Around Red Rock Canyon

Ridgecrest, a town we’ve never visited before, seemed very quiet on a Sunday morning. I suppose the town’s main reason for existence is the China Lake Naval Base that immediately borders the town. In fact, the main roads terminate at the base gates.

We grabbed coffee early and then headed south to Randsburg, a gold-mining almost-ghost-town. Today, a few folks still live in Randsburg, and businesses cater to the tourists and OHV riders. Gold was discovered in 1897 and for a few years Randsburg boomed with two to three thousand people. We wandered up and down the main street, taking a few photos of some of the interesting buildings and artifacts on display.

From Randsburg, we drove west to Red Rock Canyon State Park. I remember coming here as a boy (before it was a state park) and playing around on the rocks. We wanted to hike for a little bit, but without any trail maps we just hiked up a wash alongside some the colorful cliffs for a mile or so.

After our little hike we drove up Last Chance Canyon, stopping first at Bickel Camp. Walt Bickel started gold mining here in the 1930’s and continued into the 1980’s. This is placer gold (dust flakes), so Bickel used a dry washer to separate out the gold. Most old mining claim cabins have been vandalized and/or removed by the BLM, but Bickel Camp has been protected by Bickel’s son-in-law and the non-profit group Friends of Last Chance Canyon. A full-time caretaker (currently Mark Aslin) lives on-site and gives visitors a remarkably good tour and description of the camp’s operation and artifacts.

After Bickel Camp we drove on farther on the dirt roads (well-marked, but not by the BLM) to the Burro Schmidt tunnel. Schmidt had a mining claim in Last Chance Canyon, but no easy way to transport ore away from the mine. He decided to tunnel through Copper Mountain to the south side where he figured he would have easier access to mills in Garlock and Randsburg. Starting in 1906, Schmidt worked seasonally to drill and blast a tunnel through solid granite single-handedly. He finished the 2000 foot tunnel in 1938 but never used it.

We broke out our flashlights and walked the length of the tunnel and back contemplating the obsessiveness that can accomplish such a huge, but useless, project. I’m sure there’s a lesson in there somewhere.

On our way up highway 395 to Lone Pine we made one last stop just after sundown at Fossil Falls. In a much wetter era, the Owens River flowed through here, carving a sculpted channel through a lava flow that blocked the river.

It was after dark when we checked into our motel in Lone Pine, so we couldn’t see the Sierra crest, but I was looking forward to the morning light on Mount Whitney.

We ate dinner at the Mt. Whitney restaurant.

Links
—Red Rock Canyon and Randsburg photo gallery