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It was so
funny. It was good to laugh as hard as we were laughing. It was Ted. Yup, Ted
again.
Our weekends
this fall had gotten eaten up with other events, chores, issues, but not this
one. This one we had saved for a trip over to the east side, hoping for brilliant
colors from the aspen and crisp fall weather. That wasn’t a sure thing, maybe
we’d hit it right. A sure thing was that we’d have a great time with the folks
we were meeting – the Teds, Lighthawks, and MarkBC, all members of the Wander the West forum.
We were the
ones that would be arriving last, after dark on Friday evening. The truck was
ready when the Lady got home from teaching. The whirlwind through the house, “Are
we forgetting anything? Let’s go!” And we were on the road.
Ted and the
Mrs. were taking off Friday morning. There was a quick email question from Ted about
getting propane tanks filled at Topaz. I answered that I thought so, they
operate a RV park. Ted replied, “Thanks. See you tonight. We’ll turn on the
landing lights.”
Heading
south on 395, we stopped in Walker for dinner at the Mountain View Barbeque, an
old favorite when we’re in the mood for meat, meat that’s seen just the right
amount of slow barbeque and smoke. And fries, old fashion fries. And beans, old
fashion barbeque beans that will stay with you more ways than one.
As we were
climbing Conway Summit grade I asked the Lady if she could text Ted. Ask, “Got
the landing lights on?” I thought that would be funny. Shortly after the phone
rattled and buzzed with a reply. “They’re on.”
Our meeting
place for all of us was what we’ve taken to calling Ted’s Dunderburg Camp,
although Ted got the info from another WTW member. A two track road leads to
the campsite. It was dark and we worked our way toward camp. Then we saw
them and we burst out laughing. Landing lights. Green lined the port side with
red on the starboard. The taxi way had light blue lights down the center and
there at the end was Ted, a flashlight high in each hand. They were far apart as we started the taxi and came closer and closer together as we approached. Soon the flashlights came together and crossed and we were camping.
Yup, it was
Ted.
We greeted
Lighthawk & SR and met their new addition, Little Miss Callie. MarkBC had
been rambling about the East Side and the White Mountains for a couple of weeks
and was on his way north to home. It was good to see Mr. BC again. Ted &
the Mrs., what can I say? We had never been brought into camp before with
landing lights.
Saturday
morning was cold and mostly clear. A couple of the photographers had gotten
outside before me. I’m slipping or getting old or the sleeping bag was extra
warm and cozy this morning. Lighthawk, I don’t know if he had even made it to
bed as he was busy enjoying night photography. MarkBC was out on the point.
Actually
everybody was getting up this morning. The day’s beginnings were prefect.
The group
gathered on the point above Mono Lake in the sun's first rays.
And a trend for
the weekend started, the Lady rolling on the ground playing with Little Miss
Callie.
Everyone was
in a relaxed mood. MarkBC was happy to hang around the camp area. Ted suggested
visiting a place he had become interested in, the Log Cabin Mine. The
Lighthawks and the Ski3pinners were happy to join in the adventure. Perhaps we
would find some fall color along the way. The Lighthawks led the way.
Fall was definitely
in full swing, aspen leaves and Jeffery pine cones.
We passed through
an incredible grove of mature aspens……
…….that were
gorgeous in the morning light.
Our stops
were often and enjoyable as we traveled.
We reached
the top.
There is a
gate and a sign in place in an effort to protect this site. What a shame this
is needed but experience has taught us it is not enough to
stop damage.
The ruins
were certainly interesting and painted a picture of hard work and hard lives in
a vivid high elevation setting.
There is a
mine cage still attached to the cable over the head frame. We moved in to
explore the lift operation building. Ted wanted to get everything working again
or perhaps move into a new line of work.
Among the
older equipment were some obvious upgrades that time and technology brought
such as an intercom for the lift operator.
Interesting
stuff littered the area.
The Lady had
a different take on all of this. She wanted to know why the owners were not
required to clean everything up after the operation shut down. Why was all this
junk just allowed to rot? She is aware of all the superfund sites we the tax
payers are footing the bill for and all the possible new ones we will inherit.
The only constant in western boom and bust cycles is us left with the bill and
piles of junk littering our public lands. This is a valid point of view and
just as much a part of our history as these western relics.
We moved on
to explore a newer building. A window was open to a modern bathroom, flush toilet,
sink, and shower. Something was on the toilet tank. What did miners look at
while spending quality time on the throne? We were surprised.
We found the
namesake log cabin and took a group photo.
Returning to
the vehicles we drove the short ways out to the edge. Perhaps we’d find a view
off to the east.
The wind was
howling here, a harbinger of the predicted coming change in the weather.
It was worth
it although we did not linger.
During trip planning Ted had mentioned a possible special visitor to our campsite Saturday evening. As the afternoon shadows grew longer our thoughts started to wonder who this might be. Our anticipation began to grow along with an urge to return to camp.
I just found
Ted’s message so I will be accurate with my account – “BTW, I have it on good
authority that the proprietor from Chez Campeur will be hosting a happy hour
Saturday around 5:00 PM.”
The
Lighthawks went ahead as we descended. They wanted to travel up Lee Vining
Canyon a bit before returning to camp. The rest of us stopped often on our way
down. We couldn’t help ourselves.
Back at camp
in the late afternoon, we relaxed. The wind was up, chilling us down, and we
kept moving our chairs to stay in the sun as the sun dropped lower. MarkBC
filled us in on his day. We popped into our camper for a little clean up and
to dress for the evening. There was a knock on the door.
“It’s 5 pm
and happy hour!”
Now this was
style, shrimp, cocktail sauce, and a bit of the bubbly.
The Lighthawk’s
were driving in. They spotted our special guest and were served right in the cab of
their truck – roadside service. We were happy. Camping will never be the same.
Comfortable,
that’s a good word to describe this evening. We wandered back out toward the
point to watch the sky, the changing light, the world around us, and to share the evening.
SR took
a different route with Little Miss Callie tagging along. Last light was on the
distant Bodie Hills.
Mono Lake
dropped into the shadows.
Storm clouds
began to drop along the Sierra crest, back lit by the setting sun.
The wind had
a bite to it. It was cold. We all retired to our campers and fixed our dinners
and ate. The Lady & I decided a night walk was in order. MarkBC joined us.
We headed up slope into the wind. We shared stories of travels in Nevada and
ideas on new places to discover. Finally the chill had done its job. We put our
backs to the wind and headed for camp. I stayed out just long enough to take a
long exposure shot of camp with the lights of Bridgeport below.
It had been
a great day.
The Lady first
stirs a little after 4:30 each morning. We still are not use to the extra month
tacked on to each end of daylight savings time. The sun rises so late now at
the end of October. The Lady stirred and rolled into my arms.
“It’s still
dark,” I said, “Too early to get up.”
Her
breathing fell into a deep rhythm. I thought she was back asleep. I didn’t
notice that she was looking out the window, watching.
“It’s
getting light in the east, look. Coffee time? Time to make coffee?” Her voice
had too much life to it. It was coffee time.
I bundled up
against the morning chill, 34°, and exited with the camera. I’ve been enjoying
taking long exposures in predawn light.
MarkBC was
up now too. He joined me, preparing to take some of his fine panorama shots.
The eastern sky came alive over Mono Lake.
The Lady
brought out our coffee and joined Mr. BC. They watched.
In silence
the sun rose…………………
……………….and
spread its light, once again over our camp.
Our camaraderie
with our friends was coming to an end. The Teds were heading back over Tioga
Pass and going home west through Yosemite. MarkBC was making tracks north
toward home in Oregon. The LIghthawks
wanted to do the June Lake Loop prior to heading home. The Lady and me? We
would head north on Dunderburg Meadows Road and drive up Upper Summer Meadows
Road prior to seriously committing to the course home.
We said our
goodbyes to our friends.
Many of the
groves along Dunderburg Meadow had already lost their leaves. They looked like
stands of ghosts, gathered steadfast against the coming winter.
The stands of
aspen up above Upper Summer Meadows were more in their prime, bright in the
morning sun.
There is an
interesting small cabin on the edge of the upper meadow.
We drove
back down, parked, and hiked out the length of the meadow to the west. We
headed toward the ridge and a low saddle. We hoped this would give us a good
vantage point to look down at Twin Lakes and up the Robinson Creek Canyon.
We returned
to the truck and slowly drove back down toward Bridgeport. It was quiet up
here. It was too early or maybe the coming storm was thinning out the fall
travelers. We stopped one last time.
We headed
home. We had hit it right. We had hit it right in many ways.
