LIVING IN THE BED OF A PICKUP : Corn Springs, CA. A hidden gem.

In Yiddish there is a term, machatunim, that essentially means my family is your family. In other words, people who are not "officially" related are considered family because, well, it feels like they are because they are related to someone you are related to. So, what the heck, they are family!

Two of our machatunins (I guess that is the plural and not machatuni), for example, would be my daughter-in-law's brother's father-in-law, John, and mother-in-law Susan. Got that?

At a family party a couple of years ago John mentioned Corn Springs and asked if we had ever gone there. We hadn't heard of it. He said he spent time there as a young man and suggested we might like it.

On this road trip we camped and hiked in some marvelous places, most notably Valley of the Gods in Utah. We also spent about a month hiking in the areas of four of General Patton's Desert Training Centers. Those were two highlights.

But our favorite spot of this trip would have to be Corn Springs.

My daughter-in-law's brother's wife is Nora. These are her grandparents who lived in this house until 1986.

Aren't the flowers lovely? I understand that Mrs. Smith was a horticulturist. Growing these in the desert certainly shows her skill.

Here it is today, looking pretty good all things considered.

Along one side of the cabin in the 1960s:

That same area now:

We camped in three spots in the Corn Spring area. Our first few nights were right outside the cabin.

This structure originally accompanied a mill. I don't know who all of the previous owners were, but remnants of the mill are still present.

The well in 1960:

And now:

Here is a shot of me heading down by the old well into the wash that ran by the Smith Cabin.

And a photo of Vicky walking in this wash:

These are some awesome photos. We have heard about washes that became flooded torrents after a rain, but have never witnessed this. Happened while John was there in the 1960s. This is why we follow the advice to not camp in washes.

John told us that while he was spending summers there he worked on the mine that his in-laws had. We could not locate the mine, but will try again next time we are there.

He said what he found by mining was arsenic.

He also pointed us to the place where he dug and built the outhouse but, sadly, it is no longer there. No testament to his work.

I know that anyone reading this will wonder if he was really invited to spend time there to get to know his in-laws or whether this is some desert version of a hazing ritual.

Here is a panoramic photo of the Smith cabin.

Incredible spot isn't it?

Here are some more family photos from when John and Susan visited Corn Spring when their children were young:

We enjoy the beauty of our desert and wilderness areas and the history. So being able to see these photos and match them up with how Corn Springs looks now was special, and made staying in the area more meaningful to us.

And we haven't even mentioned the hiking yet, which was awesome!

Here is a map showing all of the hikes we did in the area. We hiked 56 miles there.

One of the best features for hikers is the presence of so many old mining roads. Once again the builders of these roads impressed us. Working with hand tools and rocks they created roads that one can still use to walk on. And many can still be driven on.

Here are some photos of our hiking during the time we were there.

See me?

Great example of a mining road. In the upper left of the photo is the mine we headed to:

To get to this one you had to pull yourself up using a metal cable that was still usable. There were no foot trails or roads to it. Haven't seen this before:

One of many rock houses that were close to mines. Guys built these to stay in while they worked in them, we conjecture.

It's the miner's version of living on the edge:

Check out this road:

Here is a view of the Smith Cabin from one of the mines high in the hills. The cabin is in the middle of the Field Goal Uprights:

This gets your legs in shape:

And this:

One of the mines had its claim scratched on an old refrigerator:

In a wash about a mile from the Smith Cabin someone had built a stone house. The BLM has done a good job of maintaining it and not letting it be turned into a trash heap.

A building near one the mines had walls that were constructed of old Miller Beer tin signs. There were dozens laying around, all rusted. One in good shape was listed on eBay for $1200. One of many things we would like to bring home with us, but it's illegal for good reason, and not right for even better reasons.