DE VIII - The Owens Valley

[Hun]

Hey, it's your story, you tell it.
(Truthfully, I don't remember either. In the grand scheme of things, its not really relevant as it was probably not what was said but the particular alignment of the stars and coffee in a random moment and couldn't be counted on to work ever again. It was a cosmic event, either you were there when it happened or you weren't --in which case it would suck to not be there. Sorry, Ace.)

Quick wit. That's what I call it.

Sorry Ace. You'll have to ask Frenchie! Surely, Frenchie recalls the moment.

 

[Ace Brown]

Quick wit. That's what I call it.

Sorry Ace. You'll have to ask Frenchie! Surely, Frenchie recalls the moment.

Frenchie’s down in Baja incommunicado.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[4x4x4doors]

Frenchie’s down in Baja incommunicado.

May actually be recovery or he may be trying to figure it out also.

(Just in case someone happens upon this out of context, each of us commenting on this consider the addition of Frenchie's commentary to be a highlight of any trip we take--well except for some of the rock stories. )

 

[Scott B.]

May actually be recovery or he may be trying to figure it out also.

(Just in case someone happens upon this out of context, each of us commenting on this consider the addition of Frenchie's commentary to be a highlight of any trip we take--well except for some of the rock stories. )

And don't forget - he always tells the truth, unless he doesn't....

 

[Scott B.]

Blueberry pancakes, cooked on the old, reliable backpacking stove.



The Bristlecone pines are quite spectacular.





The first time this truck has crossed the 11,000 foot mark...













Dropping a little elevation sees a significant change in the vegetation.

 

[Hun]

Day 12 - Back to the Valley

We awoke high in the mountains still reminiscing about our trek yesterday through the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. Scott cooked a scramble of eggs, sausage, and onion to enjoy with our coffee.







Today we were headed back to Bishop for brakes, bakery and bbq. Sib’s truck needed new brake fluid, some of us wanted to visit the famous Erick Schat’s Bakkery, and a bbq lunch was always welcome. First we carefully made the descent from our 8000’ mountainside perch, down Ca-168, also known as Westgard Pass, to Big Pine. In Big Pine we turned north on Route 395 for the 15 mile drive to Bishop. We secured the necessary brake fluid and oil change supplies at an auto parts store, then parked in the shade of city park trees while we strolled through the bakery, serving the valley with the original Sheepherder’s bread since 1938. We picked out a few treats to take with us then made our way to Schat’s BBQ Restaurant for pulled pork sandwiches.

After lunch, we drove south on Route 395 to Independence where we stopped at Manzanar, National Historic Site. The Manzanar Interpretive Center tells the stories of the early Paiute Indian life, the homesteading era of the valley, the fruit-growing community of Manzanar, and the sobering War Relocation Center established for Japanese people residing in American during World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.



Manzanar was one of 10 War Relocation Centers built at the start of WWII to incarcerate 110,000 Japanese people living in the US. Forty years later, 2 US Presidents, Reagan and Bush Sr. apologized for the unconstitutional uprooting and offered payments of $20,000 to each of the 60,000 detainees still living. We took the self directed driving tour through the square mile camp feeling the sorrow for past injustices.

We left Manzanar, flags flying at half mast for American lives lost 17 years ago on this day, on 9/11/2001, ever so thankful for our present day freedoms. We made our way south on Route 395 for one last stay at Lone Ranger Canyon on Movie Road. At camp, Scott jumped to action, first changing the oil in his Tacoma (-slightly ahead of the 4,000 mile mark), and secondly with Frenchie and Sib, flushing the brake fluid in Sib’s Ranger.











With truck maintenance complete, we grilled burgers seasoned with Red Eye Rub, watched the sun sink below the jagged Sierra peaks, and enjoyed an evening gathered round together.



At bedtime, Keith helped Frenchie clear his truck bed of all supplies to chase out little critters. Not bothered much by the chasing, one little bugger woke Frenchie up in the middle of the night and Frenchie came scrambling out of his comfy bed to clear the tight enclosure of the little beast. 100 miles

 

[4x4x4doors]

Judging from your choice of pictures, Keith primarily moved his chair from one site to another and sat.



This was a second trip to Manzanar for me. On the earlier trip, we were lucky enough to watch the movie with a man who was there with his grandchildren. We overheard him telling them of his experience there as a 4-year-old when his family was forced to become residents. He told them, as a child, it didn't mean all that much to him at the time. He was a 4-year-old with Mom and Dad living somewhere else. The teen and twenty-something grandkids were amazed.

Those of us of a certain age or who have served time in the military might not necessarily view the conditions as all that bad, having spent time in barracks and with shared bathrooms but it was a very different experience for a culture that highly prized privacy and modesty even with folks of the same gender. Whatever one's personal feelings about the Japanese people at that time, it doesn't erase that our country chose to do this without benefit of hearings and protections guaranteed by our Constitution.

 

[Scott B.]

Our next to last night of camp. It was a very level cut out on the side of the mountain. We could not tell if the idea was to have a level, cut pad, or the dirt was needed somewhere else.



A model of Manzanar, when fully constructed. A very interesting place - very "military". Quite a story, seeing what these people did to make this place more like home.



Our furry friend returned to our camp in the Alabama Hills. We saw what could have been Mom or Dad in the distance, but the bigger one was very wary of people.

 

[Hun]

Day 13 - Up and Out

We woke up early to an already warming day.



We snacked on blueberry cream cheese coffee cake, a Schat’s Bakkery specialty, while we packed up camp one last time on Desert Expedition VIII. Keith took off first to find the shortest route to Maryland. Sib traveled south on Route 395 with us until he broke away at CA-14 heading to Thousand Oaks. We continued south on Route 395 with Frenchie headed to New Mexico.



It was our final drive through the bold and beautiful Owens Valley. We experienced some of what John Muir described as “a country of wonderful contrasts,” with rugged alpine peaks of the Sierra range towering over the deep trough valley in the high desert floor. The Sierra Nevada mountains, some 450 miles long and 80 miles wide in areas, are higher, wider, and more spectacular than any other mountain range in the US. Twice the length of the Rockies, the Sierra bloc stands 4000’ higher above its adjacent valleys than the Rockies above the Great Plains. Our path crisscrossed this great region as we took in the beauty and learned a small portion of the harsh history and the trials and conflicts over limited desert resources. The city of Los Angeles, with their never-full-enough 230 mile aqueduct pulled more water than the valley’s watershed could bear since the early 1900s drying up lakes and rivers in the valley. Since the 1990s, with court-mandated water restrictions in place, the valley is experiencing a rebirth of vegetation and wildlife not seen here in 90 years.

And now, for the trip home... homeward bound, west coast to east coast. From Route 395, we turned east on CA 58 to pick up I-40 in Barstow. Other than fuel stops and lunch at a hamburger joint, we stopped for dinner at a diner in Flagstaff and made it as far as Holbrook AZ KOA. We were just west of the Petrified Forest National Park, and one of these trips - we’ll take the time to see it! 570 miles.

 

[Hun]

Day 14, 15, & 16 Homeward bound

Up early, we found our way back onto eastbound I-40. The Land of Enchantment state sign greeted us as we crossed into New Mexico. Cracker Barrel in Gallup Was a welcome sight. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, compliments of Frenchie. As we neared Albuquerque, Frenchie took off to the north for Rio Rancho while we continued eastward. Railroad tracks follow I-40 through most of New Mexico, and it was not unusual to see 3 or 4 engines pulling long, long rows of cars, sometimes box cars, sometimes ore cars. Set against the mountains in the backdrop made for a picturesque site - the kind of photograph you might see on a calendar.

The terrain changed to high plains as we crossed into Texas and the trains, so prevalent in New Mexico, changed to wind turbines and vast stockyards. The wind turbines stretched as far as the eye could see north and south of the interstate and continued for hundreds of miles. Cows dotted the landscape, small creatures under the sizable wind turbines. We had been looking forward to a meal at Tyler’s barbecue in Amarillo, but alas, upon arrival, all we could see were ‘sold out’ signs scrawled out and taped in the windows. Luckily, Rudy’s bbq was just around the corner. We were in Texas after all, bbq joints abound. Rudy’s was a huge establishment, even had gasoline pumps outside. We feasted on brisket and beans, cole slaw and potato salad, and chocolate pudding topped it all off.

With a couple more hours of road behind us, we stopped for the night at Foss OK to find a KOA campground. The fan in our teardrop provided a nice breeze in the arid, warm air. A secondary gain was the white noise drowning out the interstate highway noise and we fell fast asleep. 630 miles
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When we woke up, the day was already promising to be a scorcher. We hit the road, eastbound on I-40 and shortly before Oklahoma City, stopped for fuel at a Cherokee Trading post. We fueled up, browsed the store, purchased a few tokens for friends back home, and went over to the restaurant for eggs, bacon, and hash browns.

We left the dry flat plains when we crossed back into Arkansas. The vegetation was lush and green, hilly and wooded. Just past Little Rock, we saw several billboards for Nick’s Barbecue and Catfish. Not wanting to negotiate Friday night city traffic in Memphis, we decided to give Nick’s a try. We pulled off I-40 in Carlisle and Nick’s had recently outgrown their restaurant and built a large, modern building. The bbq was delicious and we made a note to visit again next time we were traveling this way. Carlisle is due north of Crossett, a paper mill town from my paper-making days. We left a town full of good friends when we moved out of Crossett.

After dinner, we crossed the mighty Mississippi River, dropped south on I-55 through Memphis, and then onto SR 78 which turned into I-22. We were headed for Wall Doxey State Park. Alabama was playing Ole Miss in Mississippi on Saturday so campgrounds were filling with football fans. We secured a nicely wooded site, far from interstate noise. A hot shower, a little reading time, and then we were ready. When lights went out, so did we. 580 miles
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We felt the humidity as soon as we woke up. Warm and muggy. Such a contrast to the desert air back west. Yes, we knew we were back in the South. We packed camp, ie, closed the roof vent and doors, and made our way back to I-22 southbound. Cracker Barrel Restaurant was a welcome stop just a few miles down the road in New Albany.

Outside Birmingham, we stopped at Bass Pro Shop to stretch our legs as we wandered the aisles looking for goods we would need for Desert Expedition 9 next year.





We piled back into the rig, drove across one more state line, and arrived at last, home. Time to settle in, unpack, wash up, and plan for next year's desert expedition.

So until next time,
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” (Rachel Carson)

 

[Ace Brown]

Great report. Excellent writing too. You do very good at painting visual images. I hope to join another DE trip, maybe next year.

Ace


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Martinjmpr]

Great report! I really miss traveling with you guys! I can't believe it's been 5 years since I've been on a trip with you, but unfortunately it seems your trips always conflict with our camping season (which, these days, seems to run from April through November!)

If you ever plan a trip for our "off season" of December - March I'd definitely be interested. There's lots of desert out there to explore!

Much as I like camping with the wife I have to admit I do miss this kind of traveling - minimal set-up and tear-down with lots of exploring.

Final note: I don't know if this would apply to you but if you are just looking for a place to "overnight" you might want to check out the web site http://freecampsites.net. We used it on our recent Padre Island trip and it was great. It's astonishing to me how many little towns have municipal RV parks with electrical hookups (and in many cases, water hookups as well.) Often these sites are free if you are just staying a night or two. Driving through West Texas we passed through no fewer than 6 towns that had such parks, all of them with electrical. Of course, it helps that we have a toilet "on board" since only a few of these sites have rest rooms for campers. Still, it's a nice alternative to a $30 KOA when literally all you need is a place to stop and sleep for the night.

 

[Hun]

Ace and Martin, we miss you both. Do join us! The sooner, the better.

Martin, look at it, just 1 week, a few days, usually only 1 weekend. Bring Liz!

Thanks for the website referral. Looks promising.