Olancha

Olancha / Dirty Sox / Grant / Dunmovin

Dirty Sox Panorama, above, courtesy of Ray DeLea

All photo cards courtesy of Rich McCutchan unless otherwise noted.
See USE NOTICE on Home Page.

09/21

Barney Sears
(From and Irma Cline Collection acquired by Rich McCutchan)

Barney Sears' cabin in Monache Meadows - circa 1920s

05/21

Aerial photos courtesy UCSB Library Map & Imagery
Aerial view of Olancha/Cartago/Owens Lake - October 1944	Aerial view of Olancha/Cartago/Owens Lake - October 1944
Aerial view of Olancha/Cartago/Owens Lake - October 1944

Oaks Pack Station out of Olancha

Woody Raper Cafe
(Courtesy of Randy Tolle)

Downtown Olancha, California circa 1940

Pack Stations operating in the Olancha area today	High Sierra Pack Stations
Vintage brochures of businesses operating in the Olancha area	Airlift Pack Station Callaway's Cafe Barney Sears Pack Trains

Cowboys Have Always Been Heroes
by Lynn Clay

Offerings Gleened off of Ebay
A. F. Castner Texaco Service Station - Olancha, CA.	W. W. Raper Chevron Service Station - Olancha, CA.

Olancha, The Oasis circa 1920s.

Olancha Cafe 1934

Olancha, Dick's Cafe

Olancha, Farmhouse Cafe 1939
[Photo courtesy of the Online Archive of California]

Olancha Post Office and Store W.H. Walker - Postmaster	Olancha Post Office and Store residents. W.H. Walker - Postmaster
Dick's Cafe - Olancha, CA	Dick's Cafe - Olancha, CA

Airborne Pack Station
(Courtesy of Randy Tolle)

Adamson's Cafe
(Courtesy of Randy Tolle)

White Mountain Lodge
(Courtesy of Randy Tolle)

07/21 Ranch Hoiuse Cafe - Grant, CA (Courtesy of Bob Pilatos)	Airflite Cafe - Grant, CA (Courtesy of Randy Tolle)
	Airflite Cafe - Grant, CA (Courtesy of Randy Tolle)
Union 76 Service Station - Grant, CA (Courtesy of Randy Tolle)	07/21 Airflite Cafe - Grant, CA (Courtesy of Bob Pilatos)
07/21 Airflite Cafe - Grant, CA - 2014 Twilight Zone's - "A Hundred Yards Over The Rim" Season 2, Episode 23 was filmed at this cafe. (Photo courtesy of Ray DeLea)
07/21 Airflight Cafe - circa1970s (Photo courtesy of Randy Tolle)

Dunmovin
by Jane A. Thomann

Dirty Sox Dirty Sox is an unusual name for an equally unusual swimming pool. Water from an Artesian well on Owens dry lake flows continuously into the pool. The name originated from the hanging socks of miners who came from the hills to wash. Inyo County maintains the pool (or doesn't) and adjoining camping and picknicking area. Dirty Socks is 5 miles east of Olancha, CA.	Dunmovin Post Office
Dave Woodruff writes in Tales Along El Camino Sierra Two! Motorists traveling on El Camino Sierra about 14 miles south of Olancha, have probably noticed the ruins of a few dilapidated rock buildings with accompanying other small structures and mobile homes on the west side of the highway. This would be Dunmovin. First known as Cowan's Station, it served as a way station for the Cerro Gordo feight wagons, a supply center for nearby mines, a work camp for LADWP construction workers and finally as a gas station, garage, motel and cafe for travelers on El Camino Sierra. When Charles and Hilda King purchased the property in 1936, Hilda was relieved to finally be "settled down" and renamed the property as Dunmovin...according to this little poem credited to Hilda. "We’ve moved from yon to hither Now we’re set and provin In all the world we are perhaps The only folks dunmovin" Like many such establishments, fuel efficient and more reliable cars spelled the end of Dunmovin. It closed for good in the early 1970s...and now stands as a sentimental reminder of times gone by along El Camino Sierra.
Barb Caffee Lasky writes: Other owners of Dunmovin' in the 1950's and 60's were Mary McLaughlin and the Fricki family. There were several cabins for traveler in back of the cafe. My folks owned one of the small homes from 1962 until the early 80's. The Kings, Mom and Pop Warner, THe Babineau family, the Byrnes were some of the neighbors I remember. Adequate water supply was always a problem for the homeowners and the cafe. September 2020
Dunmovin Desert Garden	Dunmovin store and gas station Dunmovin TODAY - 2020
Dunmovin bottle house
Jordan Hot Springs	The Oaks Pack Station - Olancha, CA
Olancha Train Depot - 1934-35 Back (L/R): Elenor Lange, Roger Lange, Herman Lange Front: Richard Lange	06/21 Cabins at Dunmovin (Photo - courtesy of Bryan Cocoran)
06/21 Dunmovin - 2021 (Photo - courtesy of Len Daniello)

Jael Hoffman - the "Land of Ono"

Jael Hoffman's Metal art just south of Olancha on the west side of U.S. 395. (Photo - courtesy of Ray DeLea)
Jael Hoffman's Metal art (Photo - courtesy of Ray DeLea)	08/21 Jael Hoffman's Metal art (Photo - courtesy of Ray DeLea)

Cartago School in 1922. The school, long closed, remains today boarded up and only a reminder f the past. Marjorie Chance Gillis is the third child from the left in the center row and is dressed as "Bo-Peep."
(Photo - courtesy of Jane A. Thomann from "The Zig-Zag Post Office and Its Neighbors")

Olancha School in 1944 - The one teacher for this school was Mrs. Baker.
L/R (front row): Beth Hider, a Brown child, Edna Lee Gill, Bob Peterson, John Lacy, John Sander
L/R (middle row): Bill Peterson, Marylyn Beck, unknown, Mickey Covington, Barbara Lewis, George Brown
L/R (back row): Billy Williams, unknown, Margarite Loder, Mary Drew, Richard Lewis, Dale Beck, Junior, Don, unnown, unknown
(Photo - courtesy of Jane A. Thomann from "The Zig-Zag Post Office and Its Neighbors")

Olancha matchbook covers (Courtesy of Rich McCutchan archives)
Olancha matchbook covers (Courtesy of Rich McCutchan archives)
Olancha matchbook covers (Courtesy of Rich McCutchan archives)
Olancha matchbook covers (Courtesy of Rich McCutchan archives)	Grant matchbook covers (Courtesy of Rich McCutchan archives)

Olancha Post Office	Olancha
Olancha	Callaway's Cafe in Olancha, CA
Barney Spears pack train, out of Olancha, fording the Kern River.	Olancha Village Tavern Owned and operated, at this time, by Robert K. Brown and Annabelle E. Pietschman-Brown. Steven Lewis' great, great, grandparents. (Photo courtesy of Steven Lewis)
Barney Spears pack train, out of Olancha, fording the Kern River.

Ranch in Olancha
Reservoir near Olancha	Looking over the wash-out after the 1920 cloudburst.
Looking over the wash-out after the 1920 cloudburst.	Looking over the wash-out after the 1920 cloudburst.
Olancha visitors	Olancha visitors
Olancha visitors	Olancha visitors
Olancha residents	Olancha residents
Olancha residents	Olancha residents
Winter snowstorm in Olancha	Winter snowstorm in Olancha
Olancha residents	Bonita Guard Station - located in Sequoia National Forest at Bonita Meadows which is approximately 6 miles SSW of Casa Vieja Meadow

Olancha school
(Photo courtesy of Inyo County Sesquencentennial)

07/21

Dee Gill at Templeton Cow Camp
Dee is Carolyn Carrasco's great grandfather.
(Photo courtesy of Thomas Highberger)

James Johnson writes:
Dee Gill would be my Great Great Grandfather. I stayed at that cabin one summer with my cousin Jug Bill Perez and his wife and children Billy and Jodi. When we arrived there, the bears had torn the hell out of the place.
September 2021

Cowboys at Brown Meadowl - circa 1940s
L/R: Eddie McNeiley, Mark Lacey, Bev Hunter, Roy Hunter, Tom Lacey, Dr. Lee Lacey
(Photo courtesy of Inyo County Sesquencentennial)

11/21

George Russell and Bob Hancock flying from Mills Field in San Francisco in a Travel Air monoplane in the late 1920's. Landed 2 hours & 10 minutes later in Templeton Meadow at 8,500 feet. It was believed to be the highest lading field in the world at the time. The three other members of their party took three days by pack horses to make the trip. Limits of Golden Trout were secured by each flyer in one hour after landing.
(Photo & text courtesy of Mike Vredenburgh)

Vintage Map Courtesy of Hal Eaton

Forgotten place names along the El Camino Sierra - from 1926 map

Courtesy USGS Denver Library Photographic Collection
Near View from soda marsh at which south end is Owens Lake, looking west at Olancha Peak in the Sierra Nevadas. 1901	South end of Owens Lake near Olancha, looking west at Olancha Peak. Sandstorm in the distance. 1901

Rest-A-While-Inn - Olancha, CA. - 1928	Olancha, CA. - 1926
Beaus (the dog) and Hollie on the trail to Monache Meadow - 1926	Olancha, CA. - 1926
Olancha, CA. when it was nothing but a freighting and stage stop
Deer camp in Monache Meadow - 1926	On the trail to Monache Meadow, Hollie is in the plaid shirt - 1926
On the trail to Monache Meadow, Hollie is in the plaid shirt - 1926	Grant - Airflight Cafe
The "Jot-Em-Down Store in downtown Olancha, CA	Store across the street (U.S. 395) from the "Jot-Em-Down Store in downtown Olancha, CA. A local guy named Johnny Vick had an antique store in the late '90s before moving it to Lone Pine.
Art Deco gas station across from the Ranch House Cafe (Photo courtesy of Randy Stevenson)

Photos Courtesy of Andrew King
Andrew King writes: Years ago while dropping alfalfa off in Olancha to a woman name Diane Chontos I stayed in a canyon west of Olancha Called Walker Creek which can be approached by driving up a dirt road named Walker creek Road. At the base of the canyon my girlfriend and I found more than a couple large building foundations under a oak tree. Further investigating when I came home was it appeared to be the ruins of "The Oaks pack station". The pictures I took matched up to the one and only photo I had of the place in the 30s. I was wondering if you could help identify the building and foundations at the mouth of Walker Creek. They are a few yards up from the creek and there are several foundations with one small study building missing a roof. Are these the original Walker homestead buildings or from the pack station. I first bumped into them at night on a disastrous solo attempt at climbing Olancha peak in the winter almost 10 years ago only revisiting the site 2 years ago for a better look. September 2020

Olancha photos courtesy of UCLA Digital Library Collections
Wilfrid Cline holding the first rabbit that he killed at Ash Creek - 1916 The Clines were in-laws of Harriet Maria Teel Cline, the sister of H. H. West's first wife, Mary Adelbert Teel West	L/R: H. H. West Jr., Mertie West, H. H. West at campsite - 1930
L/R: H. H. West and H. H. West Jr. at campsite - 1930	L/R: Agnes Whitaker, Mertie West, FOrrest Whitaker, William Shaw - 1930
L/R: Al Schmitz, Wilfrid Cline, Glen Velzy near Ash Creek - 1916	George Saum in camp near Haiwee - 1920
Schmitz, Velzy and H.H. West deer hunting packtrain heading up Haiwee Pass on their way to Walker Pass - 1914
H. H. West's campsite at Hessian Meadows (near Monache Meadow) Allie Robinson's son is standing near the horse. - 1914	Store in Olancha, CA - 1947

08/22

Olancha/Cartago U.S. 395 bypass under construction - July 2022

Bridge construction over the Los Angeles Aqueduct continues as part of the Olancha-Cartago 4-Lane Project in southern Inyo County. On the north side of the aqueduct, the alignment of the future lanes of U.S. Highway 395 meets with the connector approximately one mile south of Pine Street in Cartago. The desert tortoise fence marks the edges of Caltrans Right of Way on both sides of the alignment. Crews will clear the land north of the connector at a later date. For more information on the Olancha-Cartago 4-Lane Project, visit the Caltrans District 9 Projects page - CLICK HERE
(CalTrans photo)

(CalTrans map)

07/23

Olancha Peak - July 2023
(Photo courtesy of Jing Shi)

06/23

Ranch House Cafe (Photo courtesy of Ray DeLea)	Buildings behind the Ranch House Cafe (Photo courtesy of Ray DeLea)
Ranch House Cafe (Photo courtesy of Ray DeLea)	Silo behind the Ranch House Cafe (Photo courtesy of Ray DeLea)
Ranch House Cafe Business Card (Photo courtesy of Karen Stone)
Ranch House Cafe Business Card (Photo courtesy of Karen Stone)

	Fr. John J. Crowley
	Trans-Sierra Highway
	Slim Randles "Night Ride"
	Sierra Place Names
	George Brown, Native American
	To the Top of Mt. Whitney by Rena Moore

Sign Guestbook View Old Guest Book Entries Oct 1999 - Feb 2015 (MS Word)	CONTACT the Pigmy Packer	View Guestbook View Old Guest Book Entries Oct 1999 - Feb 2015 (PDF)
HOME

This page was last updated on 24 April 2024