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Six days into our trip and we've already had way too much fun for any respectable, hard working city dwellers. But then again who said we were respectable? At any rate we left Ballarat via 190 and headed over the mountains for Bishop. Along the way we just had to stop in Darwin. Now there's a town for ya. Seems to be a living ghost town. We saw maybe three people there. Most just looked at us. One waved. I bet a lot of people just ride through this town taking a few pictures and then leaving. I think they need a town greeter and know-it-all out front. Maybe a tour bus? :) I do like the town though and I would like to come back and stay for about 3 days exploring the area and maybe meeting some of the residents. This is now on my ta-do list. After our brief stay in Darwin we again headed towards Bishop. We wanted to do Cerro Gordo on this trip but time was kicking us in the butt and we had to move on. Next time maybe. We did however find a little extra time to stop in Keeler where we met one of the residents. He has a nice collection of, uh..... well...... junk in his front yard. A Philippine Taxi was among the junk but it runs! We talked a bit and took a few pictures and again headed off towards Bishop. After finally making it to Bishop, we made camp at Horton Creek Campgrounds and kicked back for the night. The following day we decided to re-visit Black Canyon and the Mirage-Mariposa Mine. We also went way past there and up the canyon farther than I had ever gone before. This allowed us to find the other hidden mine that I had never been to. This was quite exciting to me as I had heard about it and never been there. On the last trip I didn't want to venture that far up by myself. We reached the mine at 8800 feet which was about 6 and a half miles up the canyon. Any farther and we would have been in the Bristlecone Pine Forest. We also ventured into the Mirage-Mariposa farther than I have ever been by myself. We only got to spend two nights there before we had to leave for Taft but it was well worth the stop. I got to visit with some of my old friends from Bishop who came by the camp to see me and also ate in our first restaraunt since leaving home. The Sierra Wings Restaraunt at the Bishop Airport is a great place to eat. It sports a great view of the White Mountains also. Make sure you stop in if you are ever in Bishop. |
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| A mine portal we found near Darwin. | Inside we check out the walls and the pickings. | More of the mine walls and pickings. | Some of the support beams look a little shakey. |
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| Looking out towards the portal I see Tim standing there. | Parked in front of the old Darwin Gas Station and Post Office. Notice the old gas pump in front of my truck. | Some old buildings. Notice the D for Darwin on the hill in the background. | Darwin Dance Hall. I'll bet some hearts have been broken in this place in the past. |
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| First school in Darwin. | A peak inside the school in the previous photograph. | The Darwin Mine. Many old and abandoned shacks out front made up the living quarters for the previous miners. | Tim stands next to an old Philipine Taxi in front of a house in Keeler. Many strange things to see here. |
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| More junk packed up in front of this Keeler House. Junk Art? | The owner said this thing acutally runs. Tims sits in it for a test drive but the driver is a little thin. | Looking down a shaft inside the Mirage-Mariposa. We finally made it to Bishop. | Tim stands in the mine to show the size. |
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| Tabby and I continue to explore. Although I've been here before, this is the farthest in I've gone. | We find a winze leading to another tunnel. Too dangerous to explore. | There really seems to be no end to this place. It just keeps going and going. | Ruins of an ore chute from one tunnel to another. |
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| Looking beyond another winze. Again too dangerous to explore. | Another view of the ore chute. | Stopes | The other side of the ore chute. |
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| Tim looks through at me. | Same ore chute, different view. | More stopes. | Water droplets hanging from the ceiling. |
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| and going and going and going..... | Tim stands in the entrance to the mine. | We now head up Black Canyon farther than I've ever gone before. | This canyon gets pretty tight sometimes. No problem for Tim's Amigo. |
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| The formations are outstanding in this canyon. Photos don't do it justice. | The brush is pretty thick also. | The trail is getting to be only wide enough for quads so we decide to widen it with our trucks. | Now it's getting tight even for Tim's Amigo. |
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| Yep. Pretty tight... Tim's first body damage. Let's hear it for Tim! | We make it to the upper mine at about 8800 feet. I don't know the name of this mine or if it has one for that matter. | Inside we find nothing too exciting. | Looking down to the trail from the mine. We had to hike up here. |
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| Heading back down Tim takes over the camera to get a few shots of me. | Better not be worried about your paint job in this canyon. | Tim got this great shot of me navigating some obsticles. | Another good shot of me articulating my axles. |
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| Making our way back down to the Mirage-Mariposa. You can see it in the distance. | |||