April 2-4: Rocket launch weekend. After a week of boondocking at Mountain Palm Springs I drove over to the Launch Site at Plaster City on Friday. A few rocketeers showed up Friday and more showed up Saturday. The weather Saturday was perfect for launching rockets and there was a slow steady of rockets going up.
We had a great potluck Saturday night after we parked a couple of RVs to block the wind. Many people left Saturday night because Sunday was Easter and the forecast was for strong winds. Sunday morning we had only 5 or six launches and by noon there were only three of us left at the site. I drove in to El Centro to get into an RV park.
April 4: Earthquake! After the rocket launch at Plaster City and my previous two weeks boondocking in the desert I needed to wash clothes and update this site. So off I went to El Centro in search of an RV park to spend a couple of days to take care of business and sit out a predicted wind/dust storm. I got the trailer set-up in Rio Bend RV Park about 2PM. I turned on the computer and was checking mail and news(actually cartoons). Suddenly at 3:40 PM the trailer starts shaking . The quake started slow and built in intensity. At it's peak I was holding on to the bookshelf with my left hand and trying to stay in my chair. The trailer was making some very interesting sounds as it bounced around. I looked up and saw a big saguaro swaying like a fly rod and looked to my left to see the 2-3 foot waves on the pool. Reports are that the quake lasted about 30 seconds; quake duration is remarkably hard to judge, it seemed much longer. What was scary was how the quake kept increasing in intensity. I was really beginning to wonder how long this was going to continue and what else was going to happen. The trailer was shaking so bad that it was impossible to safely exit.
When the shaking stopped I stepped outside and realized that I had difficulty standing. The shaking had apparently affected my sense of balance. When I looked south toward Signal Mountain down near the border I noticed that there were clouds of dust around the peak(photo below). Apparently the quake caused landslides that created the dust clouds. I walked over to the pool and talked to the people who were there. One elderly man was in the pool during the quake and he thought he was going to drown(surfing in El Centro??). I was walking in an inch or so of water that had sloshed out of the pool. I walked around as the people who live here came out to check on each other. I walked around the Park and took some pictures of the damages.
Here's what signal Mountain looks like normally(without earthquake dust).
It appears that my trailer suffered minimal damage. Two of the leveler jacks that keep the trailer steady are bent. I think I can fix them myself. The most interesting thing that happened to the trailer involved the jack on the tongue. When I set-up I put three boards under the jack. After the quake there were only two. The weight on that jack is around 1200 lbs. During the quake the trailer must have jumped up and the 2X4 popped out. I sure that was one of the loud noises I heard during the quake. I don't think the jack would have survived if all three boards popped out.
I had cranked each of the leveler jacks down so that they were firmly on the hard surface at the site. After the quake each of them had dug a hole in the hard-packed surface. I have difficulty comprehending the amount of energy needed to bounce an 8,000 lb. trailer around enough to do this.
This looks like the most severe damage here in the Park. Two of these park model homes were shook off their foundations.
It took several hours to get power back and water took even longer. It's a good thing that I still had some water in my tank.
April 5: There were two signifcant quakes during the early morning(4:15 and 6:33). The 6:33 shaker was reopted as 5.1. The major item today is the wind. Since I have the stabilizers up the trailer is rocking constsntly from the high winds. So far(11AM) there has been no blowing dust or sand. After the laundry is don I'll try to get some groceries. News reports indicate many stores in El Centro were damaged and there is many broken windows. The RV park staff said there was a big crack on the golf course here.
April 6: The Vons store in El Centro is still closed, as are many gas stations. I did manage to get diesel fuel and groceries before I headed on up to Slab City.
April 7-10: I spent this time back at Slab City. I checked the birds at Salton Sea and got a nice solar panel and controller installed on the trailer. Now my batteries will stay charged as long is I can get some sun.
Here is the USGS map of earthquakes (Dated Sunday 4-11) for the week following the Easter earthquake. Please note that I spent most of that week inside that big cluster in southeast California. This week was by far the more earthquakes than I've ever experienced in a year previously. The big yellow square is the Easter Sunday quake and the others are clustered along the same general fault zone.
April 10-17: Drove over to Escondido to spend a week taking care of loose ends. I visited the dentist for a cleaning, applied for Social Security, took care of some insurance isssues, did a little truck and trailer maintenance. For the first time in about two months I was able to get the motorcycle on the road. I almost forgot how to ride.
April 17: Drove to Bakersfield via Victorville(395) and Tehachapi(58). A much better route than going through the LA mess.
April 18-24: Bakersfield. Decided to stay a week for a few reasons, there's a storm on its way, the RV park rates are low(and the park is nice) and I won't get to see Jen again for a long time. I also get a chance to cook a bit for the kids. Sunday(17th) cooked hamburgers for Jen and Kyle; Monday we had spaghetti, Tuesday was pasty day, Wednesday was carne asada and Thursday we had beef stroganoff.
On Monday I decided to take a motorcycle ride around Bakersfield before the rain hit...bad idea. As I drove north on Buck Owens Blvd. I could see the storm building to the west I turned west on Merle Haggard hoping to find a road going south toward the RV park. As I was heading south I saw the trees starting to bend to the east and clouds of dust and litter appeared. Then the rain started. I had difficulty keeping the bike up in the cross wind. As I got nearer to the park the rain came down harder. I got back a little wetter than when I left, but safely.
The rain finally ended on Thursday after a couple of cold, wet days. I had to gear-up with full cold weather gear for a motorcycle ride to the northewest. It took a couple of hours to warm up after the ride.
I am amazed at the number of oil wells amongst the neighborhood where I'm staying. I can see oil pumps and drill rigs from my site at the RV park. Apparently there's still oil to be found even though they've been pumping from this area for over 100 years.
Friday...last day in Bakersfield. Just messed around the truck and trailer getting ready for the desert. Jen, Kyle and I had a late dinner at a resturant called the Firehouse. A friend of theirs was our waiter. Had my first pizza with barbecue sauce on it. Tomorrow over the hill to Mojave and then north towards Bishop.
April 24: Uneventful drive from Bakersfield to Bishop. This was the coolest drive ever up 395, low 70s most of the way. I've only been up here in the summer when driving across the desert is hot. Big suprise when I got here. This is the opening of fishing season, which means that every public campground(virtually all of which are on streams) is full. I had to get a site in Brown's Town RV Park on the south side of Bishop. This park was almost completely full with RVs and tents. Most people left on Monday leaving a fairly quite place.
There are a few windmills in Tehachapi. This is on highway 58.
Another storm system is on its way. As of now(26th) I'm still at the RV park waiting for the storm to hit. Today I drove north to June Lake to check conditions. Above Bishop there is still significant amounts of snow on the ground. The campground I hope to use is plowed out, but there is still several feet of snow on the ground and most back roads are still snowed in. My plans to explore the backcountry will have to wait.
June Lake is still mostly covered in ice.
The Sierras are beautiful.
April 27: The storm system hit today. Very strong winds in the Owens Valley and clouds on the Sierras. The 395 was closed south of Lone Pine because of high winds, repored at 100mph.
Another camper here with a BMW 650 and I took a ride around the valley. We backed off from riding up into a valley(Pine Creek Road) because the winds near the mountains were so strong. Out in the vally the winds were tolerable, but sometimes we had to lean into them. We approached the Owens Valley Radio Observatory from the north across the sage flats. This was a very nice ride after not riding much for the last couple of months.
April 28: Drove from Bishop to June Lake. The weather in Bishop was warm(70s) and windy. I was getting tired of being in RV parks and needed to get out in the brush. The weather forecast for the June Lake area was for cold, but I thought I'd give it a try. As I drove up the Sherman Grade on 395 north of Bishop the temperatures dropped with increasing altitude. By the time I got to Mammoth Lakes snow was falling. The light snow continued into the night at June Lake.
I set up camp and settled in for the night. I don't have enough battery reserve to run the furnace all night long so I tossed a sleeping bag on the bed(flannel sheets, 3 blankets, including one down, and one winter weight bag total). This pile of covers kep me nice and warm. In the morning the temperature inside the trailer was so low it did not register on my electronic indoor/outdoor thermometer. I started the furnace and the temperature appeared on the thermometer when the inside temperature reached 32.
Here's my campsite. The snowbank on the left is about 7 feet high. The campground hosts cleared the roads and campsites. Most other campgrounds in this area are closed.
In the morning when I turned on the water I found that my cold water lines to the kitchen were frozen. It took only a few minutes to get the water running and no damage was done to the water lines. It was clear at sunrise, but by 10AM the clouds appeared. Daytime temperatures maxed out in the low 40s and the winds continued. I took a drive around the lake and stopped long enough to hike up a south-facing slope that was snow free. The Ford diesel had the hardest time starting that I've ever seen.
Here's a bottle of olive oil that was on my kitchen counter in the morning.
The forecast for tonight is for even colder temperatures. I think I'll have to sleep in shifts so I can get up and check to water lines...should be fun. Maybe I should have stayed in tropical Bishop.
April 30: It was not as cold last night as was predicted, only got down to 19 degrees. I didn't want the water lines to freeze so I left the furnace on(at the lowest temperature). I got up at 1AM and 3AM to check the battery status. If the voltage got too low I was going to start up the generator...it was fine.
Daytime temperature only got up into the low 40s. I took a drive around the June Lake Loop and did some birding, photography and looking for glacial features. This valley is a classic glacial valley. I'm camped on a terrminal moraine, can see lateral moraines from here and am surrounded by glacial erratics. I searched for glacial striations and only found one. I did see great examples of glacially polished rocks.
Here's the only glacial striation that I could find. These "scratches" are produced by rocks being carried at the base of the glacier and scraping the bedrock.
Here's Carson Peak which is west of June Lake. Gull Lake(oops! it's actually Silver Lake)is in the foreground.
Geez! It actually got warm enough to site outside for a while this afternoon. Come on May!
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