August 16, 2011

August 16, 2011

Even though we drove many hours north on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevadas, apparently we are in Los Angeles. It seems people do value this area, but for only one reason. Water. Many years ago LA bought all the land around here to garner the water rights and built a large aqueduct to drain it south. On the positive side there has been no development and the whole area is a recreational playground.

Last night we stayed in the cute town of Lone Pine in the shadow of Mt. Whitney the tallest peak in the lower 48. We are finally across the desert where the weather is cooler and the scenery beautiful. Now we can slow down.

Ten miles north we stopped at Manzanar National Historic Site. It is the location of one of a dozen internment camps that west coast people of Japanese ancestry were relocated to during WWII. The museum is very well done. While there were some initial physical hardships the experience was mostly an emotional tragedy. Being treated as a criminal without cause. Much of what happened in many ways was just a culmination of a century of prejudice against the Asian immigrants.

From the museum, we took the auto tour around the large camp which looked eerily similar to a concentration camp, albeit one with some nice views of the mountains. At its peak the camp held over 10,000 people.

From Manzanar we continued north along the Sierras climbing ever higher until we came to the Mammoth Lakes area. This is a big winter ski destination and apparently just as big a summer stop. We drove thru the town, past the ski lifts to Devils Postpile National Monument. The last eight miles is restricted to busses only unless camping within the park. This is just another example of why RVing is the only way to see the National Parks.

At the Monument we quickly find a campsite and don our hiking gear. A half-mile down the trail we run into the Postpile, a strange geologic feature that looks like a bunch of black pencils stacked on end. From the top each pencil is a hexagon, making it look very man-made. We continue another two miles on the trail to a roaring waterfall.