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These photos consist of the burning of one of the two Christmas Trees, hanging around in camp, weather at Ballarat, Jets at Ballarat and a trip to Novak Camp where unfortunately I found Rocky's dog Lucky who had recently passed away on the back porch of the cabin from old age and sickness. Bob and Mooie (Blue Sky Jeeper) had to do a few repairs to his Jeep before they could head up to look for a cabin to stay in. We found out later that they were successfull in thier endeavor. Good job Bob! I got some fairly good rainbow shots at Ballarat and we experienced the "Panamint Hole". That's when the sky clears in the Panamint Valley and nowhere else... Makes a body feel special... I might also add that on the way out of Ballarat I ran across two females in distress not 30 feet from the asphalt. They needed oil in the worst way. As I got out to give them the only quart I had I heard a hissing noise.... My second flat.... Must have run over a small pointed rock because it wasn't a clean hole. Can you believe that? A small pointed rock... I threw the bottle of oil at one of the girls, jumped back into the Blazer and hit it full chicken back to the camp. I borrowed a plug kit from one of the Sammy guys and pumped the tire back up and left. Said thanks to the Sammy guy on the way out. Part IV will consist of a collection of photos taken by other people on the trip. |
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| Jay lights the tree on fire. | Jay giving the tree a little help just to get it going. | Jay lighting his arm on fire in front of tens of witnesses. (just kidding) | Jay drops the tree to let it burn. |
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| The tree in all it's glory. | Lennies building over the Panamints | Mira enjoys a Ballarat Sunset. | The sky is on fire! |
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| Look what Santa brought me! | Enjoying a nice warm winter day and catching up on some house cleaning chores. | The jets begin their show. It lasted the whole afternoon. This one is level with the top of the mesa. | Charging the solar unit and catching up on a little Ballarat history. |
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| This is actually a picture of the dog. | Pleasant Canyon in the afternoon. | Another jet. They came straight over me at 100 feet. I was always too slow on the camera. | Tabby decides to switch to the shade for a while. |
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| Another flyby. We also got to watch up to 6 of them dog-fight at night. Now that's a trip. | There he goes. | Bob demonstrates how to hold up a High Lift with a Jeep. | I like the bio-degradable jack stands... |
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| Novak Camp. Vallet Parking Only! | Everything has it's place and this place has everything. | Crystal Clear Sign they got here. | Part of the mill works with a 6 foot water wheel on the right. |
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| More of the mill works. | Another view of the mill. | And yet another view of the mill. | A little tiny mine adit. There are about 5 of these in a knob that juts out of the hillside. |
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| Another hole. | Looking down the canyon. | A nice collection of rocks that Jay found lying around and then re scattered in the gravel bed. | Bob toasting Jay. Jay toasting Mira and Mira asking Bob why he's toasting Jay. |
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| Here comes the weather again. Even tied the tent to Bob's camper. That helped a lot. | Looking dismal but we can handle it. Good books and a tent heater! Heaven... | OK the weather is gone in a couple of hours and it's still windy but the sky is opening up. | The Panamint Hole appears. It's cloudy everywhere but this valley. |
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| The rainbows begin. | Another view of the hole. | Another rainbow shot as I block the wind on my tent with the Blazer. | Hmmm |
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| Sun and clouds. | Hey Rocky! There's where the gold is! | Jay flys caution tape. This is a sport invented by bored Caltrans Workers for windy days. | The last photograph I take as I leave Ballarat. Till next time. |