Back to the trip after the Faranuf retrospective...If you remember, I travelled to Fairfield, CA, east of the Bay Area, for my nephew's wedding and to visit the Kaiser facility there for immunizations and travel meds for my upcoming Peru trip. The wedding and reception were fun, but the Kaiser visit left me shaking my head (it wouldn't have done me any good to get mad, though that would have been as good of a place as any to get a stroke). They said my Kaiser coverage had been terminated, then they couldn't find my order for travel meds that the nurse had put into the computer a week or so before the visit. A day after the debacle, the nurse called me, saying "Did you get the immunizations done and pick up the meds? I see they're still in the computer." No, I didn't pick them up -- because the doctor who I had the appointment with said she couldn't find them. A case of one hand not knowing what the other is doing... I'd worked for Kaiser down in southern California for 34 years -- or was it all a dream? My life seems so different now -- so I was used to foulups. The thing to do is be patient, as they usually get resolved, which was the case this time. After profuse apologies, I ended up getting everything I needed. It's just that it took a wild ride to get them. So ok, after all that I needed a break. Near Suisun City, just south of Fairfield, there's a huge area that's the largest brackish water marsh on the west coast of the US. It's a land of agriculture and nature -- and all within a few miles of a heavily urban area. Just a few miles from Suisun City, you're transported to a land where you can see a cattle drive -- albeit with ATVs instead of horses --
That's Suisun City in the distance, with ranch land and marshes running along Grizzly Island Road, which winds through the area which is formed by the confluence of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers --
It's land, bays, and sloughs and is part of the San Franciso Bay tidal estuary, and subject to tidal ebb and flood. You're transported from the hubbub of city life to a rural, natural area --
After the wedding and Kaiser visit, I started the journey back home. Highway 12 goes through a land of rolling agricultural fields dotted with wind turbines, which makes for interesting scenery --
Cattle are dwarfed by turbines receding into the distance --
I'd decided to take a winding route through Yosemite then down the Owens Valley. The day called for thunderstorms over the Sierra Nevada. Thunder, lightning, periods of heavy rain made for a dramatic change from all the hot weather back home in Portal -- and the part of the drive through the southeast California desert, where Needles, along the California/Arizona border, was 120 degrees. Yosemite was cloudy and cool, with watery cascades all over the place, pouring down the granite walls. Here's Tenaya Lake --
And I had to check out Yosemite Valley. It was raining and misty, and most of the landmarks were hard to see, but it was still impressive --
The main reason for crossing the Sierra -- and it's not Sierras plural, just Sierra, singular, as it's considered to be one giant fault block -- was, well, to get to the other side, of course. And that means Owens Valley, and the eastern Sierra. The road through the Yosemite, Hwy 120 or the Tioga Pass Road, ends up at the tiny town of Lee Vining, gateway to Mono Lake. Nearly 2 million waterbirds, use Mono Lake to rest and eat for at least part of the year. And the second largest nesting population of California Gulls -- only Utah's Great Salt Lake has more -- is here. I didn't have time to do some birdwatching, so I got up early the next morning for the sunrise. The skies were clear after yesterday's storm, so I concentrated on the tufa towers in the lake. I was also lucky enough to get mist rising from the lake's surface --
Here's a view looking north, with the bunches of grass being lit by the rising sun --
There are 2 ruined cabins south of Mono Lake, heading down the 395. They're quite picturesque with their snow-covered Sierra backdrop, passing by them I always wonder who lived there, and why --
My next stop is always Convict Lake. It's a true shrine of nature, surrounded as it is by tall mountain peaks. It's particularly a favorite place of mine in the fall, when the aspen are a blaze of yellow, red and orange. And the colorful folds of the rock are unique --
From the Sherwin Pass at 7000 feet, you head down into Owens Valley, known as "The Deepest Valley" as, yes, it's the deepest valley in North America, with up to a 10,000-foot elevation difference from the valley floor to Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States at 14,505 feet. I've always loved it for its drama and wide-open expanses. It's been a few years, but I've backpacked up the 10,000 foot-plus climbs of Shepherd, Sawmill, and Taboose Passes. It's hard to beat the magnificent sweep of the wall of mountains; this is the view as you're going down the Sherwin Grade to Bishop --
Whenever I'm in the Owens Valley, I make it a point to visit some friends; I call them The Aberdeen Donkeys. I buy carrots at the Safeway in Bishop and visit them at their home on the outskirts of the tiny town of Aberdeen. They're gentle inquisitive, and pretty polite for being donkeys. Some ladies saw me with them and drove out to where I was; I asked them to take my photo --
They look quite at home in the high-desert landscape --
This little gal is my favorite --
The Aberdeen Donkeys -- check them out if you're ever in the area. And don't forget to bring those carrots...
The landscape in the Owens Valley is one of agricultural in a classic mountain backdrop --
And down along the road to Onion Valley, to the west of the town of Independence, the vistas are as far as the eye can reach; classic Basin and Range scenery --
Another place I always try to visit is Cartago, population 95 (so Portal is still smaller, at 60) just north of Olancha. My friends Carol and Ralph live there, along with 3 dogs, 2 cats, 2 goats, and 2 horses . They were both born and raised in the Owens Valley. Once they retired from jobs in the hustle of bustle of southern California, they decided to move back, and never regretted it. Now that I too am living the rural life, I totally agree with their decision.
Carol told me about a unique work of art just off the 395 as you go south out of the valley. It's obviously a Joshua Tree -- but its trunk and branches are made of horseshoes. It was created by a local artist, and is just one example of the whimsical works of art you'll see along the highway.
I drove about 600 miles that day, from Cartago to Tucson, Arizona. The difference between the two couldn't be more stark, from a place of 95 to a land of seemingly millions; this is the view of Tucson from the Catalina Mountains to the north --
So it was with a sense of relief that I arrived back home, 12 days and 2500 miles later....
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