Up
reasonably
early
and
out
with
John
to
Queen
Bean,
then
good
wishes
until
next
trip,
down
and
up
and
over
to
Claremont,
lunch at
Mongolian Barbeque,
a variant route from 210,
over
134
towards Griffith Park
and the Santa Monicas,
briefly on Van Nuys and Victory Boulevards (always a little 1984 here),
up
405
to
5 --
Weldon
Canyon's
Big-Cone
Douglas
Firs,
Gavin's
precipitous
semi-
settled
Cliffs,
the
last oaks of Santa Clarita,
near
Rye
and
the
River,
up
the
Violin
Grade
into
Paradise
Valley,
Wheeler Peak,
Piru
Gorge,
the Ridge
Route,
Pyramid Lake,
Liebre and
Apple
Canyons,
Hungry
and
Peace
Valleys,
the Burnt Yucca area,
Gorman
Ridge
and
Pass
towards
Frazier
Mountain
and
Tejon,
into
Kern
County
and
down
through
the
burned-over
country
of
Upper,
Middle,
and
Lower
Grapevine,
flooring
it --
past Wheeler, the
Plieto Hills and
Sierra --
then the long pull on 99,
relieved
by
the
Palms of Ming,
scenic
waysides,
distant
Sierra views,
petrol stops, and the parade of counties: Tulare,
Fresno, Madera, Merced,
Stanislaus,
San Joaquin,
Sacramento, Yolo,
Solano...
131st day of summer at home in the latter, high 87 --
85 in the former.
