TRIP LEADER: Roger Vargo

Mexican miners named the area Cerro Gordo (Fat Hill) for its abundant high grade silver ore. Silver from Cerro Gordo’s mines, and its related shipping industry, awakened a sleepy Los Angeles in the 1860s.

WHAT: Starting near Mojave, we’ll follow Mulholland’s aqueduct and the old Midland Trail (Highway 395) to Lone Pine where we’ll spend the next two nights in area motels. We’ll start a weekend of ghost town exploration with a visit through the skeleton of Manzanar, a World War II detention facility. Later, we’ll take a run along a ghost railroad to the ghost town of Reward.   Sunday begins with a first-light visit to the shapely rocks of the Alabama Hills. A visit to Cerro Gordo highlights the day’s activities. We’ll arrive in town from the eastern side. Monday morning we leave Owens Valley by way of the near-ghost town of Darwin.