This trip was a total spur of the moment deal and in most cases those end up being the best. We ransacked the fridge at home, tossed in our camp chairs and off we went. No real plan other than we'll eventually make it to the old ghost town.
The drive is a bit of a ways so we wanted to break up the drive after sitting in city traffic on a Friday. We wanted something relatively close to the highway, but yet it needed to be at elevation so we didn't roast. We chose Kennedy Meadows in the Sequoia National Forest up 9 mile canyon. I knew of a spot near the Kern river that was only feet away from water and offered a nice place to hunker down for the night.
The next morning we woke up, lowered the tops and headed for breakfast at Grumpy Bears. We always try and support the locals if we can and happy to do so. The couple running it had just taken over and they were happy to see us. The menu isn't exactly diverse, but they have huge pancakes, eggs, bacon and when you're in the middle of no where that's all you need.
(Photo borrowed from Pat @City-Data.com)
After breakfast we hit the road down the pass towards Highway 395 then up through Olancha and Keeler where we would hit dirt and head back up into the mountains. It was an interesting drive as we traveled from one mountain range to another.
The 8 mile road up to the ghost town is well maintained and low range is the preferred method of travel as it can be steep in certain sections. Its also very dusty, in fact the day that we traveled up the road it was 90 degrees in the valley so the huge fans on the E-series trucks made it even worse. At one point we stopped up near the top of the summit to let our transmissions and turbo's cool down.
(Photo by Kelly Hearn)
As soon as we pulled into the town site we were quickly greeted by the Caretaker and his lovely wife. The couple were up for 6 weeks keeping an eye on the place and traveled up from Yuma to get out of the heat. The town is on private land so you need to ask for permission to enter, but it seemed to us if you're an honest traveler eager to learn a bit of history they're happy to have you.
Before we knew it, we were on a tour of the town without even asking.
(The house the care taker stays in. Believe it or not, it has electricity and even satellite television.)
Cerro Gordo was found by a group of Mexican Miners led by Pablo Flores in 1865. They found the area to be rich in Silver. So much so, that a gentleman named Victor Beaudry from the down the mountain in Independence thought there was enough folks at the camp to open a General Store in 1866. Funny thing is, he then started taking over mines due to past due accounts at the store. He gathered enough mines by January of 1868 that he then proceeded to combine efforts with another gentleman to build ore furnaces. By April of that year he had one of the richest claims on the hill. Quite the mogul if you ask me.
After a bit Victory proceeded to run Silver down to what is known as Los Angeles, but then it was just a little pueblo of a town. It didn't take long for this to become a regular thing and profits to start rolling in. Once he started making his way to Los Angeles he developed the road from Owens Dry Lake up to Cerro Gordo so they could even bigger and better equipment in to the mine area. By December of 1868 he built his own smelters and had quite the operation going.
When the following year, 1869 rolled around the competition started brewing. Interesting enough, the price of Silver started to drop at the same time and by 1910 the "Fat Hill" started to slow down. Miners looked for other sources of minerals to make money off of. They started looking at Zinc ore, which in turn led them to a bit more silver and then the town survived a little longer. At this time they even had electricity in town. Pretty high-tech for back then.
For a while the town sat still and nothing really was happening and by the 1970's it was falling into a state of disarray. An amazing Inyo local woman by the name of Jody Stewart ended up buying into part ownership of the town along with her uncle who had already been a care taker for the town site. She had done so many great things in her life and worked in Hollywood. She worked on a game show called Password and drove a fancy car. It was said one day she was invited up by her uncle to come check out the town and she arrived in a fur coat while getting out of her Porsche. Pretty wild. She fell in the love with the place and ended up buying the entire town in 1984. She ended up doing many great things for the town before she passed, fixing up and restoring buildings and keeping the town alive. She will always be remembered and today when you travel to the town you can see pictures of her on the walls in the American Hotel.
Cerro Gordo was found by a group of Mexican Miners led by Pablo Flores in 1865. They found the area to be rich in Silver. So much so, that a gentleman named Victor Beaudry from the down the mountain in Independence thought there was enough folks at the camp to open a General Store in 1866. Funny thing is, he then started taking over mines due to past due accounts at the store. He gathered enough mines by January of 1868 that he then proceeded to combine efforts with another gentleman to build ore furnaces. By April of that year he had one of the richest claims on the hill. Quite the mogul if you ask me.
After a bit Victory proceeded to run Silver down to what is known as Los Angeles, but then it was just a little pueblo of a town. It didn't take long for this to become a regular thing and profits to start rolling in. Once he started making his way to Los Angeles he developed the road from Owens Dry Lake up to Cerro Gordo so they could even bigger and better equipment in to the mine area. By December of 1868 he built his own smelters and had quite the operation going.
When the following year, 1869 rolled around the competition started brewing. Interesting enough, the price of Silver started to drop at the same time and by 1910 the "Fat Hill" started to slow down. Miners looked for other sources of minerals to make money off of. They started looking at Zinc ore, which in turn led them to a bit more silver and then the town survived a little longer. At this time they even had electricity in town. Pretty high-tech for back then.
For a while the town sat still and nothing really was happening and by the 1970's it was falling into a state of disarray. An amazing Inyo local woman by the name of Jody Stewart ended up buying into part ownership of the town along with her uncle who had already been a care taker for the town site. She had done so many great things in her life and worked in Hollywood. She worked on a game show called Password and drove a fancy car. It was said one day she was invited up by her uncle to come check out the town and she arrived in a fur coat while getting out of her Porsche. Pretty wild. She fell in the love with the place and ended up buying the entire town in 1984. She ended up doing many great things for the town before she passed, fixing up and restoring buildings and keeping the town alive. She will always be remembered and today when you travel to the town you can see pictures of her on the walls in the American Hotel.
It is said that the second floor of the American Hotel haunted. Also, there's a wood cutter that lived in a nearby town that you might see in the window of the kitchen on any given night. He's referred to as the Ghost of the Inyos. Interesting stuff for sure!
Inside the American Hotel you'll find all the amenities. This room is where the gunslingers played cards. There were actually bullet holes in the wall from a shoot out that happened through the front window. It took you right back into history.
Inside the American Hotel you'll find all the amenities. This room is where the gunslingers played cards. There were actually bullet holes in the wall from a shoot out that happened through the front window. It took you right back into history.
The local watering hole. Unfortunately the bar isn't original, but fits the part nonetheless. I can still picture old miners spending their evenings here tossing back a cold one or a bit of whiskey after a long day of hard work.
The kitchen features this huge cast iron stove. I can only imagine the poor mules that had to haul it up the dirt road to get it here. Must have been a sight to see. Rumor has it , it took 4.5 hours to heat up and was never turned off.
That evening we relaxed and enjoyed being back in time and the next morning we woke up to explore some more and hike around the property. Looking down on the town, can you find our camp?
Looking over Owens Valley from Swansea Grade with the Eastern Sierras in the distance. Swansea is a popular off-highway 4-wheel drive route that takes you up to the Salt Tram system that ran from Saline Valley to the Owens.
Old pieces of equipment everywhere you looked. It was great.
Old stack of ore buckets used to carry up mining materials. If they could only talk.
Checking out the old mill house. This is where the shaft drops down 800 feet and also where the well is and pump is to supply water to the city. Right now it's off limits, but the volunteers are hoping to get it back up and running and make it part of the tour.
From the highest point of the town you even have a nice view of Mt. Whitney across the valley. Not too shabby.
This is where Jody Stewart lived when she stayed at the town site. It's now locked up, the windows are covered and no one is allowed in, not even the caretakers.
The old bunkhouse was the last building to be erected on the property. It used to be wide open with no walls and now it has 6 rooms. Rooms of which you can stay in or you can rent the entire building if you wish. The back room on the left is said to be haunted as well.
What is left of the town smelter stack. If you peak your head inside you can see glass portions that are melted. It's neat to see its made out of all rock and not bricks.
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We had an excellent time at Cerro Gordo and we appreciated seeing it being well taken care of. If you're into Ghost Towns this one ranks right up there with the best. We strongly urge you to contact the care taker if you can or take a drive up to the town site and see it for yourself. It's well worth the trip.
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Happy Trails everyone!