Walker Pass
Journal entry from the field notes of the Tenacious, Treacherous & Terribly Topologically Transfixed Traveling Toads as they explore and photograph parts of the South Eastern Sierra Nevada Quadrants of the Walker Pass Roundabout*
Part 1: Getting Started: One of the more interesting challenges of the photo tour is attempting to reach the start point at Walker Pass from the San Fernando Valley. The main pre tour hazard is the quagmire that consumes the traveler when attempting to wade through all the California history, old maps, historic landmarks and geological land formations that exist along the way. Depending on the traveler’s personal preference there could be over 100 points on interests down that stretch of road.
(Somewhere in that San Fernando Valley, Mojave Desert and Sierra Nevada sojourn we must have crisscrossed pathways which were originally labeled by John C. Freemont in 1844 as the “Old Spanish Trail”).
The road to our photographic gem-field actually begins near the San Fernando Mission and follows Freeway 5 to the Sierra Highway heading to the William S. Hart Ranch in Newhall then travels past Vasquez Rocks along highway 14 through Red Rock Canyon and on to the first destination at the junction of scenic Highway 178 and 14/395 having just traveled through Walker Pass to it’s point of entrance from the southern tip of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Note: I will be returning to this topic after spending some quality time with “Booked Solid”.
*I will attempt to explain and illustrate the idea of the Walker Pass Roundabout at a later time if anyone is interested and willing to by me a beer.(root beer or coffee is ok) For now it’s a series of turns in a single loop traveling about 500 miles round trip through many points of historical and photographic interest and returning back to the point of origin at Walker Pass (junction of Highway 395 and 178). The Sierra entrance to Walker Pass marks the point of origin to four quadrants called roundabouts including:
R1(South West – Mojave Desert),
R2 (North West- Kern River Kings Canyon Mt. Whitney)
R3 (North East – Bishop Topaz Lake Panamint Mts. Death Valley)
R4 (South East – Ridgecrest Borax Museum Ransburg Cramer’s Corner)
