Mule Days Bishop, CA a.k.a Memorial Day Weekend

Been a long time since I posted so I'm making up for it.

Memorial Day weekend in the tiny town of Bishop California is (as far as Bishop is concerned) complete mayhem and the biggest weekend the town sees all year.  People from all around the country gather in this tiny town for one hell of a weekend of family, friends, rodeo events, dancing, animals, music, bbqing, fishing, shopping, 4x4ing, the parade, and whatever shenanigans you can get yourself into Bishop.  The fairgrounds are packed to full capacity with tents, campers, horse trailers, and special showcase pieces from our past.  The city park is transformed into a vendor shopping mall filled with food, jewelry, art, and metel and wood work.  The streets are packed during the day and the two bars are overflowing at night.  The sidewalks are lined with chairs starting on Thursday morning for Saturday's parade where California's eastside artery (Highway 395) is fully shut down for 3 hours of West Coast American history.  There is no good way to describe the phenomenon that is Mule Days, but it's been around for over 40 years and obviously isn't going anywhere!  The only way to really experience it is to show up and be a part of it.  Here are some pics that my photo-geek friend Carlie from CMK Photography (<-Go show her page some love... NOW!  =) )  and I took to tide you over until you manage to make it.  Oh yea, book your room/campsite for next year now!  Until then, enjoy our pics!  Click to see them bigger!!!!

As I said.  Town is packed and parking is slim!

Springtime in Bishop=FLOWERS!

If you've been to the park you know these benches and gazebo.

Carlie starts the day off by giving me a mean mug.

 Carlie's friend Kayla from North Carolina taking it all in.

Family and animals!  I told you!

The vendors were busy taking over the park.

The kids were enjoying the skatepark.  Brandon with a huge Method grab.

 Taylor (T-Hub) shows us how it's done on a scooter

Storm rolling in over the sierra from the baseball fields

And from 40 Acres

Headed up west Line St.

From Starlite.  This storm ended up dumping over 2 feet in the WHite Mountains on the other side of the Owen's Valley.

The next day I headed to the fairgrounds to check out all the action.

A real barbecue.

More vendors...

and the biggest line Bishop see's all year!

Personally I love the carriages.  I'm a car freak and without these, we wouldn't have what we have today!  They are a huge part of our history and the craftsmanship on some is amazing!

ZOMG it's ShutterMeShort!

People come from all over the country for Mule Days.  I know it sounds crazy but it's TRUE.

Someone has done well here before.  

It's a long weekend so people set up camp.

The get-up is half the fun!

Bring 'em in and let the good times begin!

Patriotism go hand in hand with the cowboy lifestyle.... and Memorial Day weekend!

Yay!  My clothes were starting to get dirty out here...

My two favorite set-up's normally are this fire engine and the 20 Mule team.

This is the Borax 20 Mule Team and Wagon ran by Bobby Tanner of Bishop.  It actually consisted of 18 Mules and two horses.  It carried Borax (powdered soap) that was mined in Death Valley, CA 165 miles away to Mojave, CA to be put on the train from 1883 to 1889.  The main wheels were 7 feet tall with 1" think Iron wrapped around them.  The 1200 gallon tank on the back held enough water to get everyone to the next spring and brought the total finished length of the original rig to 180 feet long!

I always seem to get some amazing back-lit shot every year.

The crowds filled the grandstands for a night of Rodeo!  Carlie came back out and I let her have my D90 with my 80-200 f2.8 on it so she could have some fun.  She did a killer job and I know she had a blast!  I stuck with my back-up D40x and manual focus 50mm f1.8.

They opened with the kids shoe race.  All the kids leave their shoes in the middle of the arena and then race from the other side to try and find their shoes in the massive pile.  Notice the rodeo clown teaching kids the proper way to remove their shoes.  lol

Photo by Carlie M - CMK Photography

Unleash the beasts!

Photo by Carlie M - CMK Photography

It's confusing for all buddy.  At least he found his shoes! 

Photo by Carlie M - CMK Photography

Rodeo clown to the rescue!  

Photo by Carlie M - CMK Photography

Next were the Mule races.  If you've ever delt with a Mule you know how ridiculous this is!

Real cowboys drink... Starbucks?

 Then onto herding with... chariots?

Photo by Carlie M - CMK Photography

Dinner time!

Photo by Carlie M - CMK Photography

Photo by Carlie M - CMK Photography

The rodeo clown kept things under control while they set up the next event

Photo by Carlie M - CMK Photography

Photo by Carlie M - CMK Photography

Next was barrel racing and roping.

Photo by Carlie M - CMK Photography

Photo by Carlie M - CMK Photography

They ran the chariots through the barrels too!  DRIIIIIFT!!!!!

Photo by Carlie M - CMK Photography

 Rodeo clown and his dog are unamused... Who took my gun away?!?

Photo by Carlie M - CMK Photography

Photo by Carlie M - CMK Photography

Next up was the pack team competition

Photo by Carlie M - CMK Photography

Rock Creek Pack Station is a vetren in this arena

Photo by Carlie M - CMK Photography

 Hustle ladies hustle!

Photo by Carlie M - CMK Photography

 Photo by Carlie M - CMK Photography

 It's a serious competition...

Photo by Carlie M - CMK Photography

 Told ya!

The next day My mother and I ran out to Laws to ride the Brill car - another chunk of history in this area.

This is an exciting sign to see at Laws.  It has been a very long time since these rails were used for anything.

The old Carson and Colorado Railroad narrow gauge line essentially stretched 300 miles from Keeler, CA at the Owens (Now) Dry lake to Mound House Nevada.   

The first train arrived in Keeler on August 1st, 1883.  The line was later sold to Southern Pacific in 1900This is the the second engine #9 built in 1909 and donated to Laws in 1960.  Engine #18 can be found in Independence, CA. Portions of the line (southern) were abandoned in the 1930's and 1940's.  The last narrow gauge common carrier made it's last run on April 29th, 1960 and the rails were removed in 1961.

 This is the self propelled Death Valley Brill Car #5.  It is one of only 4 surviving of this model.  It hauled passengers to and from Furnace Creek Inn in Death Valley for a few years before 1930.  Then it spent some hard time in New Mexico and eventually found it's way to Laws where it was fully restored.  I actually got to help (a very little bit) with the restoration and this was my first time getting to ride in it since it was finished.

The restoration was a VERY timely process done with little cash available and volunteer work.  You can see a more detailed documentation of the restoration here --> http://www.ttrr.org/dv_text/dv_n05-1.html



Well that's all folks!   I commend you for making it through this one.  I apologize for the length but there was a lot and I wanted to have it all in one place!  I hope you enjoyed it all!  Next adventures, California and Oregon Coast! Stay tuned!!!