Posted by Guy Starbuck on May 22, 1999 at 00:15:26:
In Reply to: Re: Beveridge Warnings posted by Rob on May 20, 1999 at 23:55:37:
I first heard of Beveridge from "California Ghost Town Trails" by Broman and Leadabrand (Gem Guides).
The book contained a fatal passage: "...somewhere deep in the Inyo Mountains behind Cerro Gordo, where, according to legend, the tools are still lying on the ground outside the miners' houses, and where furniture still stands inside the old deserted homes - a Shangri-La of a ghost town."
Who could resist such a temptation? Not I. So, I did some research and thanks to our government found the site. Now, it didn't quite live up to the claims, but close enough...
And well, finding the site was one thing, but getting there was another. On my first attempt to get there, I turned back near the 7000' level, after a grueling all-day hike. I was not expecting such a hike. Right there on that spot (I remember exactly where it is,) I vowed I would get there one day.
A few years later, I made it. What a great time I had, mainly, because it was such a challenge. And that is the real lure of Beveridge. Not the (few) items you might find laying around, but the difficulty in getting there.
Some day soon, some other harder-to-reach, ruined mining camp will start getting some word of mouth and ...
When I was there, I only had the strength to take pictures, let alone vandalize or steal something. You have to be out of your mind to want to add things to your pack for the journey back to your car.
That said, there still is a real concern (however slight) about people removing artifacts and what-not. Its a sad commentary on society that there has to be a concern. Luckily enough, for Beveridge, it is so remote and there is no road leading to it, or it would go the way of the Clair Camp area.
I hope to see it again, and in the same condition as I left it.
Guy