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CCC Pinnacles Camp-out - Trip Report

By: Kathy Myers and Her Majesty - the '68 Bus that makes people smile.

For us, this was the final leg of a 7,000 mile road trip - and what a 
way to end it!

We had been in Mammoth just long enough to wash and wax the Old Girl, 
adjust her valves, change her oil, do the laundry, re-supply food and 
water and check out more books on tape. Then it was around the 
proverbial horn to the Pinnacles, which are only about 100 miles west 
of us, but took us 8 hours to drive!  Such is life in Mammoth when most 
of the Sierran Passes are closed due to snow.

When we left Mammoth, at 4am, it was 8 degrees F and our cabin, 
lovingly known as the "Ice Palace," was still encased in 12 feet of 
snow. With the gas heater crankin', our journey took us north along the 
eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada, up, up, up and over snowy Kit 
Carson Pass, down the spring ridden western slope of the Range of 
Light, across the Central Valley then up the lush green foothills to 
the Pinnacles. It was like "Old Home Week" for me. Back in the 70's, 
when my ride was a '65 metallic rootbeer Splittie, the Pinnacles were 
my rock climbing destination on a number of occasions.

Much to our surprise, we were the first of the CCC's to arrive. The 
private campground, right outside the gate to the Pinnacles National 
Monument, was nearly deserted. We found a note that told us which 
campsite had been reserved by our friend Ron Lussier, AKA, Coyote. The 
"California Campers" had their own RV loop, replete with towering, old 
oaks, a plethora of woodpeckers, wandering wild turkeys, a feral pig 
population and electrical hook-ups.

The Old Girl and I selected a spot that would allow us a shady, grassy 
area to set up camp. The electrical outlet was set up for RV's, so I 
had to buy an adapter from the Campground Hosts. After that minor 
setback, everything fell in place quite nicely. With "Power Central" 
humming away, the refrigerator, the cellular, and the PowerBook were 
connected for a lengthy charge. 

It was now 80 degrees F with the humidity dripping to at least 80%. It 
was at this point I congratulated myself on the decision to leave my 
Blanchard Guitar at home, where the humidity rarely gets above 27%. 
After a refreshing shower, I returned to the site to find Jack Stafford 
pulling up in "Big Orange", his seventy-something Westy. It was great 
to see both of them. The third CCCer to show up was Al Hubbard and the 
rest is history. 

So many fine rides showed up, it's hard to recall how many there were. 
It was great to have at least six breadloaves in the group; mine, the 
oldest and furthest driven to the event, Jed's Joy from Hollywood, 
Charlie's MotherShip, Jack's Big Orange, Bradley's Bus and Roark and 
Patricia's seventy-something Westy. There were Vanagons and Syncros, 
one Honda car, Al's VW car and one Thing.

It was great to meet the new CCC'ers, to visit with old friends and to 
check out everybody's VWs. The food, as always, was killer, the fires, 
as always, were WAY TOO HOT and polluting, the daily activities kept 
all members on the go - and - believe it or else, we were only busted 
once by the campground officials and it was for screaming kids, NOT a 
5,000 degree fire! A great time was had by all!

Sunday morning found many members packing up for the drive home, some 
taking off for a hike through the Caves, and others relaxing around the 
fire. As for Her Majesty and me, well, we said our good-byes and headed 
back across the Central Valley, up the long haul over Kit Carson Pass 
and south along the eastern escarpment of the Range of Light, back to 
8,600 feet above sea level and the Ice Palace. The trip was uneventful 
and after 7,000 miles on the road, we are happy to report the only 
mechanical dysfunction was a burned out high beam in one of Old Girl's 
original headlamps. $2.62 for the new lamp at the Napa in Alpine, Texas 
was the only mechanical expense on the whole trip. 

Her Majesty is back in storage and sometime this week she'll get 
washed, waxed and polished in preparation for our next journey to visit 
with the California Camping Crazies!

Kathy Myers and Mark Blanchard
Active Periphery Press
Blanchard Guitars
Mammoth Lakes, CA