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My daughter Clarissa and I took 3 days to explore some more of the turn of century historical mine sites in the eastern Sierra's.
The first day we started with 2 lakes above Bishop Ca. - North lake and South lake. South lake had an old steam boiler by the lake, but not sure of it's use. North lake had an old 1933 mine that looked like it was pretty active in it's day. The mine tunnel was blocked for the most part.
The second day we went from Crowley lake over to Mono lake using the back roads across the volcanic table lands. VERY nice high desert (8000ft). There are several mine sites, but time only permitted what was on our main route.
From the Benton hwy to the Hawthorn hwy we passed through wild horse country. We saw several herds with some of the nicest horses around...quite impressive. There are several old round up corrals all through this area.
From there we headed up to the ghost town of Bodie. Bodie is one of the largest and best kept mid 1800 towns to be found anywhere. From Bodie we went west up over the mountains (9000 ft level) to the old ghost town of Massonic. There's nothing left of the town but several old mine diggings.
A mile or 2 from Massonic is one of the nicest old mines and mill sites in the area. The Chemung mine had several structures still standing and was in a very scenic area overlooking the Sierra's to the west. The views from this mine were great. The road from Messonic comes out at Bridgeport lake. From there we headed to June lake for the night.
Out last site to explore was the old tramway from Silver lake up to Agnew lake, located on the June Lake Loop road. It was built by So Cal Edison for their power plant. This railway was quite impressive and very steep. The length of the rails went 5000ft gaining approx. 1500 to 2000 ft in elevation. Some sections had to be 60 degrees in angle - almost like climbing a ladder walking up the rail road ties.
The weather was perfect and we found a lot of interesting new things. If you like these kind of things, check them out soon. These structures are falling down fast.
Slideshow #1 No. So. lakes
http://s304.photobucket.com/albums/n...view=slideshow
Slideshow #2 Crowley Lake to Mono Lake
http://s304.photobucket.com/albums/n...view=slideshow
Slideshow #3 Bodie and Massonic
http://s304.photobucket.com/albums/n...view=slideshow
Slideshoe #4 Agnew Lake Tram
http://s304.photobucket.com/albums/n...view=slideshow
South Lake
Mine near North Lake
Benton Rd
Adobe springs cabin
Adobe Ranch Corral
Mono Lake
Bodie
Gray's stamp mill
Road to Massonic
Chemung Mill Site
Agnew Lake Trail
Very Steep
The first day we started with 2 lakes above Bishop Ca. - North lake and South lake. South lake had an old steam boiler by the lake, but not sure of it's use. North lake had an old 1933 mine that looked like it was pretty active in it's day. The mine tunnel was blocked for the most part.
The second day we went from Crowley lake over to Mono lake using the back roads across the volcanic table lands. VERY nice high desert (8000ft). There are several mine sites, but time only permitted what was on our main route.
From the Benton hwy to the Hawthorn hwy we passed through wild horse country. We saw several herds with some of the nicest horses around...quite impressive. There are several old round up corrals all through this area.
From there we headed up to the ghost town of Bodie. Bodie is one of the largest and best kept mid 1800 towns to be found anywhere. From Bodie we went west up over the mountains (9000 ft level) to the old ghost town of Massonic. There's nothing left of the town but several old mine diggings.
A mile or 2 from Massonic is one of the nicest old mines and mill sites in the area. The Chemung mine had several structures still standing and was in a very scenic area overlooking the Sierra's to the west. The views from this mine were great. The road from Messonic comes out at Bridgeport lake. From there we headed to June lake for the night.
Out last site to explore was the old tramway from Silver lake up to Agnew lake, located on the June Lake Loop road. It was built by So Cal Edison for their power plant. This railway was quite impressive and very steep. The length of the rails went 5000ft gaining approx. 1500 to 2000 ft in elevation. Some sections had to be 60 degrees in angle - almost like climbing a ladder walking up the rail road ties.
The weather was perfect and we found a lot of interesting new things. If you like these kind of things, check them out soon. These structures are falling down fast.
Slideshow #1 No. So. lakes
http://s304.photobucket.com/albums/n...view=slideshow
Slideshow #2 Crowley Lake to Mono Lake
http://s304.photobucket.com/albums/n...view=slideshow
Slideshow #3 Bodie and Massonic
http://s304.photobucket.com/albums/n...view=slideshow
Slideshoe #4 Agnew Lake Tram
http://s304.photobucket.com/albums/n...view=slideshow
South Lake
Mine near North Lake
Benton Rd
Adobe springs cabin
Adobe Ranch Corral
Mono Lake
Bodie
Gray's stamp mill
Road to Massonic
Chemung Mill Site
Agnew Lake Trail
Very Steep
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