#us 395

Highway in winter, US 395 at Mammoth Lakes, California, 2023

Reconstructed guard tower, Manzanar "Relocation Center", near Lone Pine, California (October 2023).

US 395 near NV CA border

High desert highway, US 395 near junction with OR 78, Malheur County, 2020.

Adelanto, CA - May 2019

The (very affecting) Soul Consoling Tower (I-Rei Tō) at Manzanar "Relocation Center" cemetery, Manzanar, California (October 2023). I keep coming back to Manzanar — decades ago when I started looking for the camp it was harder to find, but now it's part of the NPS system — and wonder if we'll ever have the courage to officially call it (and its sibling camps) what it was, a concentration camp. I'm always struck by the contrast between the (harsh) beauty of the natural setting (so familiar to me) and the ugliness of what was done here.

Big Red, South Main, Bishop, California (October, 2023). He's looking a bit worn nowadays, but at least he's still there watching the traffic go by; this must be the hundredth photo I've taken of him over the decades.

Overhead views of Owens Lake and the LADWP’s efforts to remediate the mess they’ve made of the area over the past century or so (the LADWP is the saintly Los Angeles Department of Water and Power). It's difficult to get a feel for the sheer scale of this mess and the long-term damage done to Owens Valley and beyond, but take a look at my The Owens Lake Partial Remediation Effort photo essay for a slightly more comprehensive view.