Before we set off we had a decent breakfast at Bar 53 in Mammoth Village, and although we haven’t made much of the food on our blog, we had to make an exception here, for we know our good friend Maricar would enjoy seeing the picture…
avocado, peas and mint on toast with poached eggs. A little bit eaten, sorry, the pic was an after-thought.
Today was a travel day, and a story of highs and lows. We left the ski resort of Mammoth Lakes, at an elevation of around 8000 feet, and made our way back to sea level, about 200 miles to the South East. Not that there is any sea here, though far from it – this is the arid landscape of Death Valley. Our destination was Furnace Creek, 190 feet below sea level.
Driving the long stretch from Lone Pine to Furnace Creek – interrupted only by the ranger station at Stovepipe Wells, the road goes on and on, through desert wilderness and occasionally down steep, winding mountain passes.
The road is long, with never a winding turn…
Down in Death Valley itself we actually traversed two valleys, and while we were descending, the temperature was on the rise.
When we left Mammoth Lakes this morning, the temperature had been a cool 66 degrees fahrenheit (about 19 degrees centigrade, very familiar from home). By the time we reached our hotel, the thermometer had soared to a blistering 119 degrees (nearly 49 degrees centigrade).
just for evidence…
In fact, Furnace Creek holds the world record for the highest temperature ever recorded (check that one out in the record book, Max!) – but you’d have had to be here on 10th July 1913 to experience the 134 degree heat (56.7 degrees centigrade).
The Ranch at Furnace Creek is like a little oasis, and very well set up to cater for batty Europeans who visit Death Valley in August. Surprisingly, the world famous golf course (which we view from our window) is a lush green, though there are very few people on the fairways just now.
Tomorrow we venture into the hot valley and until then, here’s a lovely sunset over Furnace.
One of the things that has struck us in our journeying through America is how many dangers lurk around corners. We had already been warned about the Mountain Lions and Rattlers; but Yosemite is a whole nuther ball game. Here there are also several breeds of branded Yosemite mosquito, extensive evidence of forest fires that have been raging throughout California, and rock falls or precipitous drops on each side of the road. Then there’s the plague, carried in these parts by your friendly neighbourhood chipmunk (and caught by at least two humans this summer). And finally, the bears. We had to remove absolutely everything from the car in case it was raided and torn apart by hungry animals looking for a Hershey Bar.
Armed and ready, though, we decided to trek out into the Yosemite wilderness. We chose to do the Gaylor Lakes Trail, which was fairly short, but which took us up a steep, forested embankment to about 10,500 feet, before opening out into a flat grassland with several beautiful mountain lakes.
Dominic said Karen could star in this pic…
The views from the top of the trail were absolutely stunning, particularly those looking back on Yosemite behind us. Beyond the far end of the second lake was a narrow path leading up to the Great Sierra Mine, a remote silver mine dating back to about 1880.
Now, with silver selling for about $14 an ounce (compared to gold’s $1133 per ounce), you can see why it has gone into something of a decline; and the two hour hike to the top of the mine shaft doesn’t exactly make the Great Sierra seam cost-effective any more. Nevertheless, it was this sort of a seam that William Randolph Hearst’s father mined in the 1840s, lugging 38 tons of the stuff back over the mountains to San Francisco. Well, we saw what came of that – it was obviously worth a pretty penny back in the day.
Our hike was truly exhilarating and we had a real sense of satisfaction in reaching the silver mine. And, although you do need to take the wilderness seriously and heed the warnings, the benefits of this wonderful place far exceed the potential hazards (we were quite disappointed not to see any bears – although probably for the best).
But today’s adventures were really only beginning.
We’d come to this side of the park for a very particular reason – to see the extraordinary tufa sculptures of Mono Lake. After a spot of lunch we drove into the lakeside town of Lee Vining, and were at first a bit disheartened because smoke from the Sequoia Park forest fire had completely overcast the sky, making our chance of seeing these sculptures more or less impossible. However, we stopped in at the visitors centre, run by Mono Lake Committee, and watched their promotional film about the lake and their efforts to save it. This really altered our perspective on the lake, and following the advice of a really helpful volunteer from the committee, we opted to go on the guided tour later that evening, by which time, we hoped, the smoke would have cleared.
So with a bit of time to kill we climbed a volcano.
This was the Panum Crater, a plug volcano that was formed only about 650 years ago. It’s just a short off-road drive from the highway, and easy to hike up through the pumice field to take a look at the plug itself.
By the time we came down, the sky was beginning to clear a bit, so we ventured further on to the South Tufa beach area, where we met up with our wonderful and very knowledgeable guide Andrew.
Mono Lake is extraordinary, as you can see from these pictures. And the tufa, which are limestone sculptures formed when fresh water streams bubble into the alkali waters of the lake, are ghostly, ethereal and other-wordly. They give the place the look of a lunar landscape, or a prehistoric terrain. Strangely, though, we were told they are probably only about 200 years old.
However, although most visitors come to see the lake in order to gaze at these extraordinary tufas, the story of the lake itself is even more extraordinary, and it was this that really turned our interest in Mono Lake on its head. It transpires that these tufas were all formed underwater, and that until 1941, the Lake would have been several vertical feet higher, and covering significantly more land. But in 1941, the city of Los Angeles (over 300 miles away) decided to pipe water from the surrounding streams by aqueduct to supply the growing city, and as a result the lake shrank in size, devastating its natural ecology and threatening its habitat. It was only thanks to the decades-long battle of the Mono Lake Committee that a landmark victory was achieved against the big boys in LA. In 1994, a high court ruled that the diverted watercourses should be rerouted to feed the lake again until it had reached a compromise level. The good news is that the ecosystem of the lake has been saved, and it has now risen several vertical feet; the bad news is that current drought conditions have presented a natural threat to the ongoing security of the lake. It looks like it will be several years before the lake reaches the height that was agreed by that landmark ruling. But we have been really inspired by the work of the committee in rescuing this extraordinary place and in saving the lake for the birds and marine life that inhabit it.
This whole area, if you are travelling in California, is an absolute MUST-SEE. The marketing material states that Yosemite is the ‘best place on earth’…they could be right!
Today has been one of the highlights of our trip so far. We had a fantastic 2 hour gold mining lesson down at a dry creek with Frying Pan Frank, Brent and T.J (and a couple of their dogs).
We were a bit sceptical at first, we honestly thought that they would chuck a few flakes of gold into the earth so we would come away pleased. But, this was evidently not the case. We worked hard to extract gold, and we learnt so much from these professionals. Frank (known as Frying Pan Frank, because he’s a good chef) has his own claim, and he showed us how to prospect and go through the various stages of cleaning up the soil, sifting through it and then finding the gold. He has his own step by step way of going through the process, and his obvious desire to share his skills makes it easy to learn.
Karen using the dry washer.
We also learnt how to use the dry washer – and this helps to get things done a bit quicker. Brent’s father set up the spot along the creek so that ‘everyone could have their chance at the experience of prospecting and finding gold’, and school kids have enjoyed learning these skills here.
We felt that not only did we have a super, enjoyable morning, but that there was a sense of ‘passing down the skills’ which we really valued.
We would totally recommend the experience, so if you ever come along to Jamestown be sure to look these guys up. If you think $180 is expensive for 2 people, we think the quality of the teaching and the fun that you have really is worth it (in fact, we’d recommend a slightly more expensive three-hour session). Oh, and you never know you might also come away with some gold. Whatever you find is yours to keep. We found a little bit – Frank reckons about $20-30, but I don’t suppose we will be in a hurry to sell it. It’s a great memento of our time here!
So check these guys out here: http://www.goldprospecting.com
and here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gold-Prospecting-Adventure-LLC/157108184330085
Then it was on to Yosemite…Wow! This park is amazing. The sights are extraordinary and change regularly throughout the park. Most people tend to come in to the park from the West for a day trip to see the stunning waterfalls and perhaps do a spot of hiking. We’ll be doing some of that tomorrow (from the East side, minus the waterfalls – because of the drought), but our purpose today was slightly different: we were driving through the whole park from West to East on Highway 120, a distance of over 50 miles on windy roads getting higher and higher on the Sierra plateau. It’s slow going, but well worth it, and every few miles the scenery completely changes from extensive pine forest around Yosemite Creek to staggering vistas of white rock around Olmsted Point, to verdant stretches of watery flatland like the Tuolomne Meadows. The many lakes in the park are just stunning with their mountainous backdrops: especially Tenaya Lake, which even has a shoreline and a beach. We could have spent days just taking pictures and soaking up the scenery. There are beautiful lakes that you can swim in and hikes all over the place. We can’t wait to come back tomorrow and experience some more, though today’s drive has been a really magical experience, taking in the park as a whole in a snapshot and really opening our eyes to the majesty of its natural beauty.
We have stopped for the night at Mammoth Lakes Inn, just beyond the park. This is a ski resort from about October until July (we know, a long season). We found the hotel service to be a bit rubbish, so we won’t dwell on that, and why would we when there is so much beauty to experience up the road in Yosemite, and we will continue doing that tomorrow.
Leaving wine country we headed East, though the impression was that we were going further into the West. It was wild west territory we were hitting, and the landscape changed markedly from the lush greens of the valleys to the yellow prairies and then the speckled hillsides of gold rush country.
apparently best burgers in the valley. They were pretty good!
Stopping for lunch at a classic American Diner with a Hawaiian twist (!!!) – Hula’s in Escalon – we reached our new digs mid-afternoon. Riding in on our trusty black stallion, we felt every bit the outsider coming into town. Dominic yearned for his all-black jeans and shirt so he could look like a proper bad cowboy; and Karen fished in the suitcase for enough petticoats to pass in this town as we clattered into the saloon.
“Y’all look like you need a drink,” came a voice from the corner. And here we met Sabrina, the charming bartender of the National Historic Hotel – hosts in the past of many a western film crew.
As you might expect, the hotel, like the town, is right out of the nineteenth century, and comes with everything from a stoop to a soaking room (bath) to a resident ghost, and stories of shoot-outs. A tour around the town took two-and-a-bit minutes, but we lengthened it by taking plenty of snapshots just to confirm to the locals that we were indeed the out-of-towners. By 6pm we were absolutely baked because the outside temp was still 101 degrees fahrenheit. Considering that the hottest temp ever recorded in the UK is 98 degrees, that is damn hot!
As we settled into a pint and lots of chat with Sabrina and the proprietor Stephen, we heard all the stories, and felt like we really should be outside by the camp fire waiting for sundown and the howling of the coyotes. We heard about Christopher Lloyd filming Back to the Future 3 here, and enjoying a couple of whiskey’s of an evening; we also heard about Black Bart the bank robber, a San Francisco school teacher by day, who was finally caught just down the road but who never revealed where his $10m was stashed; and we heard about Flora, a young girl who was planning her wedding when her fiancé got shot and killed in the saloon bar: Flo died of a broken heart two days later, but still haunts the hotel to this day.
Dominic’s reading Sam North’s excellent book “Diamonds” at the moment, which is all about the Sierra Nevada Diamond Rush of the 1870s. Well worth a read, especially when you are holed up in the very towns that were part of those early prospecting days!
Tomorrow we’re going panning: there’s gold in dem dere hills.
We woke this morning in Sonoma with a slight fog, but it’s really rather nice. The chef at Gaige House tells us that most mornings begin overcast but quickly clear, and that the locals find this refreshing.
We took a stroll down the main street of Glen Ellen to find this strange house with a lot of iron features, which is quite unusual. In fact as we stood taking pictures a local chap drove by and shouted out “how weird is that house, eh, I love it”, so it’s quite famous amongst the community it would seem.
Glen Ellen is a tiny hamlet, with a population of only about 750. But one former inhabitant is the celebrated novelist and explorer Jack London.
Jack London was born in 1876, and seems to have had a most amazing life – he was a gold prospector in Canada, an Oyster pirate in the pacific ocean, a rancher and pig farmer on his property in Glen Ellen, a journalist for the Hearst organisation, and, most famously, a novelist. After having 600 rejections from publishers, he finally managed to have some of his short story material published, and from about 1900 until his death in 1916 published over 50 novels. Amazingly, he combined this with a relentless round-the-world touring itinerary, building his own yacht (for $30,000) and setting off via Hawaii for the pacific islands. Lots of his stories chart these adventures. Not surprisingly, Jack London has become Glen Ellen’s claim to fame, and many of the buildings – like this saloon – trade on the back of his notoriety.
We decided to spend some time hiking around his old farmstead, which has now become a state historic park. We hadn’t realised quite how controversial and interesting his life was until we visited the museum and grounds. It’s such good value: we paid $10 for entry which included our car and both of us (although you could have up to 9 passengers – so for big groups, it’s even better value). We thought the museum in the House of Happy Walls (a home dedicated to Jack and Charmian and left by Charmian to the California State National Parks) was full of interesting material about their lives and their travels. The walk around the grounds was quite haunting, and a bit daunting given the warning regarding rattlesnakes and mountain lions. But, never fear…Karen prepared herself with a dry brittle stick in our defence!
Karen, armed in defence of rattlesnakes and mountain lions.
Unlike at Muir Woods where we were asked to be very quiet and respect the sounds of nature, on this hike we were asked to make lots of noise to scare off the predators….hmmm, so we got Dominic to sing some of his favourite show tunes – that would surely keep them at bay!
It was quite heartbreaking to see the graves of two youngsters whose family had settled on the land. Sadly, when things hadn’t worked out for the family the parents had to leave the little graves of their children behind. So, this is where Jack said he would also like to be buried, which he was when he died from kidney failure aged just 40.
It’s a lovely spot, peaceful and quite enchanting with all the trees, and not far from his dream house – Wolf House. This is also a sad story, a house that was never lived in because it burned down a month before Jack and Charmian were to move in in 1913. There are various rumours about the fire including, from the locals, the suspicion that the fire was an insurance scam, intended to leave Charmian an inheritance when the ailing Jack died. Whatever the situation, it is still a tragic tale. This whole place, and Jack and Charmian’s journeys are about lives lived to the full, brightly, but not without their ups and downs. The stories can’t fail to touch everyone in some way.
Empty shell of the burned out Wolf House (Jack London’s dream house).
Well, even though this is the heart of wine country it seemed more appropriate to finish today off with a pint in Jack London’s saloon. Karen got her chops round some saucy chicken wings, and all was well with the world…
We made a quick stop at the Zoo in SF so we could get a pic (this really was just so Karen could conclude her ‘dream’ experience). Unfortunately we didn’t have time to ‘do the zoo’ because we wanted to visit Muir Woods on our way to Sonoma Valley.
On our way out of SF we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge, it was bright and sunny today so had we been on a bike I think we would have enjoyed the views very much. We still recommend cycling over – it is the best way to experience the bridge and the views.
So, Muir Woods – WOW! what an enchanting place. The trees are staggeringly tall and the Monument Park is a joy to walk around. It can be quite serene, although we went on a busy sunday so at times it was a bit noisy.
If you get a chance to visit then do. On the road in it said the parking lots were full and to use the shuttle, however we managed to find parking on the road nearby (people are leaving throughout the day – so it is possible to find a space). For those English drivers – you will get a ticket anywhere in the US if you park facing the wrong way (they say you have gone against the flow of traffic). We saw a ticket being placed on a car for this reason, so the wardens are really tough on it. We weren’t aware of this rule until Josh in SF alerted us (very grateful to Josh).
Karen hugging a very large redwood.Redwood, Muir Woods
If you look hard you might be able to see two deer grazing.
From the Muir Woods it is just a quick trip to the Sonoma Valley, although the traffic can get quite heavy as you approach the Napa and Sacramento turn off. Fortunately we were heading left to Sonoma (the less well-known and so therefore less commercial of the two wine valleys). We arrived at Gaige House to a fantastic greeting of a cheese and wine reception – ‘best welcome to a hotel we’ve experienced’, for obvious reasons! The hotel is really nice, picturesque grounds, lots of trees, and a chilled vibe.
We chatted to some of the other guests over a few glasses of wine and then headed into the village for a meal. We ate a delicious steak frites at the Fig Cafe, and sampled a flight of four reds, our favourite was the 2013 Cline Cellars’ Mourvedre.
After that, and all the cheese we had already consumed, we realised we needed a lie-down. Looking forward to a full-day of Sonoma tomorrow.
Friday morning, and we awake to San Francisco shrouded in its perennial fog. What a change from the sweltering temperatures we enjoyed in Southern California!
The city is at its best from a distance, but that means exercise: climbing one of the many hills to view it from above (perhaps from Alamo Square, where the postcard-famous “Painted Ladies” houses are, or perhaps from Lombard Street, the most wiggly street in the city). Or you can view the waterfront skyline of the city from the Bay, from where it looks dynamic and charismatic, or even from the Bridge, which of course is an experience in itself.
A row of houses called the painted ladies. The houses are a bit over-rated, but the view from Alamo square beyond the ‘ladies’ is pretty impressive.
We’ve been staying in The Grove Inn and the people here have been really helpful and friendly. We would definitely recommend the hotel. Josh can’t do enough to make sure that we have all the advice we need, and we haven’t felt at all threatened being here, so fortunately our taxi driver on the first evening must have been a bit OTT with his warnings about the area. These ladies are just a stone’s-throw away.
We had to visit Haight-Ashbury, though it’s lost a lot of its flower-power appeal. You can buy plenty of tie-dye shirts in the shops, but the street corner is now dominated by a Ben and Jerry’s. It feels like all the soul that is left here is in its patchouli and nicotine stained fingernails, rather like Camden.
Dom at Haight-Ashbury. Looking for his inner-hippie (he hasn’t found it…)The most wiggly road…Lombard st.
Down at the tourist packed piers, you can escape the crowds and noisy buskers for an alternative form of entertainment. Musee mecanique is like a Victorian Amusement Arcade. You just need plenty of quarters…
Dom has a look at a Victorian peep show. There were only giggles….This Sailor is called Jolly Jack. We’ve seen one of these before at the museum in Portsmouth, U.K.Think this young lady is called Laffing Sal. What a picture!
Fishing boat at pier 47. This is where you see the real work. It’s not as touristy as pier 39.We had a good brunch here.
One of the reasons we decided to come to S.F is because of a dream that Karen had about 18 years ago. Karen’s nanny (Rita Wise) was on her death bed, but one night Karen dreamt that they both flew to S.F, under the Golden Gate Bridge and then visited the zoo. It was a peculiarly uplifting and warm dream. A couple of days later she died, but Karen remembered the jumper that she was wearing in the dream, and has always wanted to come to S.F and bring her nanny’s jumper with her – a sort of revisiting for them both. Flying under the bridge is somewhat impractical, so we decided to bike it instead. You can see Karen in her nanny’s jumper in these pics.
So, we are cycling SF today. Once Dom has struggled with his head gear.Karen wearing Nanny Rita’s jumper on the way to GG bridge.
In the rather charming village of Sausalito you can see Bill Dan working with stones to make these incredible sculptures that appear to defy gravity. You can see his stuff on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/user/bebalance . Sausalito is a must-see destination – even if it’s just to look back over the landscape, and as you can see, when SF over the bay is grey and misty, this little village is a beautiful sun-trap. It comes with the large numbers of tourists that also think this place is worth a visit…but if you cycle about you can probably find a quiet spot (interestingly, you can’t just lock your bikes up here…you have to park them with a valet…at the cost of about $2 or $3 – that perhaps shows you how up-market this spot is).
sculptures at Sausalito.Dominic on GG bridge looking out towards Sausalito.View from the ferry from Sausalito to S.F Ferry building. In the background you can see the GG bridge and Alcatraz.So this is the less infamous Bay Bridge. Still pretty cool, but doesn’t get the attention of it’s cousin the Golden Gate. Both built the same year – 1937.
A quick visit to Union square provided more interesting stories for us as we had a mooch about this classic hotel.
So, this is one of the landmark hotels in Union square. It also happens to be the hotel where Fatty Arbuckle had his infamous wild party, and poor Virginia Rappe lost her life. As it happens we discovered Al Jolson also died here of a heart attack in 1950.This hotel has several stories…it would seem.
We’ve had some really memorable moments in San Francisco. We caught up with friends in Glen Park (thanks Helen and Leslie for delicious pizza and a delightful evening), we enjoyed our cycle ride, and we were pleased to discover some of SF’s charms.
But even so, we’ll leave San Francisco with reservations about the city. The centre part of the city is a big disappointment. Downtown is dirty, with its aging buildings faded and peeling; all over the city the traffic is congested, even though the area is well-served by public transport; the Embarcadero down by the seafront is commercialized beyond excess; and most distressing are the hundreds of down-and-outs sleeping rough in the streets or pushing their belongings around in trolleys. Junkies shoot up in City Hall Park just metres away from newly-married couples posing for photos on the steps. Tramps sleep all over the place; the city teems with the mentally ill or dispossessed; and even in the more artistic quarters like Hayes Valley, demoralized twenty-somethings mooch dolefully over their drinks. San Francisco seems like a city that has lost hope. It’s one of the most eye-opening places we’ve seen in many trips to America. Obama, what are you doing? If there is ever a city that should demand an answer to this question, then it is SF. There should be so much hope here, but we struggled to find it, and our thoughts are that the American system is letting these people down, and the government needs to sort that out.
You can’t visit LA without doing Hollywood, so we had to go up and see the Hollywood sign, of course: finding a sneaky route up through Griffith Park gives you loads of great views. But for us, Hollywood is most resonant because of Fatty Arbuckle the silent comedian, whose career took a nose-dive after a sex scandal in the 1920s. In 2009 we put on a show called “Sweet FA“, which was all about Fatty and the girl who threw herself off the Hollywood sign, Peg Entwistle. So for us, it wasn’t the Hollywood Walk of Fame that called, but instead Fatty’s house on 649 West Adams Boulevard, a mock-tudor mansion that is now an unassuming college home for Bible students (so Dominic’s going in…).
Dominic outside what was Fatty Arbuckle’s front door.Fatty Arbuckle’s once-upon home at 649 West Adams Boulevard. Fatty lived here until he had to let it go after his court case in the early 1920s
Gotta have a Hollywood selfie!
We also took a drive out to Venice Beach. Although we were extremely lucky to find some free parking, you could be looking at about 20-35 dollars to park, the beach and the vibe wasn’t really our cup of tea. A bit too much like Skegness at home – although way busier! Some will love the full-on hectic atmosphere, but we were most impressed by this painted house just before you reach the beach.
A painted wall near Venice beach.
This is as close as we got to the centre of L.A. Lots of buildings are going up, it’s interesting how they have bunched all the skyscrapers together. Maybe to make the skyline impressive, or something to do with all the hills around L.A (?)
Bit of a building site.
This pic had to go in the blog: great signs in the US!
Yield when flashing
Finished up our day with dinner, although we had to leave the Bachi Burger restaurant in Old Pasadena because we didn’t have any I.D with us and they thought Karen was underage (having recently just turned 40!). It would have been flattering if the manager had not been so officious in his manner. So we left. Thankfully, that terrible customer service was balanced by the wonderful reception we found at the California Pizza Kitchen on N. Los Robles Ave. Our hostess Sandi was super, and gave us lots of tips for the rest of our trip. Great food here as well, and really pleasant to be able to dine outside just a stone’s throw from our hotel.
Seeing the world through the eyes of a Savage 