Balancing rocks- El Paso Mountains

Along BLM Route EP 15, El Paso Mountains.  Photo by Scott Schwartz

Badlands-California's El Paso Mountains...

                                           Photo by Scott Schwartz.

El Paso Mountains....

                                            Along BLM trail EP-15.  Photo by Scott Schwartz.

Black Mountain...Mysterious lights were seen at the top...

.....of the mountain by prospectors, during the late 1800's.  This is just a local legend, of course.

Nevertheless, pictographs and other archaeological evidence found at the top of the mountain has led to speculation that Native Americans held ceremonies and traded with each other here.

I'm hoping to hike to the summit sometime next month.

                                           Photo by Scott Schwartz

Rough Country: California's El Paso Mountains...

There's no doubt about it.  Despite the myriad of trails and its relative closeness (30 miles, or so) to the city of Ridgecrest, the El Paso Mountain Range is rugged country.  It is very unforgiving toward those who enter it unprepared.

Even during the cooler months, you should have at lease one other vehicle accompany you, make sure that your  own vehicle is in good mechanical condition, bring plenty of food, and bring plenty of water.

Even for day trips, I carry 6 gallons of water in a military surplus water jug.  That might seem like a lot of water, but I'd rather have too much than too little.

Summertime temperatures can soar well over one hundred degrees in the El Paso's.  You can almost feel the heat emanating from the rocks in the photograph below.

This was taken during one of my summer trips into the El Paso Mountains.  The temperature was roughly one hundred, ten degrees Fahrenheit that day.  Photo by Scott Schwartz

Abandoned mine; one of many that pock-mark hills in the El Paso's.  

Photo by Scott Schwartz.

Winter in the El Paso Mountains...

Hello desert lovers:

I'm home today with a sore throat, but I'm well enough to be sifting through some of my older photos.  I took this one just before Christmas in 2008.  

It was a cold, misty day.  I'd made the trip by myself.  Normally, one can hear the buzz of motorcycles being ridden somewhere in the distance.  But not on that day, however.  

Utterly alone.

If swallowed whole, I'd remain unknown.

Photo by Scott Schwartz

El Paso Mountains - Back Country Descent Video..

I shot this "footage" with my BlackBerry, from inside my Cherokee.  The vehicle in front is my friend John's Toyota Tacoma.  We were on our way back down from the hill that we'd climbed in order to get to the spectacular view shown in my last post.

This hill was steeper than it appears in the video, and I used my transfer case's "Low-Range" during the entire descent.

Getting away from it all in the El Paso Mountains-Bickel Camp

It was a real treat for my friend John and I to spend yesterday at Bickel Camp.  If you don't know what, or where Bickel Camp is, see my older posts.

During our visit, we chatted with one of the new caretakers and with Charlie Hattendorf, who is President of "Friends of Last Chance Canyon" (www.tflcc.org).  We were there for several hours, and the topics discussed ranged from UFOs to World War Two aircraft.  Plus, Charlie gave me directions to the hiking trail that leads to the top of Black Mountain.  Although there was no time for the hike during yesterday's trip, it is definitely on my agenda!

After leaving Bickel Camp, we drove our two vehicles deeper into the El Paso's.  Our goal was to find a ridge line from which we could watch the sun set.  The first trail we tried was a little too tough for my stock Jeep Cherokee.  Being no one's fool, John had "let" me go first.  Since I've never invested in a locking rear differential, I'd only proceeded about two hundred feet before my rear wheel (notice "wheel"-singular) started spinning in the loose gravel.  John's truck, by the way, is equipped with a locking rear differential (IE:  a "rear locker"), but where's the fun in leaving one vehicle (mine) at the bottom of the hill?

Since there was no room for me to turn around, I backed down the hill, and we drove a little further until we came to another trail that appeared to be a little firmer.  Once again, I went first (I've got to stop doing that!), and after almost getting stuck in one spot, I made it tot he top of the hill (Did I mention that four wheel drive "low-range" is a must for this type of travel?).  John soon followed in his Toyota Tacoma.  It was approximately 4:30 pm.

All photos by Scott Schwartz.

                                              The trail became a foot-path, past this point.