aerial

Bishop – Gateway to the Sierras


My mom and I journeyed north on Highway 395 through Owens Valley. Though it was a California October we hit the season’s first snow storm. We prevailed though through rain, sleet and snow and made our destination, Bishop. The following dawn as she slept, I headed out toward what I hoped would be great sunrise photos of North Lake, about 20 miles west of Bishop in the Sierras.

The beauty of North Lake is augmented by the ability to drive there and feel like you are in the deep Sierras. So, North Lake is popular with tourists. I left at dawn and arrived at 7 but was bothered by the number of cars already in the parking lot. Should have known, there were 50 other photographers (a club) there to capture the sunrise moment with me. There are definite advantages to hiking in to remote lakes rather than driving in.

The first dusting of snow made the photos glorious.  I then returned to Bishop in time to have breakfast with mom. Bishop was still sleepy that morning, but Bishop is often sleepy since the town and its livestock and orchard economy were stolen a century ago by the city of Los Angeles as it surreptitiously purchased land to gain access to water rights. Los Angeles was booming in those days and to continue growing and line their pockets with gold, the city boosters looked to runoff from the Sierras. Once possessing the water rights they built an aqueduct and the rest as they say is history. Owens Valley lost its agriculture but did not go down without a fight. But even blowing up the aqueduct pipeline did not do the trick. Owens Valley agriculture all but ended and the economy turned to Sierra tourism: Bishop- Gateway to the Sierras.

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