June 21, 1943

Note: Camp Ibis was opened in March 1943. Click here for more information on this location.


Desert Training Center, California

Monday

June 21, 1943

 

Dear Folks:

 

Well I’ve been in the California Desert for ten days now. It’s not a bad place but there is nowhere to go unless you get a five day pass. This sure is a big country out here and there are many miles of desert in this section with mountain ranges all around and a few passes where highways & trains go thru. When you get across the mountains you just run into some more desert. The only things that grow are greasewood, chapparal, several types of cactus and sagebrush. The closest river is the Colorado which is about fifteen miles east of here and the desert runs all the way to it. Our camp is called Camp Ibis and is on the Santa Fe Railroad to Los Angeles. Las Vegas, Nevada is 86 miles north of here and it’s pretty easy to get a ride up there I hear. I’ve really got a good suntan and another fellow and I take a five mile hike every evening to some water tanks down an old desert road.

 

There is a range of mountains east of here and they look about as far away as Grand Ave from your house. We forgets that we’re afoot and haven’t got any horses and starts out for the top of the closest peak to us. The longer we walk the farther away the peak looks and when we finally get to the top it’s almost sundown. Well we makes it back ok but all three of us make a solemn promise to regret it for the rest of our life and give up mountain climbing for good. After we gets back we find out that it’s six miles as the crow flies to the top of that peak and probably seven the way we went.

 

Well that’s all I know for now so guess I’ll sign off. Hope the tribe is all doin ok.

 

So long,

Mel





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