Inyo County Visitors Guide - 11th Edition

The Owens River is famous the world over for its unique place in history as the lifeblood of both the Owens Valley and the City of Los Angeles. It was the diversion of its water to the great metropolis through the LA Aqueduct in 1913 that allowed that city to grow from just 100,000 people in 1900 to 1.2 million just 30 years later. In the Owens Valley, the completion of the aqueduct changed the valley’s history and signaled the beginning of a rocky and often contentious relationship with its “absentee landlord,” the City of Los Angeles. Before the aqueduct, the Owens River served the area’s first inhabitants, the Paiute/Shoshone people quite well. They built small diversion dams to irrigate stands of native plants. The arrival of white settlers put an end to the Paiutes’ way of life. Ranchers quickly diverted Owns River and its tributaries for their own use, primarily to grow hay for their cattle. Farmers moved in and took the best land for themselves. Increasing numbers of white settlers made it nearly impossible for the Paiute to maintain their traditional way of life. At its peak, farmers and ranchers in the Owens Valley had almost 60,000 acres of land under irrigated cultivation. When Los Angles officials arrived in 1905, it was the water rights of these farmers and ranchers that the City quickly pursued. Many sold out. Others held on but eventually caved in to the financial and social pressures put on them by the City. Once the LA Aqueduct was complete and diversions started in 1913, the loss of water and the impact it had on Inyo were profound. Today, less than 15,000 acres of land in Inyo County are being irrigated. The Owens River begins on the icy slopes of the Eastern Sierra just south of June Mountain Ski Area. Small creeks combine in Glass Creek Meadows to form Glass Creek, the furthest natural reach of this over- utilized watercourse. Glass Creek soon joins Deadman Creek and flows easterly under US Highway 395 just before the climb to Deadman Pass. These two creeks are joined by smaller tributaries and springs and together they soon flow into the northern reaches of the broad expanse of Long Valley where it becomes well known to anglers as the “Upper Owens.” For 26 miles, the Owens River winds its way through this picturesque setting toward 50-plus square mile Crowley Lake, the largest storage reservoir on the Owens. Fly-fishing is the sport here with brilliant rainbows, brown trout and cutthroat testing the skills of anglers. From Crowley Lake, the Owens River drops steeply through the voluminous Owens River Gorge. INYO COUNTY • 11th Edition 17 O L NCHA R ESO RT • E L R ANCH O • T REES M OTEL G ATEWAY TO D EATH V ALLEY - M INUTES TO M T . W HITNEY O UR O LANCHA C AFE ’ F OOD IS H EALTHFUL AND N ATURAL , THE B EST ON H WY 395 Open 7 Days for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Grass Fed Ribeye Steak Only $21.95 A LL 3 L OCATIONS HAVE 1 & 2 B EDROOM S UITES F LAT S CREEN TV’ S - W I F I - P ET F RIENDLY F ISHING - H IKING - S IGHTSEEING O UTDOOR P OOL & RV S POTS (O LANCHA ) Tipi Viliage in Olancha l Olancharesort.com 760-764-0023 Bishopmotels.net 760-872-9251 Treesmotel.com 760-873-6395 Premium Bedding & Duvet Comforters The Owens River weaves Inyo and LA together Continued on page 18