Big Bear Camp Out & Exploration Trip - July 2-5 1998

"A Kid's Point of View of 4-Wheel Driving"
By Alexandra (age 7)

On the 4th of July Weekend, my Dad and step-Mom and I went to Big Bear. When we got there, we set up camp, put out food, and put everything in our tent. We had dinner and fried some "S'Mores" with David and Roger and then went to bed. The next morning we had a breakfast of sausage and coffee cake. When everyone was up and had breakfast, we headed out for " GOLD MOUNTAIN".

First we went on the trail to the highway. We went for a while 'til we got to the base of "GOLD MOUNTAIN". We drove up and up and boy was it bumpy! We drove up to our picnic spot. We ate lunch and explored a while. Glen's jeep was messed up and since I was riding in his car we went to David's grandparent's cabin. There may have been working toilets but there was nothing to do.

When we went back to camp, only two people were there besides us. We waited about two hours until Karin and Dale and the rest came back and told us the whole story. After dinner we played around until all the kids went to bed.

Next day we packed lunch and set out for " GOLD MOUNTAIN " again. We went on the main road from camp which wasn't very bumpy. We looked about 5 minutes for Karin's friend. We didn't find her, though. Then we took the highway to the gas station and then we drove to " GOLD MOUNTAIN " to look for an old, old gold mine. From the lake it looked like a big square cut into it.

After we looked at the mine, we checked out some other mines. When we got to the first mine we ventured inside until there were both dead ends. Most of the other mines were very dangerous. My favorite was the rock one that used to have a rail. Slowly, someone is stealing it. Inside we couldn't go very far. Even though there is a wooden plank, it's old and rotting, I think.

Come to think of it, one year, our guide Dale said, that the water was so clear you could see the little rooms miners formerly worked in. I was probably hearing things but I thought I heard voices besides ours, saying "I'm gonna get rich no matter what!" It's probably not true but maybe there were ghosts of miners. It remains a mystery to me...

After the mines, we looked at a small house in Belleville which was named after a miner's little girl, Belle. After lunch we went to Two Gun Bill Saloon. Today it is just some old logs with some that were rolled downhill. Then we went to the privately owned, Hanging Tree which was pretty bare because after they hung someone, they cut off a branch.

We headed back to camp on probably the world's second most bumpiest road. In the back of Dale's jeep I was going bumpity, bump, bump. I was happy when we got back.
I was bummed I had to leave, although I did fall asleep in the car; I was out like a light. and didn't even know we went to McDonald's for Dinner!

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