Today I went for a drive deep into the heart of Antelope Valley to explore an area I will be writing about for my bi-monthly contributions to WFMU’s Beware Of The Blog. To be honest, I’m not sure how that area could possibly be considered part of Los Angeles County. It’s like the dark side of the moon compared to common conceptions about Los Angeles. It is well known that the county is the most populous in the entire country, and covers 4,000 square miles…but the city itself is so spread out, and all the surrounding cities are so populated, it’s difficult to imagine any towns or cities tied together with LA that are so sparsely populated.
I drove through Palmdale, Littlerock and Pearblossom. The latter town has a population of barely over 2,000. Without divulging too much information, Pearblossom is the home of a rather suspicious facility that I was interested in seeing firsthand. I’m sure if you search hard enough on the Internet you can find exactly what I’m talking about, but if not you’ll learn all about it tomorrow on the WFMU blog.
Following the adventurous portion of my trip today, I stopped at a nearby gas station to use the restroom and buy a snack. I was hesitant to begin my drive back to the city so close to rush hour, so I thought about exploring Pearblossom Park a few miles up the road from my original destination. But…as I pulled into the gas station I saw a sign pointing travelers towards something called Devil’s Punchbowl. Knowing full well that pretty much any location in the world called Devil’s anything is a worthwhile sight, I asked the attendants at the gas station what it was. One of them excitedly informed me that it was “a huge fucking crater in the middle of nowhere.” He said “you hike a mile down into the crater and there’s a stream at the bottom. It’s perfect if you like to take pictures.” I told them I had time to spare, thanked them, and said I would check it out. The guy who told me about it asked if I was really going, and I said yes. He said I’d enjoy it. The other attendant he was working with then shot him a look, to which he responded, “What…I like it.”
The drive up to Devil’s Punchbowl is utterly barren. I did not see another car on the road. As I wound up the road towards the San Gabriel Mountains, voices on the radio turned to static. I had no idea what to expect. I finally reached an entranceway after what seemed like several miles. A small parking lot containing maybe forty spots was also empty. I parked, exited my car, and began to walk around the area.
“Devil’s Punchbowl, elevation 4,750, is a titled sandstone formation within the Angeles National Forest on the northern slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains.” A roughly one-mile long trail showcases the geologic features along the 300-foot deep Punchbowl and San Andreas Faults. The deep canyon is folding towards the earth’s strata due to compression. The uptilted rock formations were caused by water depositing loose material in horizontal layers. Later, they were squeezed into their present, steeply-titled form by ongoing uplift action along the Punchbowl and Pinyon Faults, and by pressures along the San Andreas Fault. Thanks, Wikipedia!
There was no way in hell I could make the entire hike before sunset, so I only walked a few hundred yards before turning around and retreating towards the park’s entrance. From what I saw, it looked absolutely incredible. You can guarantee I will be returning there very shortly to hike the entire loop and record some of the amazing natural sounds in the area. I stood at the lookout vista at the top of the canyon listening to the immense, swirling winds and wondered how they would sound at the bottom of the canyon. Birds, insects and small animals were noisily chatting. A rather large sign at the start of the trail warned that rattlesnakes are common along the trail, but they are shy and will not attack unless provoked. Mountain lions and grey foxes are commonly seen in the area. I will return very soon. The pictures and sounds will be beautiful.
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• I’ve posted my first poll ever on this website. I think. First “official” poll, anyhow. I was talking to my dear friend Z recently and he informed me that there aren’t enough “antics” being posted here. He said I should go out and do some stunts and then blog about them. I think he suggested I steal something or burn something and then blog about it. I’m not feeling particularly destructive or violent lately, so instead I’ve decided to ask my readers which of the Swan Fungus features they miss the most. It’s been a long time since I’ve posted an entry in any of those categories. Tell me which one you miss the most and I’ll do my best to post one as soon as possible.
Note: If you are a registered Swan Fungus user, your votes are logged by WordPress, and I can see how you voted. The trade-off for registering for a Swan Fungus user account and voting on polls will be that you will receive prizes for your participation. For example. This current poll will close on Sunday night. Your vote will earn you a chance to win a copy of the recently released Iron Maiden Flight 666 live soundtrack album. The 102-minute double CD documents the first leg of Iron Maiden’s legendary “Somewhere Back In Time” world tour, which took them 50,000 miles around the world, playing 23 concerts on five continents in just 45 days. That was the tour where the band has their own Boeing 757 (piloted by vocalist Bruce Dickinson!) called Ed Force One, which carried the band, crew, and 12-tons of stage equipment. I was hoping to score a copy of the DVD or Blue Ray to give away, but you’ll just have to settle for the soundtrack, which features a 17-track setlist featuring some of the band’s best material…if you’re fan of Iron Maiden, I guess.
That said, I’m going to official do away with the “contests” feature. From now on, assume that all polls I post will reward one Swan Fungus user with a cool prize!
John Coltrane – After The Rain
Bee Gees – With The Sun In My Eyes
M. Ward – Today’s Undertaking
Hella – Republic Of Rough And Ready
