Los Angeles herald., 1908-06-07
THREE ENJOY TRIP TO BAKERS
FIELD
PASS SEVEN AND oNE.HALF
HOURS EACH WAY
Jaunt Made to Establish Set Time Be-
tween Points Proves Successful,
and Tourists Have
Pleasant Day
BY l.. GEORGE THOMPSON

IN a Great Smith touring car, ledNinS
The Herald office at 4:10 Sunday morn
Ing and returning at SID the evening
of the same day.
A stop of an hour and five minutes
was made in Bakersfield for lunch,
gasoline and oil and the return journey
made over the same road as was trav-
eled going up.
The elapsed time between the places
was about seven and a half hours each
way, which shows the consistent man
ner in which the car acted No at
tempt was made to lower the fast rec
ord OF the Kisseikar, but the aim was
to establish a consistent touring rec
ord for the round trip between Los
Angeles and Bakersfield.
The total elapsed time for the trip
was sixteen hours and five minutes
Short stops were made en- route both
ways to make photographs, replace
punctured tube and for directions IN
regard to choice OF routes.
y The condition of the roads does not
permit of fast travelling except in a
few places, if the comfort of the pas
sengers is taken into consideration, ana
while the trip was made easily in a
day 1t would be unwise to attempt to
duplicate 1t for mere pleasure.
The road through the San Francis
quito canyon was taken and the pretty
ness of the passage through the noun
talns makes the name of Little st.
Francis seem appropriate.
More than fifty fords have to be
crossed before the summit of the pass
is teached and the water was splashed
high over the radiator each time.
At times tine road leaves the bottom
of the canyon and chambers up the
side of the mountain, only to go back
10 xuha hlpS
over the rocks.
Picture Beautiful
Finally, when the summit is reached.
the road descends rapidly and after a
few miles thep Antelope valley Is
reached.
Here nature has painted a beautiful
picture with a very meager palette
Changes have been made in the color
ing and composition by man, but In
many places the original has been un-
touched and retains all of the wild
and lonesome beauty of the desert.
Thousands of cactus growing like
trees make a veritable forest and under
the branches of the desert trees the
brown grass sways in the continual
wind of the valley and takes on tone
that looks like velvet.
All the vegetation of the valley
seems stunted, the grain fields look
poorly fed and famished for water.
The wind, that ever present menace to
the crops, bends the stalks far over
and strips them of their blades, leav-
ing the head of the wheat at the top
of a long, naked looking stem.
The wild flowers partake of the ma
ture of the other vegetation and are
small, and instead of poppies two or
three inches in diameter as we see
them near Los Angeles or on the foot
hills above Pasadena, they are no
larger than a half dollar, but as a
recompense for their small size they
glow with vivid color that puts to
shame even the brilliant glow OF the
larger blossoms.
Out on the plains of Antelope valley
is an occasional school house and the
wonder is where they find enough pu-
pills to fill the benches.
Few Stores In Valley
A few farms appear scattered over
the valley and an occasional store with
house or two near 1t.
Small punches of cattle roam at Will
here and there nibbling the dried up
grass and searching all the time for
something green beside the grain inside
the wire fences.
Gradually the road leaves the val
lev with its uncomfortable wind and
water takes on a dark blue suggestive
of depth and mystery.
Once more the road plunges into the
hills, up and down over ridges and
into canyons passing little settlements
where the stage stops for refresh
ments. Il long descent Is made from
the low range of mountains that lie
on the farther edge of the Antelope
valley and the approach to the TETON
pass is reached.
Once more the car climbs up and
up over roads that look as though
they were nearly level, but which ne
cessitate an occasional application of
the intermediate gears.
Mountain Garden Spot
AS the TETON is gone into the beauty
of IL increases until finally it becomes
one of the garden spots of the noun
tains of California. Immense live oaks
and willows and beautiful trees from
which dangle hundreds of tasseliated
blossoms cover the hills and crowd
down to the edges of the stream to
drink.
Underneath the trees velvety car
net OF green grass affords luxurious
living to the many cattle roaming be-
meath their shade and over the hills
nature has flung a robe of velvet dyed
in many shades by the wind and sun
and rain.
Delicate browns that verge into pink
and occasional blending of lavender
run over the hills and on their sides
in the most lavish profusion. Occa-
sionalIy at the base of mouutain that
is covered with a hood of green trees
and covered with velvet gown, on the
train of which is scattered in generous
patches purple and orange flowers,
tansle of rough hewn boulders is piled
In seeming confusion and disarray and
lend a tone of extreme contrast to the
picture.
Panorama Of Beauty
All through the pass is a constantly
varying panorama of beauty Many
times the machine was stopped while
some lazy bovine was shooed from the
road, where 1t had been peacefully ly-
ing and chewing it's cud. Tucked away
off to one side of the road is a group
of houses, some of them adobe and
some frame, remnants of the old TETON
fort.
Just a glimpse of them is caught be-
tween the trees as the car rushes past,
eager to devour more of the winding
road that over pitches up and down
along the mountain side and back and
forth across the bed of the stream.
Gradually the panorama changes and
where a moment before the car was
running between the trees and beside