On our last day in Lone Pine we headed up into the mountains to visit the mining ghost town of Cerro Gordo. The town currently has one resident who keeps an eye on the place and gives wonderful personal tours of the buildings and grounds of anyone who makes the trek to the 8,000 ft high town.
The most recent owners, Mike and Jody Patterson have died and the town is maintained by the permanent caretaker and volunteer helpers. There is hope that the town will receive state or federal protection soon in order to arrest further decay of the structures.
When we visited a recent snow fall was melting off but it was still cool in the sun and cold in the shade! The road is mostly graded and anything but a low clearance roadster should be able to make the trip given dry roads. There are some rough spots that will need to taken slowly. A high clearance 4WD vehicle is the best bet as the loose dirt on the road can be a bit slippery.
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| A delightful wind sculpture at our hotel in Lone Pine |
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| Starting out on the road to Cerro Gordo from the Owens valley floor |
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| A lengthy cable car system stretched from the town to the valley floor. This cable car system carried ore down to the valley where it would be shipped out. Seen on the ridge is one of the cable winding towers. There is cable laying all along the road to the town, the remains of the cable system, left where it fell when it all collapsed sometime in the 50s after years of disuse. |
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| Looking across the valley to the Sierras |
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| I don't like sheer drops and this road had some. At this point we parked Rough Rider and walked the last mile to Cerro Gordo. We climbed over 1,000 ft in that mile stroll. The rest of the party drove on up to the town. |
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| The Jeep is down that road aways |
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| Almost to the town! |
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| Yay, snow! |
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| The town church in what used to be a car repair garage. The church I grew up with in Forest Hills Pa. was in a former bus garage so there seems to be a connection between vehicles and churches! |
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| Looking towards the American hotel. When the Pattersons were alive the hotel was operated as a bed and breakfast. Now it is in poor enough condition that the second floor is off limits |
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| Inside the hotel. About this time the battery started giving out in my camera. |
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| The cardroom, the scene of several shootings over the decades pre 1900. |
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| the caretaker's house and another house beside it that is available for rental can be seen here |
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| The town caretaker is on the right |
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| The long metal building is the bunkhouse that is also available for rent to large groups. It is popular with scout troops in the summer. |
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| Earlier I had a picture of a stuck and broken rock bit...this is what would have put that pit into the rock! |
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| 8,200 ft. |
We're at the exact midpoint between the highest (Mt. Whitney) and the lowest (Badwater basin) points in California! We have been to Badwater basin but not Mt. Whitney but we did see it on our trip!
Interesting town.
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