Hwy 140 Lonely Chimney - Mariposa, CA
N 37° 23.994 W 120° 08.139
10S E 753545 N 4143087
Lonely chimney sitting beside Hwy 140 on the way to Yosemite National Park
Waymark Code: WM62QZ
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 03/22/2009
Views: 9
New Page 1
Hwy 140 is one of only four ways to enter Yosemite National Park. There were 3.4 million visitors to the park in 2008. There is another lonely chimney almost directly across the highway, and several more as you drive east towards the park. The pull-out to access the chimney from the road looks pretty well worn to my eyes.
Do the math. There's no way this chimney is lonely.
But.... once upon a time, back in the gold rush days....
There was an old miner fella, who rode his trusty mule all the way from Tennessee in search of gold. Like so many others before (and after) him, he came to seek his fame and fortune in the hills of the Sierra Nevada mountains in this place they called California. Mark A. Klame was gonna be rich and famous!
Mark lost his way somewhere near a lake called Ta-Ho and ended up riding clear across the Sierra Nevada mountains before he realized where he was. Slowly, Mark and his mule made their way south, looking for the perfect place to pan for gold before heading back towards the mountains.
It was in these very foothills that Mark and his mule set up their final camp. It was a scenic spot, wildflowers peeking out of the grassy knolls, oak trees dotting the hillsides, and clean air and water. There was an abundance of rocks in these parts, and Mark knew the winters would be fierce. After building a little cabin, Mark began to gather rocks from the river bed and stacking them up... and up... until he had the makings of a beautiful chimney. The fallen oak limbs he gathered would make for a long, hot fire to keep him warm.
One day, Mark was out panning for gold in the Merced River when he came across a nasty looking miner. The ol' codger was ornery as all git-out and tried to chase Mark away from what he said was his 'claim'. They fought fiercely, to the death ... sadly, of Mark A. Klame. Mark's mule was heartbroken and wandered into the great Yosemite Valley where he lived out the rest of his years in solitude, mourning his lifelong friend.
Mark's house stood in that very spot for decades until one year a careless passer-thru left his nearby campfire untended (while he went into the hills looking for gold) which started a raging forest fire. Everything for miles was destroyed and left in rubble .. except for this very lonely chimney which to this very day serves as a monument to Mark and his mule.