Last weekend, Collette and I took a trip up to Owens Valley. For those who aren't familiar with this area, it's about 200 miles north of L.A., reached by highway 395.
Los Angeles and Owens Valley are inseparably connected by way of a skinny blue line: the Los Angeles Aqueduct. The L.A. aqueduct is about 100 years old and was quite literally the conduit that allowed Los Angeles to grow beyond the dusty little pueblo that it once was.
Los Angeles still gets about half of its water from Owens Valley, yet most Angelinos aren't aware of this. Most of us take for granted that when we turn on the tap water will freely flow.
So what, you say? How is this related to off-roading? Very directly. So Cal has plenty of diverse terrain and generally good weather year-round. This is what has helped grow the many vendors and players in the off-road industry that are based in So Cal. Without water to make life possible here, all that terrain wouldn't matter. No water means no life.
Last weekend, we took the 4Runner to Whitney Portal (trailhead for the Mt. Whitney trail), the Alabama Hills (mines, dirt roads, rock outcroppings and the setting for more than 400 motion pictures), and the Ancient Bristlecone pine forest which is home to the oldest non-clonal living things.
This weekend, we're off again in search of Cerro Gordo, a ghost town that once teemed with life, silver, and lead. Cerrod Gordo's bullion was smelted on the shore of Owns Lake, then taken by boat across the lake to a railroad shipping depot. This commerce helped grow the coffers of Los Angeles. Cerro Gordo is perched at about 9,000 feet, and several of the buildings are well-preserved.
It's time to sign off, finish packing the 'Runner and head up 395. I'll blog about these adventures here, but for the full story, you'll have to check out the printed side of 4WD&SU.