Swansea Cerro Gordo Trail

wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
For Fathers Day weekend, Cindy and I decided to head up to the Owens Valley and do a little exploring up in the Inyo Mountains. It'd been a while since we've visited the areas surrounding the old ghost town of Cerro Gordo and so, we decided to start our adventure by heading up the Swansea Trail and then circle back down Cerro Gordo Road. Along the way, we made a stop over at the old Burgess Mine and spent some time over at the historic old salt tram and cabin along the ridge top. Here are a few pics from our trip, I hope you enjoy.

Leaving pavement near the old town site of Swansea...
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Heading up into the Inyo Mountains...
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Working our way up the canyon, you can just make out a couple of the old salt tram towers on the mountain side...
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Long road ahead...
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View looking out across the Owens Dry Lake and the Sierra's beyond...
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Paying a visit to the old Burgess Mine...
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Looking down into the Saline Valley...
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Looking south across the Inyo Mountains...
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Heading south along the ridge top...
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At the old salt tram...
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Tessa waiting for the next lift...
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Crazy panorama of the tram...
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View looking down toward the Saline Valley...
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Same line but looking west toward the Owens Valley...
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Down in the operating room is a large fly wheel/brake that stands about 6' tall...
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Drive shaft that's attached to it...
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Bull wheel that it once turned...
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More structure pics...
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Come on out, it holds me just fine...
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This is the old cabin that housed the workers of the tram, it has been nicely restored...
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Info about the tram is posted on the wall here...
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Cool artifacts from the area can be found inside - PLEASE DO NOT TAKE any of them...
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The old outhouse...
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At about 9,000 feet up, it's still spring and the cactus were still in bloom...
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Moving on, the trail turns into a very narrow shelf road...
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You can see the entire Owens Dry Lake from up here...
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The old town of Cerro Gordo - this is a really well preserved ghost town but it's privately owned and the caretakers can sometimes be in a mood so, we just passed through on this trip...
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Back on pavement and heading for our home for the night...
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I hope you enjoyed following us on our trip up the Swansea Cerro Gordo Trail. If you would like to see more of the pics we took, click on the link below:

Swansea Cerro Gordo Trail Photo Gallery
 
Awesome pics!
I would be extremely tempted to take that Hires Root Beer can. However, I'd be good and actually leave it.
 
Looks like a nice relaxed little weekend adventure. Thanks for posting those pics up. It is always really neat to see all the old mine equipment. :yup:
 
What an amazingly preserved location! Love the pictures. Thanks for sharing another awesome adventure. :thumb:
 
Thanks for sharing the pics! Looks like a fun trip. I love seeing some history that's still there & intact for people to enjoy.
 
That mine looks like its in incredible condition. Will be in Lone Pine this weekend think I might check it out.
 
That's what I would love to be able to do, just take off to the mountains and explore great places like that, but alas I live in Missouri and there isn't any place like that around here. Thanks for the pics and the inspiration looks like a great weekend.
 
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