California Gold Three Short Stories

California Gold Three Short Stories

Today's flights are three small adventures in California that we look at there Geology and History. On each flight we will load in at that location for each of the tours. At the end of a the last tour we will if time permits continue on, in a westerly direction.  I have been studying up so hopefully can give a accrete story. This flight is intended to be flown in helicopters low and slow. If not fly what you like. 

Flight Plans: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/8i74yixymc52wued87xnf/AFXPXOvb0iCOguS5AGMoJ5w?rlkey=twhm1d5osrgj8acdl54bvspto&st=xqyxjv95&dl=0

Add-on Scenery's: All in One (most of us have these already)

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/r3i87cmk091f3wzr0c712/ABCpsMEhN1OJLXmkfiOWWnY?rlkey=zhkvo82yoaubjo6ged3l34mno&st=hk836ipm&dl=0

Owens Valley

Big Pine Volcanic Field        WP1  WP2

The Big Pine (Aberdeen) volcanic field in the Owens Valley contains more than 40 vents over a 1,000 km2 region of the Owens Valley.

Cottowood Creek Charcoal Kilns    WP4

The Cottonwood kilns were built to provide charcoal to the rich Cerro Gordo mine, 10 miles to the east and across Owens Lake in Inyo County. The wealth of the Cerro Gordo mine in the 1860s totaled nearly $20 million in silver and lead bullion. After all the trees surrounding the mine had been cut down, miners began cutting Cottonwood trees alongside Cottonwood Creek to keep the kilns at the mines burning. With so much raw ore to process and refine, the kilns at the mine had an insatiable appetite for charcoal.

Keeler                          WP5

When silver was discovered on Buena Vista Peak in 1865, the town was soon established. Cerro Gordo brought in thousands of miners—and various unsavory characters.With nothing much to do in those days, drinking was the usual pastime, and there were no shortage of saloons present. But where whiskey flows, so often does blood. At one point, the casualty rate was one soul per week. Even the doctor of the town had enough and left scared for his life. With no sheriff for miles around, killing was just a common occurrence.

Cerro Gordo Ghost Town          WP6

The Cerro Gordo Mines are a collection of abandoned mines located in Cerro Gordo in the Inyo Mountains, Inyo County, near Lone Pine, California. Mining operations spanned 1866 to 1957, producing high grade silver, lead, zinc ore, and more rarely gold ore and copper ore.[1] Some ore was smelted on site, but larger capacity smelters were eventually constructed along the shore of nearby Owens Lake. These smelting operations were the beginnings of the towns of Swansea and Keeler. Most of the metal ingots produced here were transported to Los Angeles, but transportation difficulties hindered the success of the mines. Mining of silver and lead peaked in the early 1880s, with a second mining boom producing zinc in the 1910s.[2] During its peak, Cerro Gordo was home to some 4,700 people and the site is known as a California ghost town today.[3]

Swansea Salt Tram                WP7

The Saline Valley Salt Tram was built in 1911 and 1912 to carry salt from Saline Valley to Owens Valley. In its 13½ mile length it rose from an elevation of 1,100 feet at the east terminal to 8,500 feet at the crest of the Inyo Range and dropped to 3,600 feet at the west terminal. The carriers weighed 800 pounds and held about 700 pounds of salt giving the tramway a capacity of 20 tons per hour.

Alabama Hills

Tuttle Creek Ashram                WP8

Mountains have long served as spiritual destinations for those seeking enlightenment. The pursuit of peace, solitude, and even the feeling of being elevated closer to the heavens draws people to heights near and far, from the Buddhist monasteries perched on China’s loftiest peaks to the myriad temples strung across the Himalaya. For those lacking in frequent flier miles, but seeking a mountaintop pilgrimage, there’s an option closer to home – the Tuttle Creek Ashram, a stark stone building tucked into a deep canyon in the Eastern Sierra.

Nightmare Rock    WP11

 

Manzanar WWII Japanese Internment Camp    WP15

Manzanar is the site of one of ten American concentration camps, where more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II from March 1942 to November 1945. Although it had over 10,000 inmates at its peak, it was one of the smaller internment camps.

 

Mt. Whitney Fish Hatchery at Oak Creek    WP16

 

Camp Independence                    WP17

There is very little left of Camp Independence. Ironically, Colonel Evans and company were dispatched to the Owens Valley to protect the invasive settlers from the defending tribes native to the Owens Valley (then called Winnedumah). In time, many of the native peoples settled around the Camp Independence for protection against the settlers.

 

Mammoth Super Volcano

Mammoth Mountain is alava dome complex in Mono County, California. It lies in the southwestern corner of the Long Valley Caldera and consists of about 12 rhyodacite and dacite overlapping domes. These domes formed in a long series of eruptions from 110,000 to 57,000 years ago, building a volcano that reaches 11059 ft in elevation. During this time, massive dacite eruptions occurred roughly every 5000 years. The volcano is still active with minor eruptions, the largest of which was a minor phreatic (steam) eruption 700 years ago. Mammoth Mountain also lies on the south end of the Mono-Inyo Craters Mono-Inyo chain of volcanic craters. The magma source for Mammoth Mountain is distinct from those of both the Long Valley Caldera and the Inyo Craters. The Long Valley Caldera was formed by a super-eruption about 760,000 years ago that blasted 140 cubic miles of magma, covering much of east-central California in hot ash that was blown as far away as present-day Nebraska.

Owens River Gourge WP1-WP4
LongValley Caldera WP5-WP6
Red Cones          WP7
Devils Postpile    WP8
Mammoth Mountain   WP10
Inyo Craters       WP11
Deadmans Domes     WP12
Glass Creek Dome   WP13
Obsidan Dome       WP14
Wilson Butte       WP15
South Coulee       WP16
Northy Coulee      WP17
Panum Dome         WP18
Paoha Island       WP19
Negit Island       WP20

 

Carrizo Gorge Railway railroad

The whole idea of building a railroad through these mountains was to shorten the route between San Diego, Imperial Valley, and Arizona. Under the direction of John D. Spreckles who was responsible for helping the development of San Diego into what it is today, this railroad was going to turn San Diego from a small town into a fully functional city. Before this railroad, people and supplies had to go through the Cajon Pass and into Los Angeles before going anywhere else. With Los Angeles being the main hub of everything, people didn't really have any reason to travel an extra day just to get to this small town. It also costed extra money to get supplies through Los Angeles and into San Diego. The Carrizo Gorge Railway railroad faced many problems since its construction began in 1907. Even after completion, challenges never stopped due to the difficult terrain until the last train ran on these tracks in 2013. The original passage did not include Goat Canyon Trestle, instead there was a tunnel that cut through with the tracks coming out in Goat Canyon which then went around the cliff side. This tunnel known as Tunnel 15 collapsed and the best option was to construct a large trestle over this canyon which was built in 1933. There has still been talk about using the tracks again but it would take a lot of effort to get the route back in working order and likely won't ever happen. The route also crossed into Mexico and back into the U.S. so that also presents another difficulty.

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Saturday, set the simulator at 12:00pm local for May 18, 2024.
We typically prefer real weather and will follow form if the weather is good. If not, I recommend Josh’s#1 or the default “Few Clouds” preset.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Saturday, May 18, 2024. 1800 UTC
RTWR Multiplayer Discord Channel
Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server.

If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the multiplayer spreadsheet (linked here). Please be kind enough to enter the title exactly as it stands in the title=”xxx” line of the aircraft.cfg file. Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!