I went with a friend and I'm withholding photos that he's in unless he says otherwise. We weren't there for long. This was I believe our third visit and our main interest this time was to locate the "Manson cave" or ledge, which we hadn't been to before. The cave is near the creek behind the location of the old west town. The area is covered in poison oak, and though you can see I wore long pants in the photos, my arms were bare and I left with patches of itchy rash! I'm not sure what the best way down to the creek is. From a past visit we knew that it was a steep slope down all along the ridge, so our point of entry was directly behind the location of "old west town", which we figured was as good as any place to scramble down a steep slope. The first photo is of the creek immediately after descending the slope. It was here that we saw the rusted remains of this mystery vehicle jutting from the dirt. It didn't look like a car or dune buggy to us... we assumed it was part of a cart, plow or wagon, but then it has wheels made for rails so who knows. You can also see springs from a seat or mattress between the wheels. The journey along the creek was more boulder-strewn and treacherous than we initially imagined. My friend had brought a hoe to protect against snakes but he wound up using it as a crutch to help navigate his way. (To be clear, the hoe was brought not to kill snakes but because snakes are particularly sensitive to motion and a long object can be used to distract them away from your body. That was the thought, anyway. We didn't see any snakes so thankfully his theory remains untested!) After reaching a particularly difficult section of the creek, we decides to scamper up the cliff and look for another place to descend further down. At the top of the hill I took these two pictures of rusted objects half buried in the earth: A can And a door hinge of some kind. This was almost entirely buried in the earth at the top of the hill from the creek. I pried it out, snapped this photo and then put it back more or less where I found it. After descending back down to the creek and navigating a particularly cluttered crossing of sorts, complete with chicken wire (and a bunch of baseballs from the nearby baseball diamond) we found a beautiful grove or clearing, perfect for a picnic. Sadly, I didn't think to photograph the grove, but did snap this beautiful rock formation immediately across the creek. A little further down we found what we were looking for: After leaping over the shallow creek and sliding in the mud, I attempted to look serious or badass or something After a quick climb up, we took a trail the short distance back to the "old west town" location and snapped these final pictures.
Itss like you can almost reach out and touch it all. And Ryan, you look seriously bad ass, or badassidly seriously. :rockn:
We had a lot of rain this season so I think that accounts for a lot of the green! I'm sure I'll get back up there again at some point... I'll keep the board posted.
In picture #6. That is a gasoline shut off valve for an old tractor, there is one exactly like it on our 1964 Massey Ferguson. She still runs great and we use her to move snow in the winter. FB
Wow, isn't it beautiful out there? Thanks! So, remember how Linda saw her opportunity to flee and tried to casually collect her daughter, only to learn the children had been "moved to the waterfall" ? I've always wondered what waterfall? How far away was that? What living conditions were there? Apparently all was discouraging enough to Linda that she didn't even walk over there to try and retrieve her toddler.
Yes, thanks for sharing those ! They are great pics ! It understandably looks like the "cave" has gotten smaller over the years. I recall the Family all fitting in there rather easily but these days it looks just big enough for yourself. Also, in the last pic are you standing where the Saloon or main building was ? Thanks !
All, Brian? A lot of people came through Spahn, which became a magnet for hikers and bikers, druggies and petty criminals, society's abandoned and weekend hippies, preteen runaways and general dropouts. Etc. Ooooeeeooo. People came and went, some returning from time to time, others disappearing for ever. I don't know how to define who was 'Family' (if we buy into the idea that there was a concept known as the Family then and it was not something created afterwards) but if we look at the list of those arrested at Spahn it was a lot more than could fit, comfortably or uncomfortably, under that rock outcrop. I think that the well-known photo you're thinking of is just a group of people who happened to be together on one day, when someone had a camera handy. But there's a lot of people not in the photo who we tend to think of as Manson family members. Jem
Jem, I genuinely like you from what I know of you through these boards and generally enjoy reading your posts, but, are you being serious here ? You are calling me out for my use of "the family all fitting..." I think you are being a bit mental here (crazy). I obviously was referring to those Family members that were in that pic from 70'. Not ALL the known members. And that pic, from what I understand was taken when Hendrickson was filming "Manson". And that "well-known photo with just a group of people", included Sandy Good, Lynette, Ouish, Gypsy, Cappy, those are just off the top of my head. Were they not true Family members ? LOL Also, so what if they were called "the Family" before or after ? What is the relevance in pointing that out ? It is what we have come to reference them by and when that pic was taken they had been calling themselves the Family by then. Thanks for your reply even if it didn't make sense to me but I guess as some would say "no sense makes sense".
No, Brian, I wasn't calling you out - no wish to upset you or anyone. I just thought it was funny to think of so many people in one small place. Forgive my sense of humour ... Jem
These photographs are wonderful. Thank you for sharing! Now, I really want to get back there. I remember all of the Poison Oak. That's no fun. Keep snapping photo's, brother. Thanks Again!! - Jono
Thank you for sharing your trip to the ranch these pictures are very nice indeed. I really like the one of the wave cave. It's a off beat place to hang out and trip for a while and a great place to meet others interested. Vince
