Mojave Desert: Bickel Camp Artifact...

Photograph by Scott Schwartz.

Do you remember the Packard car body referred to in the previous post?  Well, here's what became of the frame.  Walt mounted an air compressor on it!

Mojave Desert: One Man's Junk...

....Packard car body, sans frame, at Bickel Camp.

What happened to the frame?

More to come.

Mojave Desert Ruins: Goler Gulch.

This is one of the few remaining traces of Goler, a town that sprang up based on rumors of lost gold..

Goler Gulch, El Paso Mountains.

Mojave Desert: Walt Bickel...

Photograph by Scott Schwartz.  All rights reserved.

....adapted scores of small engines for use at his mining camp in the El Paso Mountains.  The photograph on the right shows an aircraft Auxiliary Power Unit ("APU") that is supposed to have come from a Boeing B-17 bomber.  Walt used it to generate electricity at the camp.

Mojave Desert Photography: Lockhart Rocks....

I snapped this photograph, while exploring the desert near the old town of Lockhart, CA.

1/250th sec. @ f/14.

It pays to drive slowly and keep your eyes open.

Mojave Desert Ruins: The Alvord Mine- Final Words, for now...

My friend Ron stares dejectedly at the ground, as I prepare for our departure.
Photograph by Scott Schwartz.

Alas, our time at the Alvord Mine was to be cut short, because my friend Ron began to feel ill.  The mine itself was a few hundred feet further, but we had to head for home.

But, we will return to this place.

Mojave Desert Ruins: The Alvord Mine, Continued....

After a rocky climb of about a mile in four-wheel-drive-Low, we reached a plateau, on which stands the building that has figured so prominently in this blog's photographs.

Mojave Desert Ruins: The Alvord Mine, continued...

Corporate logo on the floor of the ruined building.

Shortly after exiting Harvard Road and turning toward the Alvord Mountains, the pavement ended and I engaged the front axle.  The trail was mostly level, with occasional patches of deep sand.  I won't give turn-by-turn directions here; but, at one point, we crossed a very wide dirt road that is used by the Army to move its tanks and other vehicles from the railroad depot to the Fort Irwin training base.  On previous trips, I have seen very large tracks here, that were left by the huge M1 Abrams tank.

Within a mile of the Alvord Mine, the trail begins to ascend the mountain and becomes pretty rocky.  Here, I engaged my four-wheel-drive low-range gears.

More to follow....

Mojave Desert Ruins: The Alvord Mine...

So, I picked my buddy Ron up at ten o'clock, on Saturday.  The Alvord Mine lies roughly thirty miles north east of Barstow, CA, off Harvard Road.

The intense heat-wave we'd been experiencing here in southern California had finally broken, and the temperature was a mild eighty degrees as we tooled up Highway 15.

After a quick lunch at a Barstow Denny's, we were on the road again.

More to come....

Mojave Desert Ruins: The Alvord Mine...

My rock-hound friend asked me to take him to the Alvord Mine, so that he could look for, well, rocks.
I'd been to the Alvord Mine once before, and I welcomed the excuse to return and explore the area again.

The mine has its origins in the 1885 discovery of gold in the surrounding Alvord Mountains.  Within a few years of the discovery, an outfit called the Carter Mining Company was operating here.  The company ceased operations in 1891, after $50,000 in gold was extracted from the mine.

The Alvord mine was re-activated on several different occasions during the early twentieth century, with the last operations ceasing in 1952.

More to come.....

Mojave Desert Photography: "I really don't know clouds at all..."

Singer Judy Collins had it right; we don't know clouds even after looking at them for years.  But, I love them just the same!  There are few things as beautiful as a desert sky full of clouds!

1/100th sec. @ f/20.

Mojave Desert Photography: El Paso Mountains...

View from the trail, looking north east toward the Sierras.

1/60th sec. @ f/20.

Mojave Desert- The Hills Have (My) Eyes....

I love the views from the higher elevations.  When driving in the desert, I'm always looking for trails that lead to the tops of hills and mountains.

1/40th sec. @ f/20.

Mojave Desert Photography: El Paso Mountains-a landscape photographer's dream...

....because you never know when an unexplored trail will treat you to a fantastic view.  

As usual, when taking landscape photographs, my camera is set to the "Aperture Priority" mode.  Maximum depth of field is the goal, here.

I used a polarizing filter here.  The polarizing filter renders the blue sky and white clouds more pronounced.  I prefer to perform the majority of my photo editing when I take the photograph.

1/80th sec. @ f/20.

Mojave Desert Photographs: From my recent trip into the El Paso Mountains...

From the radio antenna site, another image.

1/60th sec. @ f/20.

As we journey through life's desert, it is necessary to stop and take in the view.