Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Winnedumah Paiute Monument


Winnedumah Paiute Monument - if you know where to look you can see this granite monolith on the Inyo Mountain crest from both the Owen's Valley and Saline Valley. Thanks to our friends Chris and Rosie for pointing this out and providing the inspiration for this hike.  

There are several legends about Winnedumah which you can look at here:  Winnedumah .  

Winnedumah
A little internet searching turned up a number of routes and most told us to bring a 60' rope if we wanted to get to the top.  No thanks to the second part, it is classified as a 5.5 route (mountain climber classification system).  Susan refuses to do anything with a number greater than 3 as it could involve falling to your death.  Most routes follow old roads for most of the way, but one followed an old miner's trail.  Now that is interesting.  Bob took the vague descriptions Susan found and plotted it on a map.  If we could find the trail on the ground, it would be an interesting outing.  If we couldn't find it, then ...  



What we would have to get trough without a trail.  The sign says danger as there was a large deep open mine shaft.

Coming down the trail
The view as we start our hike


Armed with this half vast knowledge, we invited our friend Hikin' Bill along.  He was game; thought it sounded like an adventure.

And it was.  A glorious adventure.  We meandered up a lovely flower studded hillside and then lo and behold, there was the trail.  That was a very good thing as without it, we would have been hard pressed to make our way through this rough country.





















We passed several prospects on the way and spent time looking for something on the map labeled Susan Number 1 Prospect.  We could not find a thing of any interest in that area. Oh well, Susan was disappointed, as she wanted her picture taken by some exotic mine relic, but that wasn't to be.

Horned lizard
A room with a view and a chair to view the room.  Hmmm
A piece of old water pipe

Winnedumah on the other hand did not disappoint.  It was impressive, as were the views in all directions.



Taking selfies???

Mazourka Peak
The view back down to our car

Looking out into Saline Valley




Bill providing perspective on how tall Winnedumah is








Wednesday, May 24, 2017

The Bridge At The Little Kern River


Paul organized another hike.  This one going to the suspension bridge on the Little Kern River.  Since we didn't know there was a little Kern River or a suspension bridge over it, we decided to join the group and check out a new area.

The bridge was built in 1957 to replace one that was swept away during a high water year.  And this is a year when hikers really need a bridge.

Round trip we did 11 or so miles which was quite an accomplishment in the heat; it was 86 when we got back to the car.  This area is crisscrossed with trails, so further exploration here is possible.




Western hounds tongue, Cynoglossum occidentale


Mimulus


Snowplant


Mountain Pride Penstemon newberryi

What remains of the old bridge is on the flat rock

Now that's a bridge