About three weeks ago, I set out on a hike in the Ord Mountains, a quite prominent range in the Mojave Desert. These mountains are apparently named so after Edward Ord, a US Army general from the Civil War. I was specifically heading for their highest peak, called just Ord. I am reporting on this trip, because maybe someone would want to repeat it on a weekend day.
Starting from Downtown LA, in two hours I reached Victorville. It was surprising to see the town packed with traffic on a Sunday morning. I guess everyone was going to church or shopping.
I drove on Highway 18 to the junction with Highway 247 going north towards Barstow. Before leaving home, I had checked on-line directions for getting to the Ords, but decided to do it my way. It was not the wisest idea and the hike eventually did not work.
Once on 247, the road led through a rather typical Mojave landscape. I must admit that this type of desolate environment does not stop to fascinate me. The vast open spaces that characterize America is what I am going to miss a lot when I finally go back to Europe.
After a few miles from the junction of 18 and 247 Highways, I turned into a dirt road beside a place called New Jack City. It was a zone for off-highway vehicles (OHV), a piece of public land owned by the Bureau of Land Management where people can ride dune buggies.
Unfortunately, the road quickly became impassable for the car and I had to think of a different plan.
After returning to 247, I took another turn into Camp Rock Road. The next half an hour consisted of circulating on dirt roads. Some of them look like actual roads on Google Maps, for example Harrod Road, but they are sandy trails for OHVs. Standard cars easily get stuck. As I was circulating, the Ord Mountains were always visible on the horizon, but getting closer was impossible. At some point, I saw a couple of abandoned houses and decided to have a look.
A gravel driveway led to a house with remains of dried-up trees on both sides. All windows of the house had been smashed. There was trash all over the area, sometimes in big piles. A sofa stood in the middle of the yard looking hilarious. I also found pieces of glass and a shotgun shell.
I got inside the house and started exploring its interior. I found books in a relatively decent shape and old magazines. There was a leaflet dated December 2004 that showed a selection of cars. It was funny to find a Toyota Corolla for about $10,000, because today it is twice as expensive. Outside, I found a couple of other wooden structures. In one of them, there were shreds of a video tape, but the content was impossible to decipher.
Back on Camp Rock Road, I parked at a junction of several dirt roads next to Anderson Dry Lake. In the middle of the lake, now completely dry, I saw a couple of parked RVs, pickup trucks and some people riding quad bikes.
It was already 4 PM, so I gave up the planned hike and did a mini-hike to a nearby hill. As I sat on the summit eating a Slim Jim, I could enjoy a panorama of the Ord Mountains.
After getting back to the car, I drove past the abandoned houses and found myself again on Highway 247 heading to Barstow.
Once I got to Barstow, it was easy to find the railway station. I have friends who are passionate about trains and railway infrastructure, so I always try to take some photos for them. The station is connected to the rest of town by a metal bridge over multiple railway tracks.
I was wandering around the station and the railway museum. Sadly, both were closed. A short passenger train operated by BSNF was awaiting at the platform. Otherwise, I saw no other activity and a placard on the main door was saying "Will return 8:30 PM".
After leaving the station, I wanted to see the giant classification yard that Barstow is famous for. I stopped beside a considerable hill and climbed up to get the best view of the tracks. On the summit, I had a chat with two guys preparing for a downhill ride on their bicycles.
The yard was indeed very interesting to see. I imagined hobos hopping on freight trains in places like Barstow when railway was the only option for long-distance travel. A pity that the hobo culture is practically dead by now. According to a documentary by VICE, only a few hobos remain.
Then, it was time to return to LA.
In summary, the hike did not work and too much time was spent looking for roads, but the day was interesting nevertheless. It is always good to do something and not sit at home. I hope you enjoyed reading my first post.
Starting from Downtown LA, in two hours I reached Victorville. It was surprising to see the town packed with traffic on a Sunday morning. I guess everyone was going to church or shopping.
I drove on Highway 18 to the junction with Highway 247 going north towards Barstow. Before leaving home, I had checked on-line directions for getting to the Ords, but decided to do it my way. It was not the wisest idea and the hike eventually did not work.
 |
| Mojave Desert. |
Once on 247, the road led through a rather typical Mojave landscape. I must admit that this type of desolate environment does not stop to fascinate me. The vast open spaces that characterize America is what I am going to miss a lot when I finally go back to Europe.
After a few miles from the junction of 18 and 247 Highways, I turned into a dirt road beside a place called New Jack City. It was a zone for off-highway vehicles (OHV), a piece of public land owned by the Bureau of Land Management where people can ride dune buggies.
Unfortunately, the road quickly became impassable for the car and I had to think of a different plan.
After returning to 247, I took another turn into Camp Rock Road. The next half an hour consisted of circulating on dirt roads. Some of them look like actual roads on Google Maps, for example Harrod Road, but they are sandy trails for OHVs. Standard cars easily get stuck. As I was circulating, the Ord Mountains were always visible on the horizon, but getting closer was impossible. At some point, I saw a couple of abandoned houses and decided to have a look.
 |
| Abandoned house. |
A gravel driveway led to a house with remains of dried-up trees on both sides. All windows of the house had been smashed. There was trash all over the area, sometimes in big piles. A sofa stood in the middle of the yard looking hilarious. I also found pieces of glass and a shotgun shell.
I got inside the house and started exploring its interior. I found books in a relatively decent shape and old magazines. There was a leaflet dated December 2004 that showed a selection of cars. It was funny to find a Toyota Corolla for about $10,000, because today it is twice as expensive. Outside, I found a couple of other wooden structures. In one of them, there were shreds of a video tape, but the content was impossible to decipher.
Back on Camp Rock Road, I parked at a junction of several dirt roads next to Anderson Dry Lake. In the middle of the lake, now completely dry, I saw a couple of parked RVs, pickup trucks and some people riding quad bikes.
It was already 4 PM, so I gave up the planned hike and did a mini-hike to a nearby hill. As I sat on the summit eating a Slim Jim, I could enjoy a panorama of the Ord Mountains.
 |
| Anderson Dry Lake. |
After getting back to the car, I drove past the abandoned houses and found myself again on Highway 247 heading to Barstow.
Once I got to Barstow, it was easy to find the railway station. I have friends who are passionate about trains and railway infrastructure, so I always try to take some photos for them. The station is connected to the rest of town by a metal bridge over multiple railway tracks.
I was wandering around the station and the railway museum. Sadly, both were closed. A short passenger train operated by BSNF was awaiting at the platform. Otherwise, I saw no other activity and a placard on the main door was saying "Will return 8:30 PM".
 |
| Railway station in Barstow. |
After leaving the station, I wanted to see the giant classification yard that Barstow is famous for. I stopped beside a considerable hill and climbed up to get the best view of the tracks. On the summit, I had a chat with two guys preparing for a downhill ride on their bicycles.
The yard was indeed very interesting to see. I imagined hobos hopping on freight trains in places like Barstow when railway was the only option for long-distance travel. A pity that the hobo culture is practically dead by now. According to a documentary by VICE, only a few hobos remain.
 |
| Classification yard. |
Then, it was time to return to LA.
In summary, the hike did not work and too much time was spent looking for roads, but the day was interesting nevertheless. It is always good to do something and not sit at home. I hope you enjoyed reading my first post.
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