What you are looking at is the vast landscape of Calico, California. Calico is an old West mining town that has been around since 1881 during the largest silver strike in California. When silver lost its value in the mid-1890's, Calico lost its population. The miner's packed up, loaded their mules and moved away abandoning the town that once gave them a good living. It became a "ghost town."
After finding this out, my friend and I were really excited to see our first real life ghost town! However, once we realized that we had to pay $6 to get in and there was a Starbucks next to the gift shop, we realized that we had been duped. Calico Ghost Town was nothing more than a cheap tourist trap. Great view though!
Copyright Drew Dawson Photography 2011