You come astride Owens Lake north of Cartago:
(Above) Owens Lake north of Cartago. That green place is a natural spring, but there's not enough flow for standing water on the lakebed. (6-12-10)
It just keeps getting better...
(Above) Okay, yeah, we know we said this is "the most beautiful place on Earth," but there's always gotta be some place to take out the trash. Here you have the Olancha Transfer Station, operated by the Inyo County Waste Management Department.
(Above) As you can see, this transfer station is guarded.
(Above) And what Mojave journal would be complete without a picture of downtown Olancha?
(Above) And what trip to Olancha would be complete without a side trip to Dirty Sock Spring? This used to be a resort, and that's a man-made swimming pool you're looking at, with the spring water still feeding into it via the wellhead at right center. One trip here is all you'll need to understand why this place lost its popularity. Given the aroma, the name is very appropriate.
On the north side of Owens lake, there is something interesting to see:
(Above) On the north shore of Owens Lake you can see old shorelines. The terrain down there appears to be the same coarse granitic gravel you're standing on from this vantage point, so it is hard to tell if you are looking at old Pleistocene shorelines or recent (last 100 years) shorelines formed as the lake dried up after LA DWP diverted the stream flow away from the lake. Given that we are looking at soft, gravelly soil and not lithified rock, I tend to believe these shorelines are relatively recent and they are one more thing we can blame on Los Angeles. (June 7, 2011)
(Above) Telephoto shot of the shorelines. (June 7, 2011)