Tonight folks Uncle Paden is taking us all to Inyo County, California.
The county seat is Independence; a sleepy hamlet with slightly less than 600 inhabitants. The courthouse is quite stately:
Apparently named by local Paiute Indians when asked the name of the nearest mountain by caucazoidial settlers. The name "Inyo" was what the Mono Indians had named the mountain. In their native tongue it translates to "dwelling place of the great spirit".
Rather large as far as counties go, covering 10,227 sq. miles and a population of 18,546 souls. That provides 1.81 peoples per square mile. Still a peaceful place, for sure. But with that population density one could enjoy conversation with another human without travelling much over a mile. Most citizens probably just IM each other that close to the Left Coast.
Inyo County has some very unique features though; within its humble confines rests both the highest and lowest points in the CONUS:
Mt. Whitney at 14,505' above msl and Death Valley at 282' below msl.
Inyo County is also home to Pinus aristata, Pinus longaeva and Pinus balfouriana. These old-timers are more commonly known as "Bristlecone Pines" and are the oldest non-clonal living organisms known to man. Some have been estimated at 5000 years old.
The rights to the County's most precious of all natural resources, water, was all diveyed-up and purchased by the City of Los Angeles in the beginning of the last century.
A place of rare beauty, I'm sure. I did travel through Inyo County in 1969 in a 1961 Corvair. I remember the heat. The mountains seemed as though they were painted on a backdrop, like an enchanted world. It could have been my youthful spirit, and it could have been the hash....hey, it was the '60s after all.
Pizza delivery is apparently unavailable in the Inyo County seat of Independence. 41 miles away in Bishop, CA., however, one can dine on pizza at the "PIZZA 395".
This might prove risky. A recent online review of this establishment provides this opinion:
Pizza 395
1339 Rocking West Drive
Bishop, CA 93514
(760) 873-6300
"Horrible...absolutely unacceptable service. I called in my order to this place about 45 minutes before going there. They said it would be done in 25 minutes. I get there and there is some kid with tattoos and messed up bed head walking around doing nothing. I sit at the front for a while as people walk around in the back listening to rap music.
Finally someone sees me and walks I tell them I ordered a pizza and I'm there to pick it up. I give them my name and they go searching for it and of course can't find it. They apologize and say they need to make it from scratch. I say I understand (I guess) and I suppose I will wait then.
The manager says max of 10 minutes. I watch them make it, they screw up on it and have to start making it again half way into it. I ask if maybe I could snack on something while I wait because I hadn't eaten since that morning. The lady behind the counter just told me no then walked off.
After about 25 minutes of waiting the pizza is finally done and they try to charge me full price after that crap service. Most places will at least give you half off to make up for bad service. I ask if they can do anything about the price and the lady ringing me up calls the manager over. He tries to give me 10 percent off (2 percent more than just the tax) and so I look at the pizza, look at the manager, and say forget it, you've wasted enough of my time and not going to give you money as well.
Whoever owns this place needs to get his head out off his butt and fix his staff. Pathetic. Oh and it was too expensive for the tiny size."
I guess pizza aficionados in Cali are an opinionated bunch...
I would probably try some local Mexican cuisine. I bet it's a lot better than the pizza.
> I guess pizza aficionados in Cali are an opinionated bunch...
Hey, how was the customer supposed to know that ANY pizza joint in California would have tofu/wild-caught-abalone pizza with ethically-harvested tomato sauce, but only as a SPECIAL ORDER? Where is Hunter S. Thompson when you need him on cultural issues like this?
It still sounds more promising to me than going to a Pizza Hut in Nebraska. 😉
Ethically harvested tomato sauce?
That's a hoot! I almost spit out a mouthful of some very expensive 12 year old scotch!
....I can see the label (as required by California law),"No Latinos were harmed or deprived of their minimum wages in the making of this sauce.."
The sad/ bad thing is that Bishop, CA is has/had the closest pizza place to Tonopah, NV- 120 miles away. I never ate at the afore-mentioned pizza place- but did eat at several Mexican places and 1 Japanese Sushi place (which was really, really good!)...
When stationed at Tonopah it was common on a Friday/ down day to make the 2-hr drive (1 way!) to Bishop for a meal & maybe a movie, then drive back to Tonopah after midnight... just to break up the monotony of eating in Tonopah (which had 1 McDonalds, 1 hotel/slots/restaurant and 1 truck stop).
As to the sushi- Bishop actually has a large Japanese population a result of the internment of several thousand Japanese just south of there in Manzanar during WWII. They have a very good interprative museum regarding that sad unfortunate period of our nation's history there- worth visiting if you're in the area.
Been there, done that. The Bristlecone Forest is pretty cool. It's up in the White Mnts. at about 10,000-11,000 ft. elev. The view is spectacular when looking out over the Owens Valley towards the Sierra's. You are practically at the same elevation of some of the Sierra Mtn. peaks.
One can also hike up to the peak of Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the lower 48, and then drive down to the lowest point at Death Valley all in one day. I've camped out at he foot of Mt. Whitney and down in Death Valley several times.
The eastern slope is beautiful.
My parents lived in Mammoth Lakes (Mono County) for 10 years.
I climbed Mt. Whitney with my Dad in 1970, I was 8.
How about 300,000 tons (or more) of windborne dust per year?
Inyo County is also home to Owens Lake, which actually had water in the old days but now, according to the EPA, is the largest single source of PM-10 dust in the US at over 300,000 tons per year. Other sources, including Wikipedia, put the amount at up to 4 million tpy. As a bonus, the dust is high in arsenic and cadmium content.
Remember the Chinatown movie with Jack Nicholson? Owens Lake has been dry most of the time since 1913 when the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power completed the Los Angeles Aqueduct and completely diverted the Owens River which used to terminate at Owens Lake.
Since about 2000 there have been several multi-million-dollar projects to reduce the dust emissions, primarily using shallow flooding, managed vegetation, and gravel cover. Reportedly LADWP is now sending 95,000 acre-feet of water per year to Owens Lake to try to keep the lakebed wet and in its place.
I got to see Inyo County and Owens Lake in October 2000 when I delivered a load of GPStuff to a contractor working on one of the first abatement projects.
GB
California is wonderful state (of mind), I wish you all could be here.
There's room for everyone, even Keith.
He just hasn't grown into it yet.
🙂
Don
How about 300,000 tons (or more) of windborne dust per year?
Owens Lake had a ferry.
> California is wonderful state (of mind), I wish you all could be here.
> There's room for everyone, even Keith.
> He just hasn't grown into it yet.
> 🙂
> Don
BTDT Don. CA and most of the people are not bad but the state govt. and the ones they send to DC? Not going to state my considered opinion. Too political.B-)
Ferries
I understand they are a lot of those in California.
A buddy of mine that grew up in Fremont said when they were kids they use to love to ride the ferries.
Sounds disgusting to me.
