A Day Of Documentary Filmmaking In The Western Mojave
We went out with a film documentary crew on Saturday. It's a little independent company out of New York, that found our website doing an internet search. We met with Robert & Carissa at a restaurant in Sunland about 1:00. We got acquainted over sandwiches, then took off in our 4x4 4-Runner for Jawbone & The El Pasos. Robert was the cameraman, and Carissa handled the sound. Very nice young couple. Robert sat in front with Roger, filming scenery and Roger's history and geology talk along the one and half hour drive from our Los Angeles foothill neighborhood to the Western Mojave.
Since the documentary is about weather, and rainmaking, we pointed out all of the Los Angeles aqueduct sites along the way. Also pointed out (without stopping) other historical sites like Vasquez Rocks, Placerita Canyon, San Andreas fault, etc. Roger conveniently tied everything into our ghost town, Cerro Gordo, & the story of Los Angeles as well.
First stop after Mojave for gas, which they paid for, was Jawbone Station, then up Jawbone Canyon to the first easily accessible section of the old aqueduct. Roger did his talk there in front of the aqueduct while Robert filmed, and Carissa held the mic. I held down the empty bag the equipment belonged in so it wouldn't blow away. A storm front was trying to come through, so it was quite windy, and there were clouds over head, threatening the mountains, but not the desert floor. Roger did several versions of the same talk in three or four different angles. Robert prompted him with questions that would be edited out for the documentary of course. Roger wowed them with his incredible knowledge without notes, and his opinions on weather modification, water, etc. He came up with some incredible quote worthy lines.
Good thing it wasn't me doing the talking, because when they asked Roger his thoughts on weather modification, global warming, etc., the first thought that came to my head was "You can't f*** with God he's going to do what he wants to do regardless of what theories man has. Man thinks he's immortal and more powerful, and God keeps proving he's not". Actually, when they were done with that segment I told Robert that and he thought it was a good statement and was ready to set the camera on me - but I said it probably wasn't a good idea, we didn't need my foul mouth on the documentary. Hanging out with the guys all these years has been a bad influence on me. Roger's was more intelligent, and we left it at that.
We went to a newer section of the aqueduct, filmed Roger talking again, got some views of the aqueduct keepers house, in all of it's green desert glory and talked about it, too. Then we headed to Hart Road and to Bonanza Gulch. We included a lot of the mining history along the way, just for enjoyment, it won't make the documentary. Stopped at the pumice mines so they could see that and showed them the metal eating termites, and what we tongue in cheek call Nasa's dumping grounds, too.
We went up Bonanza Gulch to an area that Roger thinks was probably the site of the rainmaker Charlie Hatfield's cabin, and where he built is dam. Robert filmed Roger there talking about Hatfield - again having Roger do two or three takes just to get different ideas and different angles as he was doing so. It was getting late, it was cloudy, and the wind was still blowing with the storm front trying to come through. For a brief moment it looked as if a little cloud coaxing would create a storm just in time to end Roger's talk. Hatfield took his secrets with him to his grave, so we couldn't do that, but it would have made a nice touch if we could have.
We headed down Bonanza Gulch itself, as Robert filmed, and Roger talked. We imagined the flood Hatfield created coming right where we were driving. We made some jokes that we need Charleton Heston to create the water for us just for our filming, but decided that because of his Alzheimer's he probably wouldn't remember how, and he wasn't in the film budget anyway. Roger & I worked for the price of gas - God only knows what Heston would have wanted. We pointed out the old dirt opium den or Chinese kitchen, which is caved in from modern day floods, talked about the Chinese that were blasted in the nearby mines by the jealous white miners, and pointed out rock foundations, existing miners cabins that have survived time, and old mine holes and tailings. We talked about Burro Schmidt and his tunnel to nowhere, but it was 7:00 and we didn't have time to go over there. He wasn't a part of the water and weather story anyway.
Robert & Carissa were eating up the desert and the history whether it fit in with the documentary, so we asked if they had time to go to Bickel's Camp. Caretaker Jose provided a colorful desert rat tour of Bickel's Camp & Robert kept the film rolling just to file away as a personal memento of their trip.
By the time we left Bickel's and swung around Hart's road it was getting dark. We drove down in desert eery silence for awhile, taking in the last haunting images of the day, as the darkness slowly swallowed up everything but the washboardy whoop-de-doo trail in front of us. Robert had talked earlier of a horror film he had seen once with Joshua trees as the monsters, so that set the stage for some ghost stories as we drove along. We told him our Cerro Gordo ghost town's standard ghost/goat story and that brought about appropriate chuckles and much needed tension relief. We talked about desert critters, hoping to site some. A lone jackrabbit accommodated us for a quick moment, but that was it.
At one point Roger lost the trail in the darkness, which created some adventure for Robert & Carissa. We quickly realized we were just at a primitive camping turn out and were back on Hart Road with RV's and dirt bikers camping at another spot nearby. The lights from the cars traversing highway 14 were in the distance, and everyone sighed with relief. In my usual sense of adventure, I had half hoped we were lost until morning, and was prepared to offer everyone sweatshirt with hoods from the our survival equipment in the back of the 4-Runner to brace the cold winds, and slice up salami, cheese, crackers, and granola bars for a cold and late dinner to hold us over until the morning's early sunrise would reveal where we were.
Back on track inspite of my wishes, and safely out of the El Pasos heading south onto the highway, we found our way to Mojave for a pit stop and snacks to hold us over until our 9:30 P.M. arrival back in the restaurant parking lot in Sunland. Carissa brought out maps for directions to their overnight destinations with friends, then we hugged each other and went on our individual ways. If we're lucky the documentary will fly and we'll be celebrities at the Los Angeles premier. At the very least, we'll get copies of it to file away with our volumes of trip mementos, and a short video trailer for an advertisement for the website, and we can once again thank the wilds of California and it's rich history for helping us to form new friendships.
Just another day in the lives of California backcountry tour guides, perhaps another minute or so to our allotment of fame.
