Driving and talking

Long ass drive yesterday... Wednesday evening I made it out of Yosemite and to the little town of Mammoth Lakes which is also a very scenic place. Thursday morning I drove north on US 395, then Route 89 before finally hitting US 50 which took me to Sacramento. All very, very scenic roads but after Yosemite I kinda overdosed on taking pictures of purdy mountains. Still, the Sierra Nevada is a place of breathtaking beauty and I highly recommend the drive. At Sacramento I hit I-5, which is horribly boring through Central Valley but picks up considerably north of Redding. I especially liked the areas around Shasta Lake and Mt Bradley. I'm currently in Yreka, a short drive from the Oregon border.

One of the best things about traveling is when you get to talk to interesting people. First, at the junction of Route 89 and US 50 I picked up a hitch hiker. She turned out to be a Canadian who was walking the Pacific Crest Trail. She'd started out south of San Diego two months ago and had three more months to hit the Canadian border. She explained she'd usually walk for about five days then find a small town to do laundry, clean up and get more food. She just wanted a hike up the very steep slopes of US 50 to Luther Pass so we didn't talk all that much, but it's always interesting to meet people who are doing crazy things - crazy in a fun, non-harmless way, that is.

Just two minutes after dropping her off, I suddenly passed by a building where a huge sign said "Little Norway". I promptly turned around and drove back to check it out. I ended up having a half hour conversation with a very nice guy named Bruce. He was a former accountant who was now in the resort business and he was fixing the place up, planning to open on the 4th of July. He explained that the name was a leftover from the former owners, who'd been Norwegians. Apparently a lot of Norwegian-Americans from the Bay area used these parts for recreation, and there was even a Norwegian skiing club active in the winter. We had a long, interesting, wonderfully rambling conversation about topics as diverse as the Norwegian monarchy, salmon fishing, the banking crisis, the Ukrainian famine, Norwegian dialects and CA state politics. The guy was well informed and apparently in need of a good, long talk and I was more than happy to oblige. If you ever pass through these parts, do stop in and say hello from Jon, the Norwegian guy with the American accent and the Troika chocolate (I gave him some Norwegian candy, hope he liked it...).

From the Mammoth Lakes area


The strange, otherworldly beauty of Mono Lake.


Just after Route 89 takes off from US 395, it climbes way, way up into the hills, and this incredible valley view opens up


Hills and a waterfall along Route 89.... the Sierra Nevada range is full of views like this


All pics here.