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Author Topic: Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip  (Read 25022 times)

Paul

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Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip
« on: September 05, 2010, 10:27:53 PM »
Day one's track covered portions of the Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea trails.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/TravelMap.gif
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


The changes in elevation were dramatic and there were several very steep sections one of which consisted of loose chalk-line stones several feet deep. Even walking on these stones were difficult and one truck ended up stuck with one wheel about 25-30 inches deep off the road. About an hour of tugging and winching got the truck back on the road.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/TravelProfile.gif
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


Four trucks all campers came out - Paul and Noon, Kyle and Cutter (the dog), Ed and sons, and Scott and Camile.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Swansea01.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


The views from Saline Valley of the "back side" of the Cerro Gordo and the New York Peak were nice.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Swansea02.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


Ed "Rexterra" trying to figure out some mystery mining action.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Swansea03.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


One on the many abandoned or inactive mine camps near Cerro Gordo

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Swansea04.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


A truck that had seen better times.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Swansea05.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


The private town of Cerro Gordo

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Swansea06.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


The American Hotel which was featured in Ghost Hunters.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Swansea07.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


A thief, a bear, a lover of back scratches, Cutter!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Swansea08.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


The salt tram and some close-up details. There is some restoration work on-going.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Swansea09.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Swansea10.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


That's 1904 ... not 2004!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Swansea11.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Swansea12.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Swansea20.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


Nice pose.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Swansea13.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


The camp site at +9000 feet. The views in both directions, down into the Saline or Owen's valleys were amazing. The campers sat around watching shooting stars and telling UFO stories!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Swansea14.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


Come morning we had to back-track to our winching point to recover some left-behind gear so we got another ride down that "wonderful" shelf road with miles of off-camber action.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Swansea15.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Swansea16.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Swansea17.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


Down within 100 yards of the highway were many petroglyphs.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Swansea18.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Swansea19.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


Looking at the log book from the Burgess Mine we signed in and then I turned back just a handful of pages and nailed our visit from three years ago on the first shot.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/Aug212007Page.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


Had some fun shooting the textures of the Burgess Mine office both before and after sunset.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/BurgessMineSunset.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


Some Milky Way action

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/BurgessMineMilkyWay02.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/BurgessMineMilkyWay.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


And a haunted lantern from inside and the Big Dipper.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/BurgessMineLantern.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip


« Last Edit: September 06, 2010, 07:56:42 AM by Paul »
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Paul

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Re: Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip
« Reply #1 on: September 06, 2010, 07:01:54 AM »
And here's a panorama from the salt tram looking eastwards toward the Saline Valley
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-9%20Aug%202010%20Cerro%20Gordo-Swansea/SaltTramPanorama.jpg
Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip
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AV Xterra

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Re: Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip
« Reply #2 on: September 06, 2010, 09:54:51 AM »
Very cool Paul. Sad I missed it.
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Goldfish

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Re: Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip
« Reply #3 on: September 06, 2010, 05:14:05 PM »
Great pictures Paul. Looks like you guys had a good time.
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XterracerX

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Re: Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip
« Reply #4 on: September 06, 2010, 06:22:03 PM »
Great pics as always Paul! Love the nights shots!

Just a couple of questions:
1) You mentioned Ghost Hunters in the American Hotel... the lady at the front porch... an apparition or the front desk/concierge?  ;D
2) Any winching and off-camber pics? Would love to see those!

Thanks for sharing Paul!
« Last Edit: September 06, 2010, 06:41:12 PM by XterracerX »
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Grizzly

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Re: Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip
« Reply #5 on: September 06, 2010, 07:31:08 PM »
We had a great time, thanks to Paul for putting the run together. Should have taken a picture of the new sticker on Kyles bumper for winching me out of the rocks (shouldn't have backed up-down the trail). Here are a few shots.
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Kyle J. Thompson

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Re: Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip
« Reply #6 on: September 07, 2010, 12:15:46 AM »
What a great trip! ;D it was my very first with SCCX! Paul was a great leader and had a very nice copilot! Every one else were great people!!

To the pics...I have the recovery pics... :P

This would be my view for the next 2 days...
 


Air down...


The start of the shelf road


What a knight Armor X looks like after being the tail for two days...


RECOVERY!!!

Attempt one...We were hoping I could just pull him up with  the rear locked...but toooooo much hill and loose rock...



Attempt 2...We attached a snatch block to his Front recovery point...brought the hook back to my bumper and i placed myself in the holes i dug by trying to pull him up hill. It went smooth with guidance from the BOSS paul. But in my stupidity/My recovery high i forgot the snatch block and shackle...





Cutter is my copilot...



Here is my album, feel free to look at it!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/kylehasafiretruck/SwanseaCerroGordo20100906?authkey=Gv1sRgCIP405vl5sz1zwE#

Great trip and Paul has convinced me to go be a HAM tech... Sweet! And I am also now badged..SCCX!!

Ahh sweet I  almost forgot, I get to stake claim to possibly one of the few or only SCCX winch recovery??
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Paul

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Re: Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip
« Reply #7 on: September 07, 2010, 12:52:53 PM »
I've been on 24-30 trips since 2006 and there hasn't been a winch out on those trips. For the First Generation era I heard told of some "extreme" rescues or attempted rescues.
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xtatik

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Re: Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip
« Reply #8 on: September 07, 2010, 03:44:29 PM »
Looks like a fun trip. Did you guys actually make it into Saline Valley? From the route shot it looks like you just came up the back side of Cerro Gordo from Lee Flat. That's a fun drive up through the P/J transition zone.
Paul, diggin' the Saline panorama shot...you can actually see the Bat Rock Rd/Hot Springs area and up into Steele Pass. Nicely done.
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Ghost65

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Re: Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip
« Reply #9 on: September 07, 2010, 04:46:09 PM »
Looks like a really great trip, nice run reports by all along with the photo series.
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FrankB

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Re: Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip
« Reply #10 on: September 07, 2010, 09:12:50 PM »
Looks like you had a great time. I take it that shelf road was kind of slippery with all that loose stone?

Great pictures too.  Kyle, you've got some nice shots in your gallery as well.  Paul's shot of Cutter with those white eyes makes him look almost possessed.
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xtoolbox

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Re: Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip
« Reply #11 on: September 09, 2010, 09:06:02 AM »
Very nicely done  ;D  always great to see another Beautiful run!

Want to go back and hit some trails around bishop (Sand Cyn, Bristlecone Pines, out  Silver Cyn) for some fall colors like part of route we did back in 9/07 with these.
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rennz4wheel

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Re: Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip
« Reply #12 on: September 09, 2010, 03:13:58 PM »
Hey guys,
It was great meeting everyone Sat morning in Lone Pine, sorry we were not up for the trip!  Paul appears to be a very capable leader, glad it was such a good weekend run weather wise.  Had a few snow flurries up there yesterday....
There is a fantastic run out of Bishop, going over the northern Whites into Nevada and back.  Lot's of fall colors, mining and wild horses too!  Also may see Antelope, one never knows.
I have done it 4 times now, it never gets old!!
Juat a thought....
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Paul

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Re: Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip
« Reply #13 on: September 09, 2010, 04:41:51 PM »
Quote from: xtoolbox on September 09, 2010, 09:06:02 AM
Want to go back and hit some trails around bishop (Sand Cyn, Bristlecone Pines, out  Silver Cyn) for some fall colors like part of route we did back in 9/07 with these.

Yes, of course!

I've got some scheduled classes this fall but if I'm not out-of-town I'm good-to-go.
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Rexterra

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Re: Saline Valley, Cerro Gordo, and Swansea Trip
« Reply #14 on: September 10, 2010, 04:27:19 AM »
It was a great trip and would run with Paul, Noon and all the others anytime! Thank you so much for inviting me/us and hope to see everyone out there soon. Did someone say Mojave Road run???  :D
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