GET-YUR-MOTOR-RUNNIN' ROAD TRIP
(Astoria - Santa Fe - Death Valley - Astoria)
Lone Pine, CA to Bishop, CA
November 17, 2013 (Day 34 of 44)
Miles Today: 94 / Trip Miles: 3,913
Photos:
Click on photo for a larger image.
All photos © 2014 Leon Jackson. All Rights Reserved.
Backroads:
The Owens Valley was very hazy, with poor visibility and temperatures in the mid-50s F. I took Lone Pine Narrow Gauge Road east from Lone Pine to the old Lone Pine Railroad Station, but was it posted "No Trespassing", and there were barking dogs, so I travelled on. According to an old-timer I chatted with in a restaurant, the rails were taken out in the early 1960s. I was interested in the railroad tracks because a favorite film of mine, Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), with Spencer Tracy and Ernest Borgnine, was filmed around the Lone Pine area, and the character played by Tracy arrived via train.
I headed north on Owenyo-Lone Pine Road; it parallels US-395 and runs close to the Inyo Mountains. For a few miles the surface is unmaintained pavement, and then it becomes a gravel road which was better than the unmaintained pavement. This area is extremely arid with many dirt side roads heading east to old mines in the Inyo Mountains. My route crossed the Los Angeles Aqueduct and the narrow, crystal clear Owens River.
At the approximate location where the town of Manzanar was once located, I turned west onto Manzanar Reward Road. Prior to the early 1900s diversion of water by the Los Angeles Aqueduct from the Owens Valley to Los Angeles, Manzanar served as a shipping point for the surrounding productive apple orchards. The washboard road took me to the humongous tarmac surface of an abandoned airstrip just east of the Manzanar Relocation Camp. [Rating = B]
No Road Signs
Subaru STI and the Inyo Mountains. There aren't any road signs on the desert roads in this part of the Owens Valley. Using a handheld GPS and paper map, I determined my location to be the junction of Owenyo-Lone Pine Road and Manzanar Reward Road.
Barren Land
Desert terrain with the Inyo Mountains in background. This area of Owens Valley had productive apple orchards prior to the early 1900s diversion of water by the Los Angeles Aqueduct from the Owens Valley to Los Angeles.
Desert Oasis
Only a few feet from arid desert land (see photo above), this oasis is fed by the Owens River. The water was very cold and crystal clear.
Desert terrain with the Inyo Mountains in background. This area of Owens Valley had productive apple orchards prior to the early 1900s diversion of water by the Los Angeles Aqueduct from the Owens Valley to Los Angeles.
Only a few feet from arid desert land (see photo above), this oasis is fed by the Owens River. The water was very cold and crystal clear.
Manzanar Relocation (Concentration) Camp:
I visited Manzanar during my last visit to this area in March 2013, and wanted to spend more time here. In July 2012, the National Japanese American Citizens League Council ratified the Power of Words Handbook. This capped a three-year campaign for truthful and accurate terms, and retiring the misleading euphemisms created by the government to cover up the denial of Constitutional and human rights, the oppressive conditions, and racism toward 120,000 innocent people of Japanese ancestry locked up in America’s World War II concentration camps. Excerpted from the Handbook: "Words like 'evacuation', 'relocation', and 'assembly centers' imply that the United States Government was trying to rescue Japanese Americans from a disastrous environment on the West Coast and simply help them move to a new gathering place. These terms strategically mask the fact that thousands of Japanese Americans were denied their rights as U.S. citizens, and forcibly ordered to live in poorly constructed barracks on sites that were surrounded by barbed wire and guard towers." [Rating = A]
Guard Tower
Guard Tower at Manzanar National Historic Site. Eight watchtowers, equipped with searchlights and machine guns pointed inward at the incarcerees, were positioned around the perimeter of the Manzanar Concentration camp. This guard tower is a replica constructed in 2005. Location: Owens Valley, north of Lone Pine. The Inyo Mountains are in the background.
Independence, CA:
Independence (elevation 3,900 ft / population 700) is an attractive, tiny town with very few businesses. It is the county seat of Inyo County, however Bishop, to the north, is much larger. From Independence, I took Onion Valley Road west into the high Sierras.
Onion Valley Road:
Onion Valley Road is only twelve miles in length, but the elevation gain is 5,000 feet. The initial terrain is desert scrub brush, and is mostly barren and rocky with some trees at the terminus. This road is steep—the average grade is 8%, and the steepest grade is 9%. The road is paved, windy, with sheer drop-offs, few barriers and lots of rock debris that had fallen onto the road. Not surprisingly, there were many road signs warning: “SLIDE AREA” and “FALLING ROCKS”. At the terminus, the elevation is 9,200 feet, with a campground and trailheads. I was alone here. The temperature had dropped to 30 degrees F from the 60 degree temperature in Independence. [Rating = B]
Terminus of Onion Valley Road
A dusting of snow and some ice in the creek at the terminus of Onion Valley Road. There is an elevation increase of 5,000 feet in the 12 miles from Independence, CA to the road terminus (elevation 9,200 ft).
On To Bishop:
Once back in Independence, I took US-395 to Bishop. The terrain along this route is mostly cattle grazing land. Bishop’s elevation is 4,200 feet and its population is 3,900. There are good places to eat, and a Holiday Inn Express.
Scenic Rating: B+
Driving Fun/Road Rating: Overall = B / Onion Valley Road = A
Tomorrow:
Explore the Bishop area.
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