Los Angeles is not a place you would expect to find me unless there was an extremely good reason, and witnessing our first and only grandson graduating from college was an irresistible cause. Although the family event was worthwhile, it was no fun enduring the crazy chaos of the city, and so it was a good time to take a mental trip to Patagonia, back to the Parque Nacional del Torres del Paine.
As we drove down the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains, I was inspired by the sudden sharp steep rise of the Sierra escarpment over the dry high desert of the Owens Valley. The valley averages about 4,000 feet elevation and Mount Whitney is just over 14,000. That’s a pretty dramatic rise. The Sierra massif is penetrated by deep winding canyons every few miles- the passes by which hikers can gain access to the interior of the range and the high peaks which are the jewels of the Sierras. It’s not unlike the mountains of Patagonia.