Onion Valley
 When
I first heard of Onion Valley, and was told it was
found somewhere off Highway 395, I didn't have high
expectations. I'd never heard of the place, and its
name implied some flat, agricultural monotony like
the San Joaquin Valley. Furthermore, its location
near the 395 reinforced an impression of arid
wasteland. Having driven to Mammoth Mountain
countless times up the 395, I've spent many hours
traveling through the desert of Owens Valley. In
short, I expected to spend the Fourth of July
weekend camping in some dry chaparral, the only
water that which we brought with us.
I couldn't have been more wrong. Driving up a
mountain road from Independence, California, a
homely town in the middle of Owens Valley, we found
ourselves in the middle of an idyllic alpine valley
at the end of the road. Onion Valley Campground
sits at 9,200 feet, where a trail leads up the
eastern side of the Sierra Nevada range to
Kearsarge Pass, the eastern entrance to Kings
Canyon National Park. From Onion Valley,
pine-covered slopes rise to jagged peaks, down
which cataracts of snowmelt pour in cascading
splendor.
Though we didn't hike all the way to Kearsarge
Pass, we ascended well over 10,000 feet, past
several alpine lakes and into the John Muir
Wilderness. In one of the lakes, Gilbert Lake,
scores of golden trout continually leapt from the
water, undoubtedly feasting on insects buzzing the
surface of the lake. Patches of snow still speckled
the craggy peaks, feeding the lakes a continuous
supply of ice-cold water.
Though the temperatures were quite mild, I
couldn't resist a dip in the rapid flow of one of
the streams we encountered. I hollered
uncontrollably when the icy water covered me, but I
emerged into the warm sunshine quite refreshed.
I did not see a single legume growing in Onion
Valley, and the landscape couldn't have been any
more different than the arid desert I expected.
Truly, the place shattered all expectations, and
made me wonder why I haven't spent more time
exploring the Sierra Nevada.
Photo credits: Lory
Perfect
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
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July Columns:
7/21: Hiatus
7/17: Death Ship
7/16: The Da Vinci Code
7/15: Bad Moon Rising
7/14: Adios, Compay
7/13: Ty Odeh
7/10: Muse
7/6: Memories
7/4: On the Road Again
7/3: Onion Valley
7/2: Happy Independence Day
Previous months in The Archive
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