angry when we drove it, thinking it was a good route to Aurora. We feel for you two!
 
almost dropping my wheel into a culvert hole (sorry Ted!)

:LOL: No apology necessary. Enjoying the report. Sounds like a great trip so far. Looking forward to more.
 
FS 058 is labeled "other state route or main connector" in our DeLorme Nevada Atlas - nice thick red road. I was so angry when we drove it, thinking it was a good route to Aurora.


And I thought I was the only one ;)
We used the Benchmark map, and it does show dashed red for high clearance or 4WD, vs. red/black dashed for unpaved road.
 
FS 058 is labeled "other state route or main connector" in our DeLorme Nevada Atlas - nice thick red road. I was so angry when we drove it, thinking it was a good route to Aurora.

We used the Benchmark map, and it does show dashed red for high clearance or 4WD, vs. red/black dashed for unpaved road.
Yep! I, too, have learned the hard way (though on different roads): Benchmark >> DeLorme

(now, back to the story!)
 
When we last left our intrepid campers, they were lost. Within sight of their destination. :p


We eventually arrived at Fletcher, now only a ruin of a building and a flowing spring. The flows were directed through pipes, so it would be possible to engineer some refueling of water if needed. By my calculation, our 20 gals. were still holding out with at least five gals. left, so we bypassed the spring water. There's a riparian area and a stand of cottonwoods that you can see for miles away when you approach from either Lucky Boy Pass, 8,001' (from Hawthorne) or Bodie Rd. (coming from Bridgeport). There's a clamper plaque there too I believe, but I didn't shoot it this time. Photos not bullets!!!

We continued north, running about two hours behind schedule. We have a spot on the E. Walker where we like to camp that requires some challenging 4WD to negotiate and I really wanted to do that in the daylight. Our spot is not widely published, so I won't share much detail. If you know this place, that's cool, but let's keep it limited to PM's so the masses don't google all our secrets!

Our last nights camp:



There's an improved soaking spot down there. It's usually a hot temperature, but not that time. It was tepid, and apparently had some sort of swimmer insect that liked to bite. Susan was not pleased. :eek:

Funny thing, to arrive at a remote site and within five minutes two other dudes showed up.
They were Truckee/Tahoe guys and very nice. It was their first time and they thought the road was pretty 'tough driving'. Yup, but it get's better with practice. We tried reaming the pipe from the source to the pool, thinking flows were restricted as the output was a trickle.

The next morning I went out with my folding military shovel and spent about 45 mins. pulling sand, mud and rocks from the source. With nitrile gloves on, I could just stand the heat as I dug down to clear the flow. Susan grabbed a bucket and bailed all the silted water from the pool after I was done. It worked! The flow more than doubled and with clear water I could see the spring bubbling out from a crevice I had cleared. :) :) :)



We decided to take a hike and explore a side canyon. The geology here is very unusual. I did some research from our last trip and learned that some of the formations here are submarine volcanic ash deposits :unsure: Apparently there were ash accumulations, then later the area was submerged, causing metamorphic results creating odd looking cliffs that I could not decide if they were sandstone or volcanic.



It's really weird when this stuff meets the decomposing granite, which is common. Our hike took us up a drainage we nicknamed, "Dinosaur Egg Canyon". There were dozens of boulders from the size of your dining table to the size of your truck that were very round and often oddly cracked. This boulder here was covered in cracks that looked like perfect finger-locks (calling all climbers!!). Wish my bum elbow was healed, 'cause this is some A+ bouldering!





A Ford Ranger came into the canyon with two guys, one older and a guy about our age. They seemed to be driving for the exploration and drove past our camp and the spring without stopping. We met them on our hike and stopped to chat. They were Jim and Jim. I thought maybe Jim Jr., but Susan thought he was a son-in-law so we settled with calling them The Jims. They were friendly guys from NV. Susan's favorite line from Jim Sr. was his comment about us getting locked inside Esmeralda Mine, "You're not carrying the right equipment. You need to bring bolt cutters next time!" While chatting with these gentlemen a local decided to walk by, curious and unafraid. He looks wet, so I'm not sure if he was soaking, enjoying the fruits of our labors or had forded the river. :p




We bid adieu to the Jims and continued our walk up the road. They said there was a cabin at the end of the road, but didn't know how far it was, although they just were there. The mining cabin was largely intact. We saw remains of a water tank tower and looked for a water source, but struck out. Large swaths of earth had been pulled out of the hillside. What were they looking for?



The road ended above the cabin and after scree skiing a bit to gain a view I came back down.



We followed a spur road to a high point to overlook the river canyon:



We decided to return via the wash, instead of the road. It was fun and we will spend more time doing this next time.





We had timed the refilling of the pool and figured when we returned it would be just right. Just then another vehicle showed up and parked right on top of the spring. I always feel this is not proper spring etiquette, but that's me. They were nice guys, though. They were a self-described farmer and a buddy touring the local sights. The buddy turned out to be a Mono Co. sheriff. I admired the farmers dodge quad with a shell, outfitted with a pullout kitchen and fold down cots all within a stock shell. He had welded up a nice rear receiver mounted spare tire (he carries two spares). They were there for lunch and said they would soon be on their way and give us our space.

Susan chatted up the sheriff and shared our story (shared previously here) of our odd experience last year at Whitmore tubs where we were threatened by a weirdo while taking a soak. The sheriff knew who he was and said he had multiple warrants and had gotten physical with someone else at a spring and then had been arrested. :LOL: I guess that's good, but tells me how close we were to having a problem. Fortunately in thirty years of 'springing I've only had one experience like this. The sheriff's advice: Stay away from Travertine on Friday and Saturday nights. He claims they have to bring out the law frequently. It also explains our earlier encounter with the sheriff driving through Travertine on Wednesday evening. We've been lucky I guess, but tend to show up at odd hours and avoid the main areas. My advice: Take it with a grain of salt. YMMV

The dudes took off and we got to sink into clear, hot water. Ahhhh. No creepy-crawlies and plenty of hot water. Feels pretty good to take a bad situation and improve it like that. The next folks won't know why it's good, but we will. :)

Oops the dreaded "you have posted too many pictures" message is now showing up. I'll have to truncate my last post. :eek:

One final episode to come, complete with billionaires and lost explorers . . .
 
Thanks for tuning in . . . :D


The scenery down there is remarkable; with dry desert and riparian zones, and submarine volcanics and DG granite contacts.

This was the view out our back door:



Looking the other way:



On the way out:





We stopped to look over the improbable school bus at the bottom of the gnarly section of road. The Jims thought it was a 1946 General Motors Mfg. How it got there I can't imagine. I have this theory that it was part of a Hollywood movie stunt. Just above it is a mine which seems to have been worked as late as the 70's. The Jims said they were after coal, which would be very unusual too. I need a good geologist to explain all the stuff I see down there!





Both the Jims and the farmer/sheriff confirmed that we could continue north on E. Walker River Rd. We had not done that stretch (35 miles) before and didn't have our NV maps with us, so local advice was very helpful.



More bizarre geology was encountered:



The road was long and empty, but miles ahead was the rooster tail from the Dodge so I just kept pace with him. At least he knew where he was going! The farmer told us we would pass several ranches which he knew by name. The last and most elaborate one was the Flying M Ranch, which is apparently owned by the Hiltons. The rumor is that the Hilton girls sometimes drop in on the springs. Guess I'll know if I see a Lexus 4x4 down there one day. ;)

The Flying M Ranch is 850 square miles. They have a large airstrip there with more macadam than we had seen in days. Apparently this was the airstrip that Steve Fossett used on his last flight in a single engine plane, from which he was never found. Five months later his wife had him declared legally dead. :oops:

Eventually we returned to pavement and went through Wellington en route to 395. I estimate this route is faster and shorter than going through Bridgeport. The rest of the trip was uneventful.

I'll leave y'all with this last image from Wellington. Happy Holidays!

 
Another great trip report on the adventures of Lighthawk and SR that we thoroughly enjoyed! Thanks! Interesting report on the springs that we'll keep in the back of our minds along with the salt. Minor correction, Fossett's crash site and scattered remains were found a little over a year later. Impact site is 37° 40.054' N 119° 07.983 W WGS84 if curious where he went down. :oops:
 
Nice shots and story...that's some qualtiy wandering there. Glad you were able to perservere in the end and restore the tub...awesome!
 
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