2008 Trip reports - Calico Day Trip
Saturday, October 18, 2008
One Day Trip to Calico Back Roads
by Bob Dodds
We all met at the Museum at 8:00 AM. Thank you Pat Schoffstall for opening the doors for us. It was great to see such a good turn out.
Leader Bob Dodds, guest Sharon Satchell, Mal and Jean Roodes, (sweep) Dan and Norma Siler, Brett Henrich, Alex Cordero, Craig Baker, Nan Savage, Bob Jacoby, Sonny and Jean Hansen, Bill Cook, and his grandson, Bill and Gwenn Neill, Tommy Roach and Glenda, Marten and Jan DeGroot, Don and Myrtie Putnam, Glen Shaw, Ron and Barbara Midlikoski, Alan and Karen Hodes, Valerie Finstad, Barbara Gollner, Bob and Betty Oliver, Scott and Casey Hanenkrat and Guest Lynn Frazee. We had a total of 18 vehicles.
Glen drove in from Blue Diamond, NV. He left his pop-up parked at the museum, and we were off. Our first stop was the Daggett Hotel. Unfortunately I didn’t contact the person to open up for us. So we headed to Mule Canyon. We all gathered at Camp Rock. We couldn’t believe all the campers and off road buggy’s.
Kramer’s Arch and the small drop off with ruts and loose dirt was next. It was fun watching everyone coming down, some fast and some slow with lots of bumps and bangs. Sharon got a little white. (This was her first time 4 wheeling) As we returned to Mule Canyon Road we noticed a car with a woman in the passenger seat. Someone said “That looked liked Dottie Mann”, then another said ya, that does look like Dottie Mann. Mal, being sweep, stopped and asked. It was Dottie and her son. She was so excited to see all of us and of coarse using Bill’s book.
The mining town of Borate was the next stop. I got all vehicles parked. There were shooters camped there. I asked if they could take a break so no one would be in the line of fire. They agreed. Everyone enjoyed exploring the site. You could see the line of the narrow gage railroad that hauled the ore down to Marion where it was loaded on the train to be shipped east. The group found some calcite and fossilized snails. Lots of pictures were taken.
The next site was a detour (oops). I turned left instead of going straight and we ended up on a rocky high point, so all decided this was the lunch stop. Don and I played with our GPS’s and figured out where we were. I wasn’t far off, just down the road, make a left and we would be at the Sweet Water Springs stop. (more campers and shooters) I asked for a volunteer to taste the water to see if it was sweet, no takers. Don Putnam wanted to look a little closer so took a tumble. He was OK.
All the rigs made their way to the Bismark Mine. The Olivers needed to head home so we said our good buys. It was so good to see them. Everyone enjoyed climbing in and out of the mine, taking pictures. Craig found a pretty tarantula. He showed us how to handle it safely. Lynn even had it on her arm. After pictures they sent it on its way. There also was a great over view of Daggett, Yermo and Calico.
On the way back to Calico to meet up with Nancy and have dinner at the restaurant, the Siler’s jeep overheated. Thanks to the Hansens and the Roodes for staying with them. While there they spotted a beautiful red rattlesnake in the bushes. What a real neat picture moment.
We all made it to Calico. We had no idea it was the Halloween Haunt Festival. The town was crawling with two legged critters. The BBQ dinner was great. Thank you Daryle, for accommodating all of us. Thank you Nancy for making the arrangements. After dinner everyone headed home. Fun Day.
