Taken from the old website. Original post date: June 27, 2005
This was to be my dream trip for the summer and it ended up being the dream trip of my life. In 5 days, we saw more California than most people see in 10 years! It was to be a trip in superlatives; from the lowest point in North America – 282 feet below see level – to breathtaking glimpses of tall, ice-capped mountains in the distance, we felt like Indiana Jones embarking upon adventure after adventure while cruising fearlessly with our little 4WD jeep.
I went with my good friend Dave who happened to know most of the areas very well and is also a very experienced geologist. It was a unique trip in that there was really no plan. When we traced our route on a map, we did 1800 miles of road travel resembling the shape of a peculiar spiral hovering around all of southern California. We went from the hot desert which often blew wind as hot as a burning furnace in our faces to 10,000 feet altitude in Yosemite National park where snow had settled in every direction.
I can’t even pick out an area that I liked the most because the entire trip was like living in a fairytale. We started our trip in Joshua Tree National park which upon closer examination revealed a fascinating variety of plants like natural gardens of creosote bush, ocotillo, and cholla cactus. We also stumbled upon a fascinating fan palm oasis where we decided to camp. The next day we made our way to Death Valley, commonly known as one of the hottest and driest places on earth.
Upon entering the park we came across the Armagosa Opera house, where a dancer from New York turned an abandoned building into a opera house after getting stranded in the area with a flat tire. Quite an inspiring story! Come to think of it, I would love to build an amphitheatre for piano recitals in one of the old volcanic craters!
There is something so intriguing about the stillness of the desert. I am instantly relieved of tension and can effortlessly quiet my mind. For instance, While standing at the rim of the Ubehebe Crater in Death Valley (which used to be an active volcano and currently descends 500 feet into the earth) where I can’t hear a single thing – not one car, bird, leaf and not even a trace of wind – my mind becomes completely clear. If I visualize playing one key of the piano during this time, that note resembles something more pure and beautiful than anything I’ve ever heard before.
In keeping with our theme of superlatives, we were quite lucky that they had just opened up the Tioga Pass Road which enabled us to visit the famous Yosemite National park which offered an impressive assortment of waterfalls, meadows, and forests that include groves of giant sequoias, the world’s largest living things. The waterfalls were extraordinary at this time of year because of the huge amount of rainfall that California received this winter. In fact, one of the reasons that Tioga road was closed was due to repairs that had to be made due to rock slides and avalanches!
In order to preserve this feeling of ecstasy we decided to repeat the entire cycle…
From quiet valley to raging waters and back to the still desert…
Our trip continued…
After camping in a beautiful campground in Millerton Lake near Fresno, we continued driving down Central Valley, the heart of California’s agricultural district. Here the land was entirely flat yet glistening with picturesque golden meadows which in a way resembled the ‘good ole’ California’ of the Gold Rush days.
Next we decided to hit the southern part of the Sierra Nevada mountains (Yosemite being the northern part) where saw gorgeous forests of Joshua trees upon reaching higher elevations until we reached the small yet rapidly growing secluded community of Isabella Lake. The longer I peered at the water, the more I could not resist the urge to get splashed. So we decided to go white water rafting along class III rapids of the Kern River. This was too much fun! I could go on and on forever about everything we experienced on this trip when in reality it was merely a giant overview – there is still so much to see and do inside and between each and everyone one of these places. Yet, when someone asks me about this trip – I am speechless because I just don’t know where to begin!
