Category: Trip Reports

Bodie and Aurora rivalry continues to this day

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Two towns located in the hills above Mono Lake maintain, the Bodie and Aurora rivalry continues even now, long past their demise.  Bodie, CA and Aurora, NV boomed with the gold rush of the 1870s and busted just years later when the gold ran out and faded into history.  Miners, merchants, and people would undoubtedly moved either direction between the two cities and with good fortune would undoubtedly talk down the previous city.  Such is human nature, but why would this rivalry continue long past the demise of both towns?

The Standard Mill, Bodie, CA. Photograph by James L Rathbun
The Standard Mill, Bodie, CA. Photograph by James L Rathbun

Bodie, CA is the crown jewel of ghost towns.  Maintained in a state of arrested decay and located just 13 miles off the 395 highway outside of Bridgeport, CA, Bodie hosts over 100,000 visitors each year.  The current site has some 100 structures, flush toilets, museum, guided tours, on-site staff, a website, Facebook presence and a gift shop.  (I own two coffee mugs and three shirts)  During a visit two Bodie, I over heard two fellow visitors joking about a StarBucks coffee located near the fire station.  Bodie, justifiably is a popular place to visit, there are many people there when you visit.

Aurora, NV Photograph by James L Rathbun
Aurora, NV Photograph by James L Rathbun

By contrast, Aurora is a forgotten intersection of two roads.  The town was raised long ago for its brick, and only two structures are not lost two the bush and those are unrecognizable monuments to the towns past.  Few visitors will reach the town site of Aurora and those who do might be disappointed in what they find.  By almost any measure there is no comparison in the quality of a visit to the two towns in modern times.  So, why would there be an active effort on the part of those affiliated with Bodie to discourage visitor from driving to Aurora? Does the Bodie and Aurora rivalry continue to this day?

On a visit in June, 2016 I walked into the museum and spoke with one of the park staff / ranger to inquire about Aurora.  I told the ranger I was planning to drive to Aurora and asked “How many miles is it to Aurora?”

The Ranger replied, “I think it is about 30 miles?”

I answered, “Well, I thought it was about 9 miles, but I don’t remember the source so I could be wrong.”  I thanked him and moved on.

Perplexed a bit, I walked around the museum and studied a few exhibits.   Once of the exhibits I saw was a hand written note / map, which noted that it was 6 miles to the Nevada border and Aurora was 10 miles past that point.  I returned to the Ranger at the front desk and told him, “Apparently, we are both wrong you have a document which states it is 16 miles to Aurora.”

He replied, “Well, it can be a rough road and I heard the bridge is out.”

Again, I thanked him and walked off towards the jeep.  Rough roads do not cause much concern, and a bridge being out is a binary concern.  We can either pass or not pass and will not know until we get there.  I loaded my family into the jeep, reset the trip odometer and sent off east towards Aurora.  We followed the road and Bodie Creek North from Bodie and soon we reached a small bridge.   As we drove over the bridge, I thought to myself, “Well so much from that bridge being out…”

As we continued down Bodie Creek there was another bridge, which was indeed out but immediately the obstacle was passable via the road to the right.    The bypass simple dropped down a few feet, crossed Bodie Creek and up the other side.  Not any issue with our Jeep JK.  We continued down the road and made a right turn to climb the hill into Aurora.  We soon reach an valley covered in sage brush with a wooden structure which appeared to be a head frame.  A moment later we reached and intersection and another concrete structure which was the remains of a building.  Surely, this must the Aurora.

Everything about the small valley was screaming Aurora.  The map told me we found Aurora.  Memories from my last visit 30 years prior told me it was Aurora.  The structural remains told me we found Aurora.  Everything told me that we found Aurora, except my trip odometer.  Since my cell phone GPS is worthless with no Internet connection, the one piece of measuring equipment told me I was 5 miles off of my destination.  After lunch we headed out again and soon found ourselves in the highlands above Mono Lake in extremely rough terrain.  We finally reached mile 16 and knew that the distance measurement found in the Bodie Museum was flat out wrong and wrong in a big way!

Remains of Aurora bricks found deep in the undergrowth. Photograph by James L Rathbun
Remains of Aurora bricks found deep in the undergrowth. Photograph by James L Rathbun

We turned around and returned to the site we believed to be Aurora.  Again we checked the maps, and everything appeared to match.  We had an intersection with another road.  We had a few limited structures.  One further investigation, we began to see flattened buildings in the over growth of sage brush.  Two structures became several.  As I walked through the thigh high sage brush, I looked down and saw bricks!  Bricks are the sure sign that we found Aurora!

Photographic landscape comparison between our trip and a historical photograph.
Photographic landscape comparison between our trip and a historical photograph.  The angles are slightly different but clearly the hillside line up.

So, how do we explain the differences in the distances.   My memory, which is fallible, was 9 miles.  The Ranger told me about 30, which I believed was way off.  The map in the museum told me 16 miles, and my odometer measured 11.5.  I reset my odometer and drove back to Bodie and duplicated my initial measurement of 11.5 miles and made a mental note of the dilemma.  Why is the distance so wrong?  I am willing the accept a slight variation in the mileage measurement of the jeep.  I have 35″ tires on the 4×4 and the gears are changed to 5.13:1.  The computer was changed to reflect these modifications.  This could explain a slight variation but not 4 miles over 16 if the program parameters are not exact or correct.

When we returned to camp that night I checked the “Bodie State Historic Park” guide purchased when I arrived at Bodie and published and revised in 2010.  On page one there is a town map with a reference to Aurora at a distance of 18 miles away!!!  Great, another number for the distance between the two towns.

When I arrived home I opened up Google Earth and check my measurement for the Bodie to Aurora Trail.  This measurement from Google Earth is 12.1 miles are more or less corroborates my measurement.  So, why would California State Parks publish an erroneous value and lengthen the distance of the Road from Bodie to Aurora?  Could the fact that California “lost” Aurora to  and its revenue to Nevada when the area was surveyed in 1863 explain this behavior?   Does the Bodie and Aurora rivalry between the two towns continue?  Could it be that the mile distances site actually describe a longer route around the mountain to the north west of Aurora.  Perhaps no one from California State Parks has checked?

I prefer to think of this is the last argument in the rivalry between two lost mining towns. An underhanded slight to history. The Bodie and Aurora rivalry continues…

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The Green Gopher

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Growing up in the 70’s I learned and spent a lot of time camping, hiking, being outdoors and active.  Every spring summer and fall, my parents and I would load up the truck, and later the trailer and head out.  Typically preparations would start the week before departure, and the loading process would start on Thursday afternoon with my brother and I hauling all the gear into the yard, while my mom packed the vehicles.  Friday could not come soon enough and when it did, my dad would come home from work, change is clothes, wrangle up two kids, maybe a dog, adjust the mirrors, and exclaim “We’re off” as we drove out of the driveway in The Green Gopher.  For the most part, for my family nothing much has changed much from my dad.  It is however the details that matter.

In 1972, I was one year old and to celebrate my dad bought a new truck.  Details of the vehicle back then are scarce.  From my point of view, my dad previously owned a 1964 International Scout.  He drive this car for years all over the desert south west in the late 1960s.  When my dad married my mom, my mom made him sell the Scout because the breaks were horrible, and at least three times they failed completely.  It was a wise decision considering the stakes for the family at the time, but the loss of his beloved Scout was difficult and for decades despite its faults the Scout cast a long shadow in our family.

Returning to 1972, my dad decided to purchase his truck.  He chose a Sea Foam Green 1972 Ford F-100 pickup sporting a 302 inch V-8 sporting with a 3.2:1 gear ratio, two fuel tanks, and a four speed manual transmission which included a “Granny Gear”.  The extra costs of a four wheel drive were not an option for my dad at that time.  So, the truck became the “ultimate compromise”.  He opted for 2 wheel drive, but to offer improved traction he chose a four speed with granny gear.  The differential was geared up to offer improve gas mileage, but the little 200 HP V-8 could not pull a grade at any sort of highway speeds.  A camper shell, home built bed, pass-through rear window and the “green gopher” was complete for the initial incarnation.

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Mojave Goldfish

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Over Presidents day weekend, my wife and I were travelling back from Big Bear, CA to our house after a visit with family towards our home in Las Vegas.  Frequently, my wife will point out an old road or mine and comment that we need to take that trail someday.  During out drive home, we were talking about the mining district in Mountain Pass and the Evening Star mine.  On this journey, we chanced upon the ultra rare Mojave Goldfish.

This is one of the great reasons for owning a 4×4 and the Mojave Desert is a prime location to explore.

A live stock watering trough in the Mojave Desert.. Photograph by James L Rathbun
A live stock watering trough in the Mojave Desert. Photograph by James L Rathbun

So, we exited the I-15 travelling north on Baily road near the Kokoweef mine.  Typically, I have a route mapped out ahead of time, but a spur of the moment decision left our route to happenstance.   We drove straight off the off ramp and headed up the hill.  Immediately I sensed the I took the wrong route, but since we were exploring I just drove on, you never know what you will find.  Soon, we found a private property sign, and opt towards a road to the left.  I found 4×4 low in the transfer case and we climbed a short hill.  Upon cresting the hill, I noticed something metal down the the left.  I road the gears down in low until we reached the small canyon where I made a tight left towards the metallic object I saw from the top of the hill.

Within a quarter of a mile, I found an juniper tree with a metal water trough.  These are not uncommon in the mojave and can be found throughout the dessert.  I parked the jeep to investigate and was shocked…

The rare Mojave Gold fish in its natual environment. Photo by James L Rathbun
The rare Mojave Gold fish in its natural environment. Photo by James L Rathbun

We stumbled upon Goldfish, in the Mojave Desert and these things were pretty big.  I mean, I have eaten trout smaller than some of these.  Goldfish are used to keep the algae in check inside the water trough.  An elegant solution to a problem I didn’t think existed, but that makes sense.  The water trough was plumbed with a PVC pipe to bring the spring water to the trough.  The overflow, did just that and the rocks on either wide of the trough edge allow for animals to escape the tank.  An endless supply of fresh water would keep the urea concentrations down, so the fish grow into their environment.

My biggest question is that in a remote area with a lot of preditors, why are these fish alive?  I thought that an oportunistic coyote, fox or raven would make quick work of this exposed tank, but these large fish prove they have been here for time.  Regardless a very fun find and a true 4×4 destination.

Old Mojave Road Trip Report

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After our recent trip to the center section of the Old Mojave Road, my wife Heather was really excited to run the western section and complete the entire length of the trail. Her idea was to drive the western section on our way to our annual trip to Big Bear, CA over the Memorial Day holiday. I worried that such a trip during this time of year could be a rough trip due to high temperatures in the desert. In late April we finished the center section in Baker, CA and the air temperature was only 107 degrees. Despite my concerns, we gladly planned our trip and embraced her good idea.

Afton Canyon in the Mojave National Preserve.
Afton Canyon in the Mojave National Preserve.

As we prepared for our trip, gathered our gear, food, and checked out the mechanics of the jeep, I decide to check the local weather report. To my surprise, weather.com predicted the temps in the mid 80s with clear sky’s and light wind. The weather could not be any better.


Another interesting development, is that Heather kept offering to drive in the event I got tired of driving. She didn’t just offer once, but several times per day for several days before our departure. Being the good husband that I am, after about twenty or thirty offers, I started to get the idea that, subconsciously, Heather might want to drive this run. So after some arm twisting and bartering, I finally convinced her and Heather agreed to take the wheel. This of course, would be a great source of confusion for me during the trip, however I am certain I can persevere this new dynamic. This is not to imply that Heather is not one of the finest drivers I know, far from it.

An old trail leads off through the lava and into the great unknown.
All packed up, we left the Las Vegas area at 7:00 am on Saturday morning, and headed towards Baker. A quick stop in Baker, we topped off the fuel tank and took our respective bathroom breaks. Once Heather reminded me that she was driving this trip, I took my seat on the right had side of the jeep and we headed down Kelbaker Road.

It took me a few miles, but soon I became used to having my coffee cup on the wrong side, no pedals, eta… This must be what it is like in England. The map and guide-book took some getting used to as well, but somehow I managed to get us to the trail head. It certainly didn’t hurt that we were here just a few weeks before. A quick turn on to the trail, and we stopped to air down the tires for some ride comfort.


After dreaming of this trip for the past few weeks we are finally on our way. We followed the trail around 17 mile point and then turned southwest into the Mojave. The road steadily looses elevation as it cross a fallout zone of lava and start to head down into the valley.

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Old Mojave Road Trip Report West

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After our recent trip to the center section of the Old Mojave Road, my wife Heather was really excited to run the western section and complete the entire length of the trail. Her idea was to drive the western section on our way to our annual trip to Big Bear, CA over the Memorial Day holiday. I worried that such a trip during this time of year could be a rough trip due to high temperatures in the desert. In late April we finished the center section in Baker, CA and the air temperature was only 107 degrees. Despite my concerns, we gladly planned our trip and embraced her good idea.
As we prepared for our trip, gathered our gear, food, and checked out the mechanics of the jeep, I decide to check the local weather report. To my surprise, weather.com predicted the temps in the mid 80s with clear sky’s and light wind. The weather could not be any better.

The dry soda lake located in the Mojave National Preserve and found next to Zzyzx Road offers a surreal view of the area. Photograph by James L Rathbun
The dry soda lake located in the Mojave National Preserve and found next to Zzyzx Road offers a surreal view of the area. Photograph by James L Rathbun

Another interesting development, is that Heather kept offering to drive in the event I got tired of driving. She didn’t just offer once, but several times per day for several days before our departure. Being the good husband that I am, after about twenty or thirty offers, I started to get the idea that, subconsciously, Heather might want to drive this run. So after some arm twisting and bartering, I finally convinced her and Heather agreed to take the wheel. This of course, would be a great source of confusion for me during the trip, however I am certain I can persevere this new dynamic. This is not to imply that Heather is not one of the finest drivers I know, far from it.

All packed up, we left the Las Vegas area at 7:00 am on Saturday morning, and headed towards Baker. A quick stop in Baker, we topped off the fuel tank and took our respective bathroom breaks. Once Heather reminded me that she was driving this trip, I took my seat on the right had side of the jeep and we headed down Kelbaker Road. It took me a few miles, but soon I became used to having my coffee cup on the wrong side, no pedals, eta… This must be what it is like in England. The map and guide-book took some getting used to as well, but somehow I managed to get us to the trail head. It certainly didn’t hurt that we were here just a few weeks before. A quick turn on to the trail, and we stopped to air down the tires for some ride comfort.

After dreaming of this trip for the past few weeks we are finally on our way. We followed the trail around 17 mile point and then turned southwest into the Mojave. The road steadily looses elevation as it cross a fallout zone of lava and start to head down into the valley.

After a few more miles, we “discovered” the Little Cow Hole Mountain Mill Site just north of the road. The short drive over to the site was well worth it and provided you are at all interested in locations such as these. There is a large concrete foundation which appears to be the footings for the mill itself, along with several retaining walls. There is a very minor uphill section of to the foundation level of the mill. Heather did a great job on this minor obstruction. I am still amazed that she easy handled the slope despite my exaggerated gesturing and attempts to apply the brake or depress the gas from the passenger seat.

Heading towards the Travelers Monument on the other side of the dry soda lake.
Heading towards the Travelers Monument on the other side of the dry soda lake.

The next stage of the Old Mojave Road, drops the remaining elevation down to the Soda Dry Lake. For those who drive the I-15 highway between Barstow and Primm, this is the large desolate dry lake bed just off the highway as you drop into Baker from the South. The Soda Dry Lake is a flat expanse, that when dry is easily passable. However, judging from the troughs through the dried mud, it seems to be very rough terrain to traverse unless you have significantly more horsepower and larger tires. Most definitely bad form in my opinion and I certainly would never put my Jeep to this test.

Driving across the soda lake is an awesome experience. Either you appreciate terrain such as this, or you don’t. The flat dry desolation along with the white color of the soda lake combines perfectly with the crunch below your feet and the wind blowing. Oddly enough, the higher the temperature and wind speed, the more I appreciate this environment. There is a tranquility in this place and really gives on the feeling that you are alone and out in the middle of no where.

Ryan climbed to the top of Travelers Monument
Ryan climbed to the top of Travelers Monument

We did make the prerequisite stop at the “Travelers” monument. My son Ryan added to the pile and we let Ryan and our Labrador Retriever, Rooger AKA the boys, run around and stretch their legs. The boys played while I explored the area photographically.

Again we loaded up the boys and continued our travels. Once we left the dry lake, we found ourselves in a deep sandy road after a quick right and then left turns at the “Granites” rock formation. There was no danger of getting stuck in the sand for us, but Heather was naturally concerned. She gained experience and confidence as we crossed over Shaw Pass and followed the rocky road down the backside. This was soon shattered when a high-pitched voice from the back seat sang out, “Mom, can you let dad drive?”

Once we crossed the rather nondescript pass, we dropped into the Mojave River Wash. This section of the trail is just sandy river bed and marked with either Cairns or railroad ties. During the Mojave River wash section, both Heather and I had to really keep an eye open for the markers. In many locations I noticed several parallel trails and multiple markers. For the most part you just travel in a western direction and keep to the left side of Cave Mountain.
Sandy conditions aside, this section of the trip was a lot of fun. There are an abundance of birds, and we jumped several large jack rabbits. As the terrain is sandy and with intermittent bushes, when we did see a rabbit, it was easy to follow them when they ran into the distance. Although we are in middle of the Mojave desert, an extremely harsh and arid place you would not know that considering the size and number of these rabbits.

Towards the end of the Mojave River Wash at the intersection with Basin Road, there is a large mining complex. We stopped for lunch and a hike. ’The boys’ were very exciting to hike an old track line which had rail road ties embedded into the rocky soil. One a future trip we will have to return and explore this area further as there are trails and roads all over this site. I don’t know much of the history of this spot, what was mined, etc… but this is a very interesting place and will be the subject of future adventures.

Back on the trail we headed towards and under the infamous railroad bridge. The bridge itself glistened in the sun and shined like a beacon in the distance. The bridge moaned as a train crossed over head on its way to drop off its cargo. I got out of the car to take some photos of the jeep and the bridge. Thankfully, Heather in an act of kindness did turn around and picked me up.

We continued to follow the river bed down and through Afton canyon. Afton Canyon is a gem of the Mojave desert. On the trail, we found a buried rail road car and soon crossed paths with the only other traffic on this forty mile side trip.
The rail road car is a great example of why the Mojave desert is such a wonderful place. Scattered across the landscape is the history of this country. Old rail cars, mines, camps, watering holes and even crashed jet airplanes can still be found lying around. You just need to learn to look.

Afton Canyon is just an amazing spot and the trail follows the riverbed through the water and wind-swept canyon. The colors and geology are amazing and photographically offer a lot of opportunities. A fence clocks the trail from following the river further for environmental rehabilitation purposes and the trail jumps up next to the train tracks for a while.

After two short water crossings this section of the Old Mojave Road dumps out into the Afton Canyon Campground. Once again Heather’s jeep confidence grew as I asked her to back up into the water crossing again to take some photographs of some cat tails growing in the river. The Afton Canyon Campground isn’t much to look at, and personally I would rather camp in the back country.

Once past the campground, we drove up the road towards the I-15. A quick stop to add some air pressure back into the tires and make us safe for high-speed travel. Once we aired up, Heather announced that she was tired and decided that I should drive. A bit over an hour later, we arrived at the house in Big Bear and unpacked. Following a quick dinner, the boys quickly crashed out.

This was the first time the Heather did significant driving on the back roads. She did a great job, and I am thrilled that she is taking to our trips with such a wonderful attitude and sense of adventure. This weekend, she drove 75 of the 110 miles of back road driving. I am very proud of her.