Just a couple more shots of the Saline Valley salt tram.
It's just about impossible to see, but there's a cable in the first shot that plunges down the slope to the next tramway station leading to Saline Valley.While there at the crossover station, I met someone who was staying in the crossover station tender's cabin. He said he'd been down the slope on a previous trip and had seen some of the other towers and stations. Much equipment was apparently still there, lying intact all these years.
This place is calling my name. I didn't have time to venture further down the slope, as there's a lot of distance to cover and it must be done on foot. Another time.
The second photo shows where the trail goes under the cables that lead downslope to Owens Valley. This slope, too has several remaining tram towers, but I understand that many of them have been picked over by collectors and vandals. Since the Saline Valley side is more remote, the artifacts and equipment is more prevalent and in better shape.
As for the Cerro Gordo-Swansea road that we took to get there, it's always scenic and throws some sketchy slope-side sections in that catch your attention. Additionally, there are several steep climbs over loose material that will test your tires and traction aids. We drove this route at street pressure, but would guess that the climb up from Swansea would be tough, if not impassable, without airing down. We drove it from Cerro Gordo down to Swansea, and descended the roughest parts instead of climbing them. That's not to say we didn't encounter any steep climbs or loose terrain.
Open differentials will likely be stopped in their tracks here. Our '04 4Runner is equipped with electronic traction control which proved up to the challenge of keeping us driving forward. Real lockers would have been better, but not mandatory. Except for a couple of short sections, we stayed in low range the whole time. This trail is a prime example of a route for which 4-hi is not low enough, and an ultra-low crawl ratio would be too low, needlessly slowing progress.
October or November will probably be the best months to go back and explore some more. We need to catch the tramway after summer's heat, but before winter's snows.