We went up and spent our first weekend up at the Super Secret Place. The crew consisted of my son, 2 of his friends and meeself. We took off fully loaded with sleeping bags, barbecue grill, coals, cooler,boots, bb guns, generator, fog horns, kitchen utensils, first aid kit, telescope, camera, food and drinks, plates and cups, books, pillows, extension cords, gravel, 1' x 1' cement blocks, flashlights, solar lights, a tarp, water and gas cans, weed whacker, shovel, knives, portable chairs, an outdoor shower (I'm forgetting a bunch of things) and a futon on top of the car. We drove up to San Fernando and got worried the futon was starting to pull off so we decided to put it inside the car, not a small accomplishment. There was no room left so we put one of the guys on the roof instead (jk!)
The drive up wasn't too bad except the futon made a sound wall so we couldn't hear each other. That was fine, we cranked up the music (hey! We each have our own speaker!) and used the futon as a communal pillow. We didn't stop because we were all antsy to get there but we enjoyed the drive and the occasional Roman monument along the Appian Way.
We got to the Super Secret Place and I was happy to see the Airstream sitting there like a shiny lunar outpost. We unpacked, set up camp, hooked up the generator, turned on the fridge, cleared out a bit of dry grass and had lunch. The guys were eager to shoot the guns so they wasted no time setting up a shooting range complete with chairs and shaken soda cans. The shaken soda under pressure makes an exploding target. Cool!
BANG!
That was fun but they also wanted to check out the gold mine I had told them about. There was a bit of a gold rush back in the days in the area so there are abandoned mines here an there. This one is 1/2 mile from the property. I had never been there but I found it right away, almost as if I already knew the way. We found some interesting artifacts and buildings in various sages of disintegration.
I went back ahead of the crew and starting preparing dinner: New York steaks on the grill. I felt bad hearing my neighbor's cow mooing... I'll bring fish next time. By the time we were done eating, it was night so one my son's friend set up his telescope so we could check out the perigee moon which was unusually huge. It lit up the whole place and you could see all the trees and mountains all around in the penumbra. I left the guys after a while and walked back slowly to the Airstream, taking in the landscape. I couldn't believe how beautiful and wild the place is and felt very privileged to be there. The guys had an airsoft laser fight in the dark and went to bed early too.
We slept OK in our sleeping bags, occasionally awakened by someone tossing and turning or asking out loud "dude! What's that noise?" (What noise? There's nobody out here!) It gets cold at night being at 3500' altitude but we survived. The Airstream provided a fine shelter for sleeping and, pure luxury, we even had lights. We woke up the next day and all commented that it had been the longest night ever. It's funny how when the comforts of everyday life are taken away we get back into Nature's normal cycle quickly.
The day before, Sonny had found a grinding rock very close to the creek. Those were used by the Pauite Indians to grind acorns and other foodstuff. This one had been ground all the way through. I knew of another one on the property, pretty much in the middle but I had a feeling there would be more. Without knowing why, I followed the boulders along the creek in the shade of the oak trees and sure enough, found a cluster of grinding rocks: 2 stones with 2 holes and another with just 1. The place is special indeed.
Gazing down at these Squaw Rocks, I couldn’t help but think about another time, same place, when women would gather around the stones, grind away while chatting, kids running around, husbands fishing or hunting. I know it was tough living but in our quest to improve things, we’ve lost a few good ones.
These people may be gone but I know their spirit lives on at this place out of time.
We left in the afternoon, a little bummed about having to get back to civilization.
We stopped on the way back at another, bigger mine, a true photographer's delight. Here are a couple pix.
That was it. The crossing point back to the 21st century is the train tracks. We passed them and drove back home happy and refreshed. We'll be back soon.
