05-10-2025, 04:32 PM
To get to Lone Pine, which is almost directly east of Raymond, we had to travel south to Bakersfield first. Now, we could have gone the quicker route around the end of the mountains, but I opted to take us over the mountains past Lake Isabelle along the Kern River through the Kern River Canyon.
Surprisingly, it was a beautiful drive through this steep walled canyon. We had water flowing over cascades on one side and hills turned purple by the abundance of Clarkia on the other. Hardly any traffic so I wasn't by tailgaters or people tailgating me. So enjoyable.
Lake Isabella was big disappointment. Very stark and dry around the lake. After we go past the lake, though, we got into some prettier countryside. Then it was down to the 395 and some really hot temperatures.
Our first stop was going to be me to find the town of Perfection. It has been 37 years since I was last up in that area. I vaguely remembered the kitty litter mine and the fields where they grow Alfalfa. They have even built a bypass of the 395 near Cactus Flat Road so we had to go down this sketchy AF road to leave new 395 to get to old 395 including a narrow maybe safe bridge over the Owens River Canal.
Cactus Flat Road is the road off 395 that leads to perfection and there is all this major construction along the road, including building a damn that was not there when I was there. I feared that damn was over the spot where the town used to be. But we continued up the road, and I think I found the road that ran through the center of Perfection. I could be totally wrong. The whole area around where we built the town was owned by the Bureau of Land Management. They weren't going to let us build a town on their property. There was one small bit of property that was privately owned that was more than happy to lease the land from the film company. When I found a road that was blocked off as private property, I figured that was the place. I matched up some pictures I had, too, of the town. It looked right. Could be wrong, but I'm going with it.
We left there and went to the electrical tower where Val and Earl found the first dead body. We continued around Owen's lake to Keeler looking for where the first old man was killed along with all his sheep. Good times.
Surprisingly, it was a beautiful drive through this steep walled canyon. We had water flowing over cascades on one side and hills turned purple by the abundance of Clarkia on the other. Hardly any traffic so I wasn't by tailgaters or people tailgating me. So enjoyable.
Lake Isabella was big disappointment. Very stark and dry around the lake. After we go past the lake, though, we got into some prettier countryside. Then it was down to the 395 and some really hot temperatures.
Our first stop was going to be me to find the town of Perfection. It has been 37 years since I was last up in that area. I vaguely remembered the kitty litter mine and the fields where they grow Alfalfa. They have even built a bypass of the 395 near Cactus Flat Road so we had to go down this sketchy AF road to leave new 395 to get to old 395 including a narrow maybe safe bridge over the Owens River Canal.
Cactus Flat Road is the road off 395 that leads to perfection and there is all this major construction along the road, including building a damn that was not there when I was there. I feared that damn was over the spot where the town used to be. But we continued up the road, and I think I found the road that ran through the center of Perfection. I could be totally wrong. The whole area around where we built the town was owned by the Bureau of Land Management. They weren't going to let us build a town on their property. There was one small bit of property that was privately owned that was more than happy to lease the land from the film company. When I found a road that was blocked off as private property, I figured that was the place. I matched up some pictures I had, too, of the town. It looked right. Could be wrong, but I'm going with it.
We left there and went to the electrical tower where Val and Earl found the first dead body. We continued around Owen's lake to Keeler looking for where the first old man was killed along with all his sheep. Good times.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm