forums
new posts
donate
UER Store
events
location db
db map
search
members
faq
terms of service
privacy policy
register
login




UER Forum > Journal Index > Wretch in Beggar's Clothing > "Oh brother my cup is empty and I haven't got a penny/For to buy no more whiskey I have to go home" (Viewed 1726 times)
"Oh brother my cup is empty and I haven't got a penny/For to buy no more whiskey I have to go home"
entry by EatsTooMuchJam 
8/17/2004 6:03 PM

Just a short update. I had Sunday off again in the California area and this time I decided to go East to see giant sequoias (they're among the biggest and oldest living creatures on the planet) in the Southern part of Yosemite National Park (I've wanted to see Yosemite too as it was pretty much the playground of Ansel Adams).
On a whim I decided to check some of the ghost town sites to see if there were any in the area. I was shocked to see a huge bunch of them nearby so I printed the maps and hit the road.

One of these days I'll learn not to trust the ghost town sites - or in this case maybe I'd have known more if I'd read the descriptions instead of just printing the maps. Apparently the California version of a ghost town is a thriving tourist town with over 3,000 residents and a "historic downtown area" featuring 0 abandoned buildings. Some of the towns were smaller, but nearly every one that I visited was thriving. The closest thing to a ghost town was Chinese Camp which is pretty near Yosemite. It was a tiny town and was still at least 60% occupied, but there were some neat boarded buildings, at least. Also, there were a number of scary redneck residents who glared at me as I walked around with my camera. I didn't stay long.

I'm thinking that the Northern end or the Southern end of Highway 49 might be more fruitful for actual abandonments. The middle part is too near Yosemite which is a major tourist destination located right near San Francisco.

Yosemite was gorgeous, of course, and the sequoias were indeed giant and old. It's the sort of area that makes a person feel tiny in comparison. I took a few pictures, of course. On the way back I took 41 Southwest to meet up with 49 again where I went Northwest back to 120. That stretch of 49 was absolutely insane at night. Slim Jim would have been giddy (and there's a chance we would have all been dead) as the road has a 55-65 mph speed limit and a number of unmarked 20-30 mph switchbacks over the mountains. There were several points at which I had to slam on the brakes (and I wasn't even going very fast). I was nearly alone on the highway and in a couple of places I just stopped in the a turnout and got out and laid on the hood of the car looking up at the stars while I listened to the thunderous chirping of crickets. As I am primarily a city boy (well I grew up in the suburbs, but close enough) it's always amazing for me to see how bright the stars are when one is so far removed from a larger city.


EDIT:
Oh! And I forgot to mention that at Yosemite I also saw a baby bear climbing a tree (it left before I could get my camera set up for a picture) and there were two deer that came so close that I could have touched them. I took a bunch of pictures, but I'm not sure any will turn out as it was getting dark and my shutter speed was down to about 1/4 second (and the darn things just wouldn't stand still).


[last edit 8/17/2004 6:13 PM by EatsTooMuchJam - edited 2 times]
Modify Entry



Comments: (use Reply to add a comment)
UER Forum > Journal Index > Wretch in Beggar's Clothing > "Oh brother my cup is empty and I haven't got a penny/For to buy no more whiskey I have to go home" (Viewed 1726 times)


Add a poll to this thread



This thread is in a public category, and can't be made private.



All content and images copyright © 2002-2024 UER.CA and respective creators. Graphical Design by Crossfire.
To contact webmaster, or click to email with problems or other questions about this site: UER CONTACT
View Terms of Service | View Privacy Policy | Server colocation provided by Beanfield
This page was generated for you in 46 milliseconds. Since June 23, 2002, a total of 737045085 pages have been generated.