DESERT NO. 99 J UNE 2004 EXPLORERS 4WD SECTION OF THE MOJAVE RIVER VALLEY MUSEUM Cabin is well-marked and the cabin itself is unlocked and has a visitor register. It is quite clean and in very good shape. The parking area and tiny turn-around loop are going to offer a real space-utilization problem when Hallett Newman, his family and friends, and our small group of Desert Explorers meet there on the weekend of May 15 for our dinner and camp- TTRRIIPP out. Clearly, some vehicles will have to be parked alongside the road, away from the cabin. After we finished our inspection and signed RREEPPOORRTTSS in as visitors, we continued up-canyon to the turnoff to the Barker and Meyers Ranches and Goler Canyon Pre- on to those ranches. Bill Ott showed me where Charles Manson was hiding (under the sink) at In this issue: Run the Barker property when he was arrested. The Meyers Ranch is fenced and seriously posted as • Goler Canyon Pre-Run 1 April 22, 2004 private property, so we stayed on the road. • Lookie-Loos at Little Lake 2 • Re-Subscribers 3 Led and reported by John Page We decided to have lunch at Mengel Pass so • Little Petroglyph Canyon 3 continued farther up-canyon. The road above • Ayers Rock 3 T WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT …NO , STRIKE the turnoff: a) deteriorates, or b) becomes • Fossil Falls 4 that…it was a cool and windy morning interesting, depending on your viewpoint. There • Rondezvous Auction Results 5 • Trip Schedule 5 IIwhen Bill Ott and I met at the Desert Empire are a number of tight, rocky turns and other • Next Meeting 5 Fairgrounds at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday before places where we needed to be careful of the • Future Trips 6 the Rendezvous. Using the map that had been placement of our tires and of our vehicles’ • The Pink House 6 sent to Rendezvous-ers, we talked about staking clearance over rocks and around outcrops in • Searles Valley Museum 6 • Lone Pine Concert 7 claims on the nice grassy, shady, protected area the roadbed. Fun! • Manzanar 7 that had been assigned to the tent campers. We had a late (1:30 p.m.) tailgate lunch at • Mojave Road 7 Fortunately, we decided to wait until our return the pass near the Mengel Monument, a cairn of • DE Hams 8 • Where am I? 9 from the pre-run, later that day. rocks over the remains of Carl Mengel. • E-mail list 10 The drive through Trona and • Fine print 10 Ballarat and south about 14 miles to the Goler Canyon turnoff was uneventful, although both the Searles and Panamint valleys were shrouded with the dust that was raised by the fero - cious wind. Two minor “rockfalls” were the only obstacles encountered on the way to the Newman Cabin. A two-wheel-drive vehicle might have a bit of a struggle climbing the second, but they posed no problem to our 4wd steeds. Issue Number 99 The turnoff to the Newman Digital Photo by John Page Newman Cabin Digital photo by Bob Martin Digital photo by John Page Bear feet? Baskets? Bra? Then we turned around and returned examples of atlatls. Snake’s Head pictograph site at Little Lake to the Fairgrounds where Marilyn Martin We drove to the next picked up our CB chatter and guided us petro site at the into the fine, open parking lot that we south end of Little were to call home for the next three Lake dubbed “The nights. Snake’s Head”. It was even more pro - lific, and included Lookie-Loos at some pictographs as well. Little Lake Little Lake sparkled in the breeze, traffic By Sue Jaussaud whizzed by out on Highway 395, and we were all feeling H BOY , OH BOY , I FELT LIKE A KID IN A so smug to be on the Digital photo by John Page candy store! We were in, behind inside, after all those OOthe locked gate and the “keep out” years of being out - Our host Bruce Ivey at Little Lake signs. Our host, Bruce Ivey, was waiting side-looking-in. for us at the entrance to Little Lake Ranch Time flew by. and directed our large group of vehicles After a stop at an to the ranch’s clubhouse. Our gracious area where obsidian hostess, Elsie Ivey, invited us in. Bruce flakes covered the welcomed us and gave a short talk about ground, we drove to the ranch. He and Elsie are part of a our lunch spot, group of owners of this private inholding alongside volcanic that includes more than 1,200 acres. It is cliffs by the lake. now a hunting club, as evidenced by the Here, picnic tables many display cases on the walls that con - awaited, and –oh, tained a variety of ducks. Knowing our glory! – there were interest in rock art, Bruce told us that restrooms with flush some of the petroglyphs here are 9,000 toilets! During years old. Also, we were surprised to lunch, we presented Digital photo by John Page learn that Little Lake is spring fed, and our hosts with a does not receive any water from the copy of the book, Little Lake Ranch house Owens River. “These Canyons Are Full of Ghosts”. They please close the gate,” was their only After a quick look around, we walked were delighted to meet the author, request. Wow! We took a leisurely look a short distance from the clubhouse to the Emmett Harder, who was part of our around, strolling down to the lake and out basalt cliffs, where wonderful rock art group. on the dock. The cliffs at the picnic area awaited. Cameras clicked, and the more Shortly after lunch, Bruce told us that revealed more rock art. Some of us agile in the group scrambled up the cliff they had an appointment in Bishop and checked out yet another site complete face for a better view of the numerous would need to leave, but said we could with slicks, yoni’s, and maybe even a petroglyphs, which include many fine stay as long as we wanted. “Last one out, “birthing rock”. 2 DESERT EXPLORERS 4WD S ECTION OF THE MOJAVE RIVER VALLEY MUSEUM NO. 99 J UNE 2004 more were the Please welcome back orders of the day H.S. Barsam Fresno for our little group of 20 to gain admittance Finally, it was time to head back to the to the China Lake fairgrounds in Ridgecrest. We closed the Naval Air Weapons gate and, with one last look at Little Lake, Station for the tour of headed south. Little Petroglyph Our profound thanks go to Bruce and Canyon. We thank Elsie Ivey for all their efforts in making Anne Stoll for liaising this unique adventure possible for us. with the Maturango Museum and the Navy several months Photo by Allan Wicker Little Petroglyph in advance to cover all the “post 9-11” Little Petroglyph Canyon Canyon requirements and for spending time get - Hemisphere. Characteristic elements of ting us started on our adventure on the this area are sheep, lots of sheep, with April 24, 2004 actual day. She’d prepared us, so we were horns to the front, the weighted atlatl, pretty stoic about the seemingly repetitive intricate anthropomorphs, and abstract, by Ann Fulton precautions. shield-like patterns. Estimates on dates Our “command-approved” guides for the drawings range from 16,000 years ECURITY CLEARANCES , IDENTITY VERIFICA - were Lloyd and Sherlyn Brubaker, Leslie ago to as late as the 1800’s...one of the tions, vehicle searches, and check - and Lynn West. They patiently took us few certainties is that some of the designs SSing lists once, twice, thrice, and through the processing and guided us, at predate others by considerable numbers last, to the canyon, of years. But the who and the wherefore where they provided and the why-they-stopped-doing-what- excellent informa - they- were-doing are lost in time. tion about the rock This visitor’s conclusions: It is exhila - art and made sure rating studying petroglyphs, even when we didn’t climb the you have to keep your feet in the sand at walls in trying to get the bottom of a canyon. After all, that sea - surer shots of the soned, atlatl wielding, eternally vigilant petroglyphs. Lloyd is hunter up there on that block of basalt an enthusiastic may be keeping his eye on you too. retired science teacher and gave us some personal per - Ayers Rock spectives and elabo - rations on the By Bob & Marilyn Martin Photo by Allan Wicker uniqueness of the Coso Range draw - Shirley at the waterfall ings...in a nutshell: T 9:00 A.M. SHARP A WELL -ORDERED Lesson 1. Rock group consisting of John Page, Bill art never gets old. AAOtt, Lorene Crawford, Betty and Lesson 2. Dario Sanchez, Jerry & Joni Harada, Jim Mysteries abound. Proffitt, and Bob and Alicia Wieting fol - Lesson 3. lowed us up Highway 395 to the rest stop Some visitors may at Coso Junction. After a brief pause, we sense spirits of the were on our way east on the Coso Road. past lingering in The last time we were there the BLM had these “galleries.” placed an Ayers Rock sign on the paved The Coso Range road at the junction with the dirt road canyons contain the leading to the Rock. We later found out highest concentra - that the BLM had removed the sign. It’s tion of rock art hard to understand why they would (more than 6,000 remove the sign when their web site gives Photo by Allan Wicker images) in the directions and mileages to the Rock.