This week, Malicote sat at his kitchen table, along with his son Sam, and discussed the trip taken this past spring to Death Valley in California.
“I enjoyed it, I really did enjoy it and would love to go again,” he said as he pored over pictures spread out over the table.
How the trip got started
Sam Malicote, 69, is a former sixth-grade teacher in Hamilton. He taught for 38 years at Fillmore Elementary, which is now Highland Elementary. His son Brent, 49, is a Talawanda and Miami University graduate, who is now a principal in a school district near the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California.
Sam and Brent have been on numerous adventures together.
“We’ve been on every kind of whitewater or kayaking adventure at every major river east of the Mississippi,” Sam said. “And for the past four years in a row we went to the back country in Death Valley on spring break.”
Death Valley National Park isn’t for the timid traveler. It’s 282 feet below sea level and once had a recorded temperature of 134 degrees.
But Brent had a great idea of how to make this year’s trip extra special and make it a family affair.
“Brent called me and said he’d been thinking how nice it would be if we could get his grand-dad (Hubert) to go this year and Brent’s son Cole (age 5) to go to Death Valley with us,” Sam said. “There would be four generations of us in the back country of Death Valley.”
Hubert accepted the offer and decided that 93 years of age was just perfect to fly to eastern California to vacation in Death Valley for an off-road trip.
Of course the danger of the trip was made perfectly clear.
“It’s something to be scared of — you have to respect it,” Sam said about the perils of the back country in Death Valley.
Hubert recalled that when he last went to California it was 1943, during World War II, and the trip took four days by coal-fired steam engine, so the four-hour flight this past April wasn’t half bad.
A night at Charles Manson’s home
What seemed a little dicey was traveling the back roads for a one-night stay at Barker Ranch, which gained infamy in 1969 as the last hideout for Charles Manson and his “family” of murders before they were captured there. The ranch is now part of the National Park System, but a fire years ago left if with four walls and no roof.
“There are all these cans and car parts still out there. Charlie Manson was a mechanic,” Sam said as he flipped through the photos of the trip. “We took a photo of his last getaway truck. It’s actually a beautiful place up there.”
F-16 jet packs powerful punch
Before hitting the Manson hideout, the group made its way through the Cerro Gordo Silver Mine and Ghost Town. That’s when Hubert got bloodied up.
“Dad was standing on the porch of this old church and all of the sudden Brent says ‘wow, look out,’ and there was a loud roar,” Sam said. “There is an Air Force base nearby and this F-16 jet had taken off and was breaking the sound barrier.”
The force of the jet caused Hubert to fall face first into nearby rocks, blood covering his face and arms.
“There was no warning or anything, and the button on my sleeve broke in half and actually filleted my arm,” Hubert said.
After some ice cream and bandages, Huber was able to happily continue the trip, which included visits to Panamind Dunes, Wildrose Canyon Charcoal Dunes and Skidoo Ghost Town and Gold Mine.
Hubert, who worked for 50 years at the former Diebold company, said he’s ready for the next adventure.
“I’m up for it … I’ll go,” he said.
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