The CaliKid's latest desert adventures

[TheCaliKid]

Dylan-

Yes, I visited Ballarat in February of 2008.

If you want my honest opinion, it is not worth wasting your time on. It is very short on "ghost town", and very long on "people hanging out in white trailers and fifth wheels".


The only reason that I would venture back that way again, would be becuase it is on the way to the ranch (Barker Ranch) that Charlie Manson was apprehended at back in 1969. (this is now inside Death Valley National Park)

Check out this guys Flicker stream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawk59/with/3477216841/

Just like everything man-made in the desert, it doesn't last for long. As I understand it, vandals burned the ranch house down in 2009. Horrible!

News story on the house being burned down:
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-manson-ranch,0,892374.story


Keeler is interesting, as it ended up being "end of track" for the Carson & Colorado Railroad - who had planned to lay rail all the way to Los Angeles. The last run to Keeler occurred in 1960.

I would HIGHLY recommend that you visit the museum at Laws, Calif.


Here is a blog of a guy that is about the same age as me.....he lives in California City:
http://deathvalleyjim.com/



Oh, one more thing about Ballarat - it is also the gateway to a ghost town called Panamint City. Apparently, you used to be able to drive up to the town site, until the early 1980's, when a flash flood washed out the road. The site was added to Death Valley in 1994. You can only access the town via a strenuous 7.5 mile hike.

Here is a very good article about the town:
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ca-panamint.html



I am relatively new to collecting bottles too. I have no clue how to dig for them, or how to get into that scene. Good luck in California eh?




P.S. You are your wife look very happy together!

 

[surfaceone]

Hey Kid,

I wrote a long ramble down memory lane on this the other day, only to have the whole post go poof due to being cut off the site while hunting and pecking.

I grew up, in part, in a small town off 395 north of Reno. My early adventures in bottle collecting were for nice shiny targets that would explode in the sun through the careful application of slingshot, BB gun, or .22.

I love the remote country in the northerly reaches of 395, and know several spots that would yield ACL's yet today. Not in the numbers that were prevalent in my wild youth, perhaps, but they're still out there. Last time I went surface hunting, it was for points, but came away with a "Lil' Squirt" model from the Forties. My buddy wanted it, so it joined his collection in 2008.

I spent quite a bit of time in the Coachella Valley in the Eighties and sent quite a few So-Cal bottles to their reward via a particular favorite 9mm.

I didn't start collecting bottles until the late Nineties. Perhaps my earlier acts of bottlecide need further atonement. [8D]

I was driving from San Francisco to Sacramento somewhere 1n the 2002-04 days, and noticed that Caltrans had a nice big hole excavated just off the I-80 near the Peralta & Mandela intersection in Oakland. This was a window into a 19th Century slough or fen that was a pretty impressive dump. When I discovered the hole, I called off my appointment in Sacramento and adjourned to the closest hardware for a shovel and clam rake.

There was evidence that quite a few local diggers had been having a field day in this excavation. It was nearly the size of a football field. I was alone with my thoughts and scratching away for a couple of hours, until ripped from my reveries by a security guard who told me I couldn't dig.

I made 2 or 3 more stops at this place over the following months. On a saturday morning I found about half a dozen local diggers already at work. They did not seem at all happy to see me. They were soon celebrating the unearthing of what looked to be a great cobalt Owl one of them had scratched outta the eastern wall.

Sorry to be blathering on. The point to my comments was that there are bottles out there for the finding. No, not in the numbers of decades gone by. I already blew most of those to smithereens. [8D]

 

[TheCaliKid]

Ah darn. Thanks a lot for doing that! I didn't mind your post, I like reading things like that.

When you mentioned the 395, did you mean in California or in Nevada? I wasn't quite sure.


Well, where off the 395 would you suggest looking for these golden ACL's? I think my cutoff limit would be Mono Lake, and even that is really stretching it. Just too far to drive for a bottle hunt. Maybe if I combined it with a camping/summer vacation trip.....which would mean "once a year" for hunting. Not too keen on looking for bottles in the summer months though. Plus, the wife isn't anywhere near as thrilled as looking for bottles as I am, she gets tired of walking aimlessly around in the middle of nowhere for hours on end rubbernecking the ground and getting dizzy - you know, like a normal human being should. I'm all for walking miles a day.....she's not.

Even Bishop is pushing it distance wise. Oh well, I guess those ACL's will get picked up by someone else. *sigh*

 

[surfaceone]

Hey Kid,

I was primarily talking California, though Nevada, and Oregon are good, too.

Have you ever investigated "old" 395 segments? Have a look HERE.

"I put down my blanket on Cigarette Butt Beach

I saw the old man, he was doing OK

He's making his last stand

On old bottles and cans

'Round there, Calistan way"

 

[mattinad]

re: Panamint City

How badly is the road washed out? I bought my wife a Jeep Rubicon for our anniversary a couple years ago. Would we make it up to
Panamint City in a rig like that?

I agree with you on Ballarat. It seemed like more of a trashy hangout than a real ghost town or "historic" place. I would still like to explore that area though.

I would love to know how these guys who dig bottle know where to look for them. I understand they look for areas that may have been privy's at one time but have no idea what to look for to do a dig. I have a metal detector I'd like to take out and use someday too.

One of the coolest places we've visited in this area so far has been Little Petroglyph Canyon at the NAWS China Lake. Very cool site from a historical aspect but hunting or digging is frowned upon.

-Dylan

P.S. I have been married for nearly 19 years to the same amazing woman who actually put up with me and my assorted "hobbies"... 9-) Thanks for the compliment. This is "The Queen" in her Jeep:

 

[TheCaliKid]

ORIGINAL: surfaceone

Hey Kid,

I was primarily talking California, though Nevada, and Oregon are good, too.

Have you ever investigated "old" 395 segments? Have a look HERE.

surfaceone -

I wasn't aware (until just now) that the 395 went that far south.

Funny thing, during the early to late 90's, I used to live in Romona and Poway respectively. Alas, I was a teenager without a car who didn't know that old bottles even existed.

 

[TheCaliKid]

ORIGINAL: mattinad

re: Panamint City

How badly is the road washed out? I bought my wife a Jeep Rubicon for our anniversary a couple years ago. Would we make it up to
Panamint City in a rig like that?

Just got back into town, saw your last post.

Well, the BLM Nazi's closed it down in 2007. Before that, a rugged 4x4 could make it a least partway up the canyon.

ORIGINAL: mattinad

I agree with you on Ballarat. It seemed like more of a trashy hangout than a real ghost town or "historic" place. I would still like to explore that area though.

Yeah, we are not alone in our feeling about Ballarat. I would like to go farther back into that general area too.

ORIGINAL: mattinad

I would love to know how these guys who dig bottle know where to look for them. I understand they look for areas that may have been privy's at one time but have no idea what to look for to do a dig. I have a metal detector I'd like to take out and use someday too.

Same here. Have never met, seen, or heard of a Cali desert digger here or elsewhere. Do they even exist?

ORIGINAL: mattinad

One of the coolest places we've visited in this area so far has been Little Petroglyph Canyon at the NAWS China Lake. Very cool site from a historical aspect but hunting or digging is frowned upon.

-Dylan

One of these days I plan to explore the Coso Range, just north of the base. I can't believe that some jackballs have vandalized some of the petroglyph sites in California. What a dastardly deed!

ORIGINAL: mattinad

P.S. I have been married for nearly 19 years to the same amazing woman who actually put up with me and my assorted "hobbies"... 9-) Thanks for the compliment. This is "The Queen" in her Jeep:

You are welcome. With the why most couples throw around divorce these days, you must have something special indeed.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Hey Kid ~

Did you get the PM/Personal message(s) I sent you? If not, please let me know here and we will figure it out.

Thanks.

Bob

 

[TheCaliKid]

I just checked my inbox, I didn't get anything!

By the way, I don't remember since I rarely get PM's, but will it notify me that I have one without having to check the inbox?

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Kid ~

At the top of any page click on "My Setup." And then scroll down to "Personal Message." Make sure your email address is correct and the appropriate boxes have check marks. You can only receive if the boxes are done right. And to send me a PM, just click on my blue-highlighted name and go from there.

And you might check your other options while you are in the setup category. There might be other stuff that needs editing/completed too.

Please let me know if you have any problems. But I know you are a smart guy and will figure it out.

Good luck.

Bob