Exploration by Jeep Cherokee: California's El Paso Mountains...

www.elpasomountains.blogspot.com

Working his way from Death Valley to Los Angeles, a prospector by the name of John Goler supposedly found gold chunks lying on the ground when he stopped at a spring in what is now known as Last Chance Canyon.  The year was 1867.  According to legend, Goler marked the spot by leaving his rifle stuck in the ground on a hill.  Fearing hostile Indians, he picked up a few nuggets and headed to Los Angeles, where he hoped to obtain financing for future expeditions.  Why a man who was afraid of hostile Indians would leave his rifle behind, is not clear.  

A remnant of the old Goler town site.  Photograph by Scott Schwartz.

My Jeep Time Machine- Bickel Camp..

Photograph by Scott Schwartz.

One of the many machines salvaged by Walt Bickel is this aircraft auxiliary power unit.

Auxiliary power units ("APU's") are small engines that are installed aboard aircraft in order to power generators.  The APU provides power for starting the main engines, and for running electric accessories on the ground.

On the day that this photograph was taken, the caretaker at Bickel Camp told me that this APU came from a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber.  Bickel used it as a generator.

For more information about Bickel Camp, go to http://elpasomountains.blogspot.com/2012/01/four-wheeling-into-history-californias.html

El Paso Mountains, view from a Jeep Cherokee XJ...

Desert dreams....

    Photograph by Scott Schwartz.

Mojave Desert Diary. Treasure your four-wheel drive vehicle....

....for it can take you places that you've never dreamed of.

   Photograph by Scott Schwartz.

Mojave Desert Diary- Walt Bickel's kitchen.

    Photograph by Scott Schwartz.

Mojave Desert Diary: El Paso Mountains...

Another place that is hard to gain access to without four-wheel drive.  Photograph by Scott Schwartz.

Mojave Desert Diary: Bickel Camp.

Bickel salvaged scores of small gasoline engines for use as water pumps (for his mine) and for generating electrical power.  This is Walt's old work shed, and visitors can still see many of the little engines that he kept in his "inventory."

                             Photograph by Scott Schwartz.