Santa Ynez Valley

Santa Ynez Valley
Our Backyard

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Whitney Portal and Cerro Gordo

On October 27th we took a drive up to Whitney Portal,
the primary trailhead for climbing Mount Whitney.


A view of Mount Whitney from Whitney Portal



Varied Thrush in the parking lot



Looking down over the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine



On October 28th we drove up to the Cerro Gordo Ghost Town.  The mines of Cerro Gordo were significant producers of silver in the late 1800s and contributed heavily to the growth of Los Angeles.


A view of some of the remaining buildings



Belshaw House




Gordon House



The American Hotel





The old wood burning stove in the hotel kitchen



Wood stove in hotel common room



Picture of the late Jody Stewart who bought Cerro Gordo from her uncle and began the preservation of the town



Ammonia based ice house next to the hotel




A business often found in mining towns




Victor Beaudry's mercantile





The assay office where ore samples were analyzed for value



The Bunkhouse



Chapel built by Mike Patterson after the death of his wife Jody Stewart Patterson



Remains of Victor Beaudry's silver smelter



View down the Yellow Grade Road with Owens Lake basin and the Sierras beyond



The Horseshoe Meadows Road climbing the Sierras way across the Owens Valley



The Cottonwood Kilns on the west edge of the Owens Lake turned logs into charcoal  for use in the Cerro Gordo smelters.  The logs were brought down from the Sierras by water flume.



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