Inyo County & Ants in my Pants

I’m back from my last big trip of the year (unless something else comes up, which is always seems to do). Friday, I started in Mammoth, hitting some spots on my wish list and waiting for Nevada Expeditions to get off work and catch up. Late in the day, I headed to Inyo County for two days of exploration.

Below are brief descriptions of each site.

Mammoth

White Picket Fence

Life around Mammoth was difficult. In 1882, Julia Townsend, wife of Bryant and mother to three, died during the heavy winter. As the ground was frozen and covered in snow, the family couldn’t bury her until the thaw. She once dreamed of having a home with a white picket fence. Unable to fulfill her dream during her lifetime, her husband built a white picket fence around her grave. 

Knight Wheel

In 1878, a twenty-stamp mill operated at nearby Mill City. A mule team relocated a Knight Wheel from Mojave to power the mill. The Knight Wheel is a Pelton-style wheel, but the turbine generated more power with less water. Within a decade, mining ceased, and the camp was abandoned except for a handful of people.  

Mammoth Consolidated Mine

Mahan’s mine above Mammoty produced $100,000 of gold between 1927 and 1933. The US Forest Service protects the mining camp in a state of “arrested decay.” It includes multiple buildings such as Mahan’s cabin, a bunkhouse, and a parts of a diesel-powered mill.

Mammoth Saloon

The Old Mammoth Saloon was relocated to the Longears Ranch on the Owens River in 1914. In 1979, a group of 3rd graders found the building in disrepair. The saloon was repaired and moved back to Mammoth at the visitors center.

Hayden Cabin

Famous map maker of the Eastern Sierra, Emmett Hayden, built his cabin in the 1920s. It is now a museum and event center. Sadly, the museum closed before I arrived.

Inyo County

Swansea

In 1869, Colonel Sherman Stevens built the Owens Lake Silver-Lead furnace Mill to process ore from nearby Cerro Gordo. James Brady bought the mill in 1870. He named the town for Swansea, South Wales, the world leader in gold and silver smelting.

Between 1869 and 1874, Swansea became the center for smelting and transporting ore. A pier allowed ore to be transported on the steamship “Bessie Brady” across Owens Lake to Cartago, decreasing travel time from three days to three hours.

The Lone Pine earthquake in 1872 damaged the smelters at Swansea. The land shifted, raising the shoreline of Lake Owens and preventing steamships from accessing the pier. Most operations shifted a mile south to Keeler. In 1874, thunderstorms caused flash flooding, leaving Swansea under several feet of rock and sand, ending the town.

Tramway

Tramway was well, the bottom of the Saline Valley Salt Tram. They constructed an electrical aerial tramway between 1911 and 1913.

The tram cost 750,000 dollars, between a quarter and half a million dollars more than estimated, driving the Saline Valley Salt Company into financial ruin. Three more companies operated the tram, each with the same outcome. Owens Valley Salt Company assumed the tram in 1915, operating for three years until the company entered bankruptcy.

Cerro Gordo

We made a quick stop at the famous ghost town. As a trip with friends Steve and Kris to explore more in-depth is planned, I only grabbed a few photos. Before you ask, I didn’t meet Brent. During our visit, he was 700′ feet down a mine. As we pulled over to take photos of the tram, he drove past. I almost chased after his truck, holding out his book to sign!

Pablo Flores, a miner from Mexico, discovered silver ore above the Owens Valley in 1865. The mines were named Cerro Gordo, which is Spanish for “Fat Hill.” Word spread, and by 1866, a settlement had been formed. Victor Beaudry of Independence saw potential and opened the first store. Beaudry assumed multiple mining claims from miners to settle their debts and constructed two smelters to process ore. As miners accumulated more unpaid debt, Beaudry continued to acquire more claims until he owned the majority of the mines in Cerro Gordo.  

Cerro Gordo became California’s largest silver and lead producer within three years. Mule teams transported silver between Cerro Gordo and Los Angeles. While smelters processed ore on site, mines shipped most ore via wagons and steamships across Owens Lake to Swansea and Keeler.  

Hotel restoration is progressing, they were roofing during out visit.

Sunset Mine

The Sunset Mine sits alongside the road to Cerro Gordo. On first glance, I didn’t find much information other than it is one of many mines in the district.

Tramway and rock ruin

A tramway connected the mines of Cerro Gordo to the Four Metals Company mill, outside of Kealer. Tram towers are in carrying shape, at least one cable had an ore cart still attached.

Four-metals Company Mill

Cerro Gordo’s ore was processed at the Four Metals Company Mill. An aerial tram connected it to the mines.

Wildrose Kilns

In 1877, a company man only known to history as Morris led the Modock Consolidated Mining Company, which built ten beehive charcoal kilns in Wildrose Canyon to fuel the Modoc mills.  

The Wildrose Kilns operated for only two years. Due to their short lifespan, remote location, and inclusion in Death Valley National Park, the kilns are the best preserved on the West Coast.  

Wildrose CCC Camp

Death Valley contained three CCC Camps, along with smaller spurs. They built campgrounds, trails and facilities.

Harrisburg, Aguereberry and Eureka Mine

Famed Death Valley prospector Frank “Shorty” Harris and his friend, Pete Aguereberry, staked gold claims in Panamint Ranch in 1905. Shorty had a reputation for being able to “smell gold.” He discovered many famous mines, including the Bullfrog mine in Nevada. Shorty never worked the mines himself; he preferred saloons to hard work.  

As Aguereberry remained behind at their Eureka Mine at “Harrisberry,” Shorty and his mule traveled to record their claim. Thanks to Shorty’s beloved saloons, word spread rapidly, and soon, 300 called the new settlement home. As reports spread, the town became known as Harrisburg. It never grew beyond a tent city. Discoveries at nearby Skidoo drew miners away.  

Aguereberry continued to work the Eureka. In 1907, he built a trio of cabins, taking the cabin on the right for himself. He continued to work his mining claims alone until he died in 1945.  

Skidoo

Journigan’s Mill

The Journigan MIll was a cyanide plant between 1930s-1950s. The site had previously been used for mills.

Tuttle Creek Ashram

I will have a full article about the ashram to share this week. Alltrails rates the hike as a “challenging route.” The ashram is at 7,600 feet, meaning the trail steadily climbs with no relief. The hike from the trailhead would have been one thing, but the trailhead was blocked, more than doubling our journey.

We looked so happy and clueless before the hike! The ashram is on the back peak in the tree line.

Owenyo

Quaker colonists settled the sit in the early 1900s. They sold in 1905 when the Carson and Colorado Railroad arrived. Owenyo was a portmanteau, or blend of the words Owens and Inyo. It has a post office 1902-05 and 1916-41.

Reward Mine

Hmmm, not sure if Honey Badger will fit in the Reward Mine.

Ants in my pants

Is it really a ghost towning trip without a little bit of drama?

Toward the end of day 2, we were exploring Harrisburg in Death Valley. Austin hiked over the hill from the Eureka Mine, so I moved the Jeep to Aguereberry Camp. Walking to the buildings, I felt a sharp pain in my calf. It was getting late and I thought it was time for the danger noodles to appear. Remembering a story where a hiker didn’t know a rattlesnake bit her, I pulled up my pant leg, half expecting to see double fang marks. Thankfully, I was good.
Soon, another pain hit, and it was a little higher. I assumed I had a sticker in my pants. Then, a few more pains moved higher on the back of my leg. I felt something move, heading north up the back of my thigh. As this is the year of the scorpion, my first thought was one had crawled up my pants.
Standing on the trail, I ripped off my belt, popped the button, and dropped my drawers. There I stood, with only my cell phone in one hand and my camera on the opposite shoulder, pants down around my ankles. With nowhere to sit or place my phone and camera, I danced around the dirt, trying not to add insult to injury by falling on my face. Hopping over to the nearest rock and checking for any creepy crawlies or slithering serpents, I sat down and found a red ant in my pants. The little pissed-off, nasty-tempered red ant had bitten me from my low calf up the back of my leg.

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