Born for good luck, up and out by 10,
checking out under artwork-desires terrible and sweet,
up to the high country of
Yucaipa, for morning coffee with the ever-popular John,
then re-supply at drugstore where the windows bespeak the wonders of Morton Peak
and the Ridge,
heading vaguely toward the latter away from the Crafton Hills.
Manicured rocks and trees on the mid-day walk give way to
Yucaipa Ridge views over
venerable ranches
of uncertain future,
along the parking prospects of Oak Glen Creek watershed
toward Mt. Pisgah,
forbidden fields,
and quixotic querulousness.
Back in the car, blasting off from Waterman above the Jurupa Mountains,
a return to old Pomona haunts
along leafy
College Avenue in
Claremont provides
respite below the San
Gabriels,
before further
westering
towards
Los Angeles,
the Santa Monica
Mountains,
Griffith Park,
Burbank,
the Hollywood Hills,
and another detour up Van Nuys Boulevard.
North through the San Fernando Valley
with last looks of the south faces of
the Transverse Range,
the pipeline
escape
up
a partially pine-clad (big-cone Douglas fir, actually)
Newhall pass
leads past
erosive summits
to vestiges of oak woodland near Valencia.
Violin Canyon is
the Jacob's Ladder
stairway to
heavenly vistas of side canyons including
Canton and
Piru to the west (with
cloud-capped companions), and
Liebre and
Apple east,
reaching the high country of Hungry Valley,
where the desert is close.
It's only a short way to Gorman
Ridge,
up and over the Pass,
to the Frazier Park descent towards
Tejon Ridge.
The latter's Ranch and
Ft. zoom by into the
Grapevine's
stern walls,
opening out into San Joaquin
Valley sun coursing off
the Southern
Sierra
and Coast Ranges,
where I-5 crosses
Route 99,
heading northwest past
a flaming
Temblor Range
and Mettler-Maricopa.
Sunset,
over Buttonwillow,
Lost Hills,
and the Southern
Coalinga
Range.
The last light off
the Kettleman Hills presages another stop at
Harris Ranch,
familiar yet Heraclitianly different,
as the dark enfolds
north to journey's end.
