I tried to do this type of trip on my KTM 990 a couple months ago but failed miserably..
09 Sierra Nevada Ghost Town Tour - ADVrider
My brother Tom, Bill and myself decided to take a few days off to explore the Eastern Sierra, volcanic table lands and Queens Canyon Nevada. The goal was to check out mining camps then do the Rock Creek trail way above Toms place up by Mammoth Lakes. Since Tom was running 3 hours behind, Bill and myself decided to do a bit of wheeling 2.5 miles past the Nevada border at Queen city historical site and the hill climb beyond. This shot is from the top of the hill climb. Bills Rubicon took multiple tries to get up but my trusty FJ went up in one. Bill blames a faulty front end locker (Dodge product) but I'd like to think it was to tough for it.
Our first stop was the main Queen mining camp. Note the out house with it's tip top roof. Very stylish for the time.
The rigs. I just put on the TA KO's a few days earlier and boy did they hook up nicely.
Some mining camp photos.
The top of the canyon is 10,300 feet and has spectacular views of the eastern slope of the white mountains.
At this point my brother finally made it up and the team was in tact for more wheeling. And of course Mac our mascot hound came along to protect us in this hostile environment.
One nice thing about Nevada, they don't collapse the mine shafts and tunnels. Every tunnel has the red sign in front warning danger but you can get it if you wanted too.
Nothing like a nice thunder head to cool down the day.
This shack has seen better days indeed.
To be continued.......
Queens Canyon is a nice class 2 route with scattered mines and mining camps. It's worth checking out when you get the time. After the days end they have a very nice clean remote hunting camp to hunker down in. Not a single sliver of glass or trash anywhere to be seen.
The sunsets are spectacular
The next day it's off to the volcanic table lands. After staring at Indian rock art you get to traverse Chidalgo canyon (class 1) which is a red sandstone canyon about two miles long.
Once out of chidalgo, you're in the pinion trees and the next mining district. This is the Lone star mine. It's a destroyed mess by aluminum vandals, but worth checking out.
When was the last time you saw a real out house with a crescent moon
As you can see, every scrap of aluminum has been stripped off this 5th wheel. The intact toilet was a surprise. And no. I didn't use it.
After checking out the area, it was off to the highlight of the trip. A class 3 route up the side of Rock Creek to the top of the eastern sierra mountains. Actual wheeling pics were not shot since no one had a passenger to shoot the photos while moving.. Sorry This first photo is the last remaining glaciers seen till next winter. The crisp air and cold temps made it ideal. The hound dog was very wary due to the bears and other animals about. One thing odd happened on the way up. We ran into 2 police on quads in full bullet proof vests and fully armed to the teeth. They asked us a few times if we were hunting and even walked around the vehicles peering into the windows. No photos again!
After spending a freezing night and frozen water bottles at 11,000 feet we wheeled down to 8,300 feet to make camp in a more hospitable environment. No bears to worry about and the hound loved it.
The last cool view before hitting the road home. I just love this place.
If you are familiar with Hwy 395 and the brewery just opposite Ridgecrest/China lake, there is a mountain with a trail leading straight up it. considering all the dug in holes and torn up sand it apparent not may vehicles make it to the top. The FJ's however hustled right up in 4 low with the rear diff locked. It's quite steep and sandy but a blast to drive. You need 4 low to descend.
More pictures would have been posted but apparently you are only allowed 25. This is not right. Other adventure blogs allow unlimited pictures. maybe the monitor will take notice and correct this problem!
That's it. Thanks for viewing.
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