Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - May 17th
Day 38: Friday 17th May Cameron Ridge – Peak 6253
I arrived at where the Cameron Overpass across Highway 58 in mid-morning. I
normally hung wilderness supplies in the trees, but the area was treeless and I had made
the mistake of burying the my supply bag in the sandy soil close to the overpass, where
it was used as a rubbish dump by car drivers. Unfortunately this attracted burrowing
animals and they had discovered, dug up and destroyed my supplies. They had also
destroyed the water cache that “trail angels” had left at the site. I waited for
“Cloudwalker” and “Billy Goat” and when they turned up “Honey Bear” drove me into
Mojave to buy some more supplies.
Unfortunately this meant I had to climb out of the pass in the heat of the afternoon
with the temperature reaching 100ºF in the non-existent shade. Looking back to Mojave
I could see the airport visible in the haze over the desert. There were over 100 large
passenger aircraft parked up at the airfield including several from BA and Virgin
Atlantic. This airfield was used for mothballing aircraft, as the dry desert air was good
for the aircraft and, after the Twin Towers attack on September 11th 2001, it was much
in demand. Also visible in the desert were the Soledad Mountain and Elephant Butte,
riddled with over 100 miles of tunnels from their gold and silver mines. In the distance
were Rogers Dry Lake and the landing strip for the Edwards Air Force Base where the
Space Shuttle lands.
The wind was getting up again as I camped at a sheltered spot on the ridge near to the
Sky River wind Farm, whose output is 600 million kWhr/year, sufficient for a town of
300,000 population.
Day 38: 12.6 miles 5.58 hours Camp: Col near Peak 6253
I arrived at where the Cameron Overpass across Highway 58 in mid-morning. I
normally hung wilderness supplies in the trees, but the area was treeless and I had made
the mistake of burying the my supply bag in the sandy soil close to the overpass, where
it was used as a rubbish dump by car drivers. Unfortunately this attracted burrowing
animals and they had discovered, dug up and destroyed my supplies. They had also
destroyed the water cache that “trail angels” had left at the site. I waited for
“Cloudwalker” and “Billy Goat” and when they turned up “Honey Bear” drove me into
Mojave to buy some more supplies.
Unfortunately this meant I had to climb out of the pass in the heat of the afternoon
with the temperature reaching 100ºF in the non-existent shade. Looking back to Mojave
I could see the airport visible in the haze over the desert. There were over 100 large
passenger aircraft parked up at the airfield including several from BA and Virgin
Atlantic. This airfield was used for mothballing aircraft, as the dry desert air was good
for the aircraft and, after the Twin Towers attack on September 11th 2001, it was much
in demand. Also visible in the desert were the Soledad Mountain and Elephant Butte,
riddled with over 100 miles of tunnels from their gold and silver mines. In the distance
were Rogers Dry Lake and the landing strip for the Edwards Air Force Base where the
Space Shuttle lands.
The wind was getting up again as I camped at a sheltered spot on the ridge near to the
Sky River wind Farm, whose output is 600 million kWhr/year, sufficient for a town of
300,000 population.
Day 38: 12.6 miles 5.58 hours Camp: Col near Peak 6253
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Railroad, Tehachapi Pass
Highway 58,
Tehachapi Pass
Tehachapi Pass
Ridge above
Tehachapi Pass
Tehachapi Pass