Mike's 93 Jeep
Jeep Jamboree
Bridgeport, CA
Sept 27 - 28, 2002
 jeep jamboree usa

 

This outing is about seeing other parts of the country as well as learning how to handle your Jeep.  The Eastern Sierras are a thing of beauty to me.  I would probably live there if it wasn't for the cold winters.  I really love the ruggedness of it.   The elevation is between 7000 and 9000 feet.

The above panorama gives one the idea of the expanse of the environment.

Here is an Aspen grove changing color.  We were so overjoyed that they did it just for us.

Note the horses grazing in the little meadow.
Here is a cowboy rounding up a few cattle to take to lower pasture for the winter. 

Those are a few of the Jeeps in our group continuing down the trail.
Now these next three photos are of me going up a sandy hill.  Gloria got out and walked up the hill just to capture these pictures. 

A couple of the Wrangler Jeeps had to coast back down and start again as they were not able to make it during the first attempt.
It got a little tricky approaching the bend.
At the bend, I lost a little traction on the rear tires and threw up a little dust.  But the 4 x 4 came thru.  

Love that front wheel drive.
More scenery.  This time the rocks are very jagged and rough where earlier they were quite smooth.

CIRCLE The WAGONS

Here we are stopped at an abandon mine and learn some things about mining and how tough life was for those that followed that way of life.

A snow avalanche here in about 1900 wiped out the town and caused them to move it further down the valley.
Here is a stamp or crusher mill, or what is left of it.  This was an interesting place because of all the open mines that were in the immediate vicinity. 

There was one hole with no cover, and after dropping a rock and waiting a while to hear any noise, I didn't get very close.  But it was extremely interesting...

SNOW IN SEPTEMBER IN CALIF???

 

YEP.  We had every type of weather in those 2 days.  The snow lasted for about an hour, and the trail and the hills became all white.

Pity the folks with open Wranglers that did not bring their side curtains.  Or long pants.  One guy was wrapped in a blanket he was so cold.  Californian's are not used to this...
the ghost town of Bodie
Bodie, California
Ghost Town

As we pulled into Bodie, the snow and rain quit, and the steam started rising off the earth.

There is so much history here that Gloria and I went back the next day when the sun was shining.

Click on the photo to go to the Bodie page.
Below is a photo from our trip home.  We were traveling north on HWY 395 and had been following the Walker River.  We came upon the remains of the forest fire that went thru there this past spring.  I think it was one of the first major fires of the year.  We were amazed at how many miles we followed the charred remains.  In this photo panorama, we are on the top of the mountain about 10,000 ft. and I took these photos.  As far as we could see down the ridge in the center it was burned.  Even where we were had been burned.  It was really sad.  A plane that was fighting the fire crashed, killing the crew.

Where Can You Take a JEEP?

ANYWHERE!!