Swansea

For five weekends, I served as caretaker at the CLUI’s Owen’s Lake Land Observatory, while it was open for the season.

That isolated plot of land on the right side of the image is Swansea, a former port town in the 1860s, when the lakeshore went up to where the highway is now. CLUI now owns Swansea, and maintains its remnants. The trailers that comprise their Land Observatory can be vaguely seen on the opposite side of the highway.

The caretaker’s house at Swansea, where I stayed. The only extant structure that predates the 1874 earthquake in nearby Lone Pine, the largest earthquake in recorded CA history.

Matt’s old Chevy S10 Blazer. Didn’t know when I was taking this photo that it would soon be mine…

The saddlery

Went on a hike by myself up the surrounding mountains and was tripped out by this rock formation in one specific area. Later identified as “chert nodules” in limestone

Harper, Alice, Maya. somehow they al look the same height here

I took them on the hike to see the chert nodules I found. Alice is studying geology and so brought a whole new lens to the hike I had already done.

At the top of the hike is this old abandoned mine shaft.

Minecamp potty

The third weekend of the exhibit, I painted these road signs to hopefully attract some people off the road to the exhibit. Otherwise, the only way anyone would know to visit the exhibit was if they follow the CLUI online. The signs brought in no new visitors the first weekend, and I took them down.

Eliot and Ethan

Ethan and Eliot in Alabama Hills

Kyra and Roman

Alistair came to visit on his own.

Drove up to Mono Lake with Alistair and made many stops along the way. This was in a small isolated town called Rovana. It was originally built as a company town for the tungsten mine up the hill, then the tungsten mine closed when it became cheaper to source in China. It was surprisingly beautiful and quaint, with deers hanging around everywhere.

Zabriskie Point

On the drive back from Zabriskie Point, I hit an empty stretch of highway and thought to see how fast my car could go. The RPMs got really high and then I heard this knocking in the engine. The car drove for another 30 or so miles, just enough to get out of Death Valley, before breaking down just south of Keeler. Luckily, Harlan was on his way and picked me up. We returned the next morning and tried to get the car running.

While I was on the phone with AAA, Harlan started stacking rocks. I began collecting rocks for him and he built this wall, impressing me greatly.

This was the last time my car would ever drive, but I didn’t know it then.

Structures at the residence of Jael Hoffman and Noa Lish

Their house, amazing place

I met Noa and their mom Jael when they came to visit the exhibit. When I was stuck at Owen’s lake without my car for a week, I asked if they could pick me up and show me their house and studio.

Noa making a marble that I got to keep

Noa’s glass torch and marble molds

I got my car towed back to Swansea. I was lucky, my AAA membership only covered up to 7 mile tows, and I had broken down 6 miles away. I was trying to figure out how to get it towed back to LA until I posted my car problem on reddit and people told me it was Rod Knock, which meant the engine was totaled.

I got Matt’s old Chevy up and running, after pumping gas out of my Saab and putting it in the Chevy. I talked to him on the phone and he offered to give me the car, I would just have to get it up and running back to LA and pass SMOG.

Hand-carved door

Reading room

And every evening I watched the sunlight roll over the surrounding mountains…