Adelanto
When we first began the treks back and forth to Reno,
we would pick up the old 395 at Hesperia.
A few times later, we switched from that route to driving up to Barstow
and across to Kramer's Junction.
It's a lot easier traveling on a freeway and a divided highway,
rather than a 2-laned highway, with small hills and passing/no passing zones.
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Adelanto Mavericks
The Mavericks are the A-Minor League Team for the Milwaukee Brewers.
If you happen to be around while they're playing, it just might be fun.
The stadium looks pretty kewl.
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(Victorville/Apple Valley)
BowWow Productions are in Hesperia.
(Not open to the public.)
They supply "critter extras" to movie production companies.
Sadly, the Roy Rogers/Dale Evans & Trigger Museum is no longer in
Victorville
It was moved to Branson.
An orphanage/ranch that was opened by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans,
also not open to the public.
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(Barstow)
The only thing I know about Barstow, is the
Barstow to Vegas Dirt-Bike Race
that Daddy & Grampa ran.
Barstow to Vegas Race
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Back onto Old 395:
Kramer Junction
(Four Corners)
We usually filler-up at the gas station at Kramer's Corner,
There's also a restaurant and a Burger King there,
and gas stations on ALL 4 corners.
Driving north from Kramer Junction, you'll pass
Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS III-IV)
One of the largest solar energy generating facility in the world.
FPL Energy operates and partially owns:
SEGS I–II (44 MW) at Daggett
SEGS III–VII (150 MW) at Kramer Junction
SEGS VIII–IX (160 MW) at Harper Lake
The Kramer Junction facility was built in the 80's, and today is a hybrid
that works in tandem with natural gas when the solar power is insufficient to meet the demand from
Southern California Edison.
From there on, we keep driving...
and wait for the hills to grow.
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(Ridgecrest/China Lake)
I don't know of any reason to go to
US Navy Weapons Testing Grounds
China Lake
unless maybe you have a medical emergency
or a base sticker, military ID card, and reservations at the Navy Lodge.
Keep driving...the scenery and towns vastly improve shortly.
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Lone Pine
Mt. Whitney with Comet Hale_Bopp flying by
Mount Whitney
Mt. Whitney is the tallest mountain in the "lower 48", at
14, 505 feet.
On our trip to DC in the mid-80's
we stayed at the Best Western in Lone Pine.
Tom was along, so we opted for the suite
that happened to have a fireplace.
It was pretty kewl then. I hope it still is.
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The Alabama Hills got their name from the Civil War Confederate warship
The Alabama.
During the Civil War prospectors would often name their mining claims
in honor of their cause, and The Alabama was a successful, mighty warship.
The Alabama Hills of the Eastern Sierras
were used as backdrops for movies where actors such as
Tom Mix
Hopalong Cassidy
Gene Autry and
The Lone Ranger
would be the lucky stars to "shoot it out" with the bad guys.
"Gunga Din"
"Springfield Rifle", and
" How the West Was Won"
were filmed on sites now known as "Movie Flats" and Movie Flat Rd.
Lone Pine hosts
"Lone Pine Film Festival"
every year on
Columbus Day
The Lone Pine Film History Museum
The BLM (Bureau of Land Management) has 30,000 acres, including trails
in the hills west of Lone Pine.
Rock climbers and hikers should be aware all times.
Mine shafts and tunnels should be avoided because of dangerous hazards.
False bottoms or tunnels can give way, from deteriorated shoring timbers.
The Alabama Hills are beautiful, but always be aware of hazards.
Self-guided tours
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Manzanar
Manzanar was the first relocation camp opened to inter Japanese-Americans during WWII.
About 10,000 Japanese-Americans were sent there.
Ansel Adams documented life at Manzanar, in his
Suffering under a Great Injustice,
a book of his photos of Manzanar.
His book was not received well at all.
In 1965, he gave his photos to the Library of Congress.
"The purpose of my work was to show how these people, suffering under a great injustice, and loss of property, businesses and professions, had overcome the sense of defeat and dispair [sic] by building for themselves a vital community in an arid (but magnificent) environment ... All in all, I think this Manzanar Collection is an important historical document, and I trust it can be put to good use."
Manzanar Catholic Church
Farewell to Manzanar
by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
is the true story of one spirited Japanese-American family's attempt to survive the indignities of forced detention . . . and of a native-born American child who discovered what it was like to grow up behind barbed wire in the United States.
Jeanne Wakatsuki was seven years old in 1942 when her family was uprooted from their home and sent to live at Manzanar internment camp--with 10,000 other Japanese Americans.
Along with searchlight towers and armed guards, Manzanar ludicrously featured cheerleaders, Boy Scouts, sock hops, baton twirling lessons and a dance band called the Jive Bombers who would play any popular song except
the nation's #1 hit:
"Don't Fence Me In".
The book became a made-for-television movie in 1976.
Manzanar National Historic Site
is open all year during daylight hours.
The Manzanar Interpretive Center, offering
extensive exhibits,
a 20-minute introductory film
and book store, is open
9:00AM - 5:30PM daily from April 1 through October 31 and
9:00AM - 4:30PM daily November 1 through March 31
(closed December 25).
There is no admission fee.
Allow 1 - 2 hours to see the interpretive center
with additional time to explore the site.
760-878-2194, EXT 10.
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Independence
The Mount Whitney Fish Hatchery
The Hatchery is no longer a working facility, but the building and grounds are
open from 8AM-5PM daily.
Food is available to feed the ducks in the pond.
The Eastern California Museum
155 North Grant Street (3 blocks west of the Independence Courthouse)
Open daily 10AM-5PM
The museum includes Paiute-Shoshone basketry,
which carried everything including water for the nomadic tribes.
Just gorgeous art pieces.
Camping around Independence
Onion Valley - mountain meadows with aspen, pine trees and waterfalls.
Begin by driving west on Market Street/Onion Valley Road - Route 6 to Onion Valley
You'll pass Independence Creek where non-native trout and bass have lived since 1873,
and manifested themselves so much that Paiutes scooped them from the water by basketfuls.
Independence Creek has the southernmost Ponderosa pines in the Owens Valley...
and they become more prevalent the higher you go.
Just ahead are Independence Peak, and to its right, Kearsarge Peak
with switchback roads cutting up its base.
The mining camp sits at two miles above sea level.
An avalanche in the winter of 1866-7 devastated the mine,
but it continued to send out gold for several more years.
After 5 more miles you’ll pass Lower and Upper Gray’s Meadow
then Seven Pines, a small private housing tract...
then the big climb really begins.
At 13 miles and 9200 feet you'll reach Onion Valley,
a gateway to the John Muir wilderness and trailhead for the
Robinson Lake and Kearsarge Pass trails.
The Bighorn Sheep Zoological Area encompasses
steep granite slopes above the valley.
Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep once occupied at least 20 canyons of the Sierra
but hunting and diseases took a heavy toll.
By 1979 only 2 of 20 original herds remained (250 bighorns).
During the 80s Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep were found to be genetically distinct
from their desert cousins, and were added to the endangered species list in 1999.
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Big Pine
Just before you get to Big Pine, you'll find lava beds and flows.
Sawmill Canyon is a habitat of Califomia's bighorn sheep.
The endangered population in the eastern Sierras is protected by the
Califomia Bighorn Sheep Zoological Area at Kearsarge Peak.
Remember the Confederate miners story about how The Alabama, became the name of the
Alabama Hills at the base of Mt Whitney?
Well, not to be outdone, Kearsarge Peak was named after
the Union's Civil War Battleship The Kearsarge
... that sank the Alabama.
Tinemaha Wildlife Viewpoint overlooks an area frequented by a herd of
California Tule Elk in the Owens Valley.
Just after leaving Big Pine, look for Klondike Lake.
On the way to Bishop is Keough Hot Springs,
natural hot pools named for an early pioneer family.
Palisade Glacier is the largest in the Sierras, and the most southern in the US.
The paved road that heads in that direction ends at Glacier Lodge. Big Pine Canyon and Big Pine Creek boasts some of the finest fishing in the Sierra. Big Pine lakes in both the North and South Fork areas are brimming with Brook, Brown, Rainbow and Golden trout.
East of Big Pine, in the White Mountains, lies a forest of some 4600 year-old
Bristlecone Pines.
Cal Tech's Owen's Valley Radio Telescopes can be seen the highway, north of Big Pine.
Some reach up to 130 feet in diameter
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Bishop
We usually stopped for breakfast/lunch in Bishop.
Whiskey Creek
has great breakfasts, terrific lunches, a gift shop, baked goods
and clean restrooms!
Jack's Restaurant & Bakery is the best for good old home-stylebreakfasts, and and
they too have an great selection of fishing tshirts!
(Hey, you're in trout country, mama!)
*********
Eric Shatt's Bakery, and their "Original Shepherd's Bread" is really good.
If you're just looking for pastries, bagels, breads, sandwiches, fresh OJ .. you're there.
No meat and taters breakfasts.
But if you're in town at lunchtime, they do serve up great sandwiches then.
(If ya miss it in Bishop...there's one up in Mammoth Village too.)
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Should you not be prepared for road closures (SNOW)to Mammoth/Carson City/Reno,
Bishop's the place to change any any northbound travel plans,
by taking Nevada 6, up into Nevada. (The mountains aren't as high.)
It's lonely back country into Nevada, with a lot of areas with no cell phone access,
but it's the easier route, being in tow.
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Lake Crowley
Some of the finest fly rods in
the Eastern Sierras compete at
Lake Crowley
for their crowning of their
"Lord of the Fly"
Boats and tubes are welcome.
Lake Fish Camp with any questions.
(760)935-4301.
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Mammoth Village
Big Ski Country.
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(Devil's Postpile Park)
We've only been there for a limited time.
(We had to hustle home.)
The view from near the gate is spectacular!
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Mammoth Lakes
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Convict Lake
This is a small, out-of-the-way trout lake...and gorgeous in the fall,
with shimmering golden aspens lining the lake.
They have cabins, campsites, a restaurant (trout),
Convict Lake Fishing, Camping, Cabins, Restaurant
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June Lake
Another ski heaven.
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Lee Vining (Mono Lake)
This closing everything down. How very very sad for us all.
(click onto the pic for more information)
On our drive to DC in '84, we had Tom along,
and stopped off at Mono Lake.
...and about 10 years ago we spent a night in a tiny
Streamline trailer
on one of our trips north about 10 years ago.
Just the two of us.
It was very kewl.
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Mono City
Trappers, explorers and emigrants discovered the Bridgeport Valley beginning about 1827 when a party led by Jedediah Strong Smith crossed the Sierra and picked up gold in the foothills around Mono Lake.
John C. Fremont led several expeditions across the Sierra. One journey, begun in May 1843 in Kansas, resulted in Fremont, along with his guide, Kit Carson, camping in the Bridgeport Valley before continuing on to cross the Sierra and arrive at Sutter’s Fort on March 8, 1844.
The Ansel Adams Gallery
In the Mono Inn at Mono Lake.
Hwy 395, Lee Vining, CA 93541
760-647-6581
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(Bodie Ghost Town)
(photograph from corbis.com)
Click onto the picture, and you can visit a site where you can find information
on how to get involved with saving our gorgeous state parks.
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Bridgeport
OMG!
I had the privelege of seeing Ansel Adams giving a lecture in the 60's.
We lived within yards of Adams' desert windmill, when we lived at White Sands, NM.
Why have we never heard of Darin McQuaid?
Click on the pic of the bridge, to visit his site.
What stunning photographs!
Near the covered bridge is a California Historical Marker with these words:
BRIDGEPORT (NYE'S CROSSING) COVERED BRIDGE BUILT IN 1862 BY DAVID ISAAC JOHNWOOD* WITH LUMBER FROM HIS MILL IN SIERRA COUNTY, THIS BRIDGE WAS PART OF THE VIRGINIA TURNPIKE COMPANY TOLL ROAD WHICH SERVED THE NORTHERN MINES AND THE BUSY NEVADA COMSTOCK LODE. UTILIZING A COMBINATION TRUSS AND ARCH CONSTRUCTION, IT IS ONE OF THE OLDEST HOUSED SPANS IN THE WEST AND THE LONGEST SINGLE SPAN, WOOD COVERED BRIDGE IN THE UNITED STATES. CALIFORNIA REGISTERED HISTORICAL LANDMARK NO. 390 PLAQUE PLACED BY THE CALIFORNIA STATE PARK COMMISSION IN COOPERATION WITH THE NEVADA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND THE WM. B. MEEK - WM. M. STEWART CHAPTER NO. 10, E CLAMPUS VITUS, MAY 23, 1964
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Topaz Lake
I'll look.
Minden,Nevada
View over Minden (Nevada)/Tahoe Airport on Old 395
Minden,Nevada
This picture is just amazing.
That's little Minden airport in the valley,
and sitting in those eastern Sierras mountains, is...
Lake Tahoe.
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Gardnerville
Sorry...
For some reason, we've never stopped in Gardenerville.
It looks just fine, a mix of old and new.
We just never had the chance to stop for some reason.
Carson City, Nevada
I'm looking.
Washoe Lake, Nevada
Washoe Lake has great views of both the (Kit) Carson Range and the Sierra Nevadas.
Originally, this area was home to the Washo Indians. The Comstock Lode was discovered and along came the rush of miners, and others, to mill the ore; and ranchers, loggers and others.
A railroad was built to run between Carson City and Reno.
In time, the silver rush waned and the Washo were taken from their valley.
(click on pic for more info)
Washoe Lake State Park offers camping, hiking and riding trails, fishing and ...
speedboats/water-toys are allowed on the water.
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Reno, Nevada
still looking
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Truckee, California
What a great little town!
We had breakfast there at O-dark-thirty, early one spring morning.
After breakfast it was back east to the old 395, to hurry home.
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