November 26, 2011

Thanksgiving

This year's Thanksgiving was at home, but the day after was shared with our Death Valley group, while camping at Jake's place. We got kicked out of our usual camp site near Tecopa, so we met this weekend to discuss alternatives. Chuck suggested an old World War II airstrip in the desert between Ridgecrest and Boron. I started doing some research on the area, and found the place is actually called Goler Gulch. Being a Disney dude, I couldn't help but think of Goofy, saying Goler and Garsh, but the more I look into the place, the more interesting it becomes.

In 1893, a prospector named John Goler found several 10 ounce gold nuggets in the area, and soon there were several mines pulling out over a million dollars of gold from the many washes in the area. Seven miles southwest of the area was another goldfield where they cashed in over $8 million. There is plenty of exploring to be done in this area, and we'll have to pick up some gold pans before we go.

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