This part of our explore began in A (Aspendell) and ended in Z (Zurich). We've been driving 395, as a couple for almost 40 years and there have been roads we've always wanted to take. This time we went for it.
Turning west, and heading into the Eastern Sierra, we entered into history. In 1893, President Harrison created the Sierra Forest Reserve (aka Sierra Timber Reserve). This reserve encompassed roughly six million acres, including much of the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. In 1907, President Roosevelt created the Inyo National Forest, which now manages most of Bishop Creek and the eastern Sierra. In 1908/09, the Nevada-California Power Company constructed South Lake Dam. Southern California Edison now manages the dam and the power plants further down the canyon.This road ended in the little hamlet of Aspendell.And just beyond it was Cardinal Village Resort, built at the turn of the century to serve the gold mine which is located a short hike from the Lodge. The Mine changed hands several times and finally shut down in the late ’30s. In 1946, Cardinal Village began serving fishermen and their families.As we meandered down the mountain, we drove parallel to the electric company's water pipeline. We stumbled upon this original piece, left, I suspect, to show how far they've come. It was pretty cool.The unique power station was pretty interesting to discover, too.On a dirt road, that called Steve's name, we discovered this obelisk in the middle of a barren field. We just had to detour to examine it.Created by A.O. Adams in 1918, it was different from his concrete silos which have been described as "across the dead fields and arid wasteland of northern Inyo County, there are ringed silos standing straight, desolate and empty. They are now tombstones marking a way of life gone by. These cement cylinders were for compacted grass during the beginning of the last century. They were a symbol of owner pride. These were farms and dairies that have since blown away with the dust of many windy days."Nearby we discovered the scattered remains of a once thriving community/farm.This scar across the landscape was once filled with water. It was how these early settlers survived while taming a beautiful, harsh and hostile land made of sand, soil, and stone. Farming and ranching virtually disappeared in the valley after water rights were acquired by the City of Los Angeles.That said, after the recent storms, water was plentiful. So much so, Steve was concerned about continuing onward. After much pondering, we continued on.Again, we were exploring a place we have passed by for decades- The Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO).OVRO is one of the largest university-operated radio observatories in the world. It is dedicated to research in radio astronomy and astrophysics, the training of the next generation of radio astronomers, the development of cutting-edge radio instrumentation. It is operated by the Astronomy department of the California Institute of Technology. Known by locals as the “Big Ears,” the observatory is located near Bishop! Who knew Bishop was so dang interesting?The search for radio sources in the sky began when Heinrich Hertz first demonstrated the existence of radio waves in 1888. After decades of non-detection on bright sources such as the Sun, in 1933 Karl Jansky at Bell Labs discovered cosmic radio waves originating from the Milky Way. With the improvement in sensitivity and reliability of radio systems during World War II, the discovery of radio sources other than the Sun and the Milky Way became commonplace.
"The past speaks to us in a thousand voices,
warning and comforting, animating
and stirring to action."
– Felix Adler
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