Quiet night and chilly. Turned on heater in AM.
Today i ride w/ Mark down Rock creek trail that he initiated the repair of. Originally built by the CCC it had fallen into neglect. It drops down a narrow steep sided canyon switching sides of fast flowing Rock Creek. Old rt 395 used the canyon to climb out of the desert up to mammoth and beyond. We shuttled.
Mark is a walking history book. He showed us a car graveyard where cars lay smashed from a drastic plunge from highway above. There is a steam boiler in the creek that was destined to Mammoth to power some gold mining equipment. The ride was only 7.92 miles but took 4 hours as we stopped frequently and Mark shared his knowledge of a feature. We stopped for a lunch break and I spied I say a canine animal, Mark says a feline across the creek laying out on a rock. And adolescents appeared. Mark counted 3. She was not concerned by us. Each of us scrambled along the large chunks of rock to get within maybe 60′. Huge old growth P-pine, the largest I have ever seen.
At the trail end is an old CCC camp that was converted into a resort which assured the upkeep of the small barracks type buildings.
Mark is discovering and following old wagon roads in the canyon. We drove part way out of canyon and then turned off on a side road and walked down into desert search for grooves carved in the soft rock by the iron rimmed wagons. We found the old wagon road and several places of grooves in the under laying soft rock. We found old metal cans. They were welded. They were filled from a hole in an end of the can and then welded shut, Mark speculated they were filled w/ condensed milk.
The weather @ Mammoth was suspect for rain and our trip needed to be planned around possible mountain rains. Rock Creek is about 20 miles down canyon from Mammoth. We enjoyed warmer temps & now rain. As i drove back up into mountains the temp dropped @ rain fell.
Bought a shower @ XG.
Drove out to site where I stayed last night. In the morning I laid out my green carpet and folding chair to designate I was camping there. Somebody took them but nobody was camped in my spot. Phoey, need to buy new chair.
40 degrees outside.
I’m tired. Last night I didn’t sleep well as I seemed to be fighting for my breath @ 8000′