After spending a short week in the eastern Sierra, I decided to take a
Long way home and follow the money (water) down to el lay.
A little south of the LA Aqueduct intake (Owens River)
For most of its distance the water flows in concrete lined ditches.
I’d never been to Lake Hughes, but I’d heard a lot about the Rock Inn. And all the good I’d heard turned out to be true!
The Aqueduct enters its longest tunnel nearby under Lake Elizabeth. 5.5 miles long and dug from both ends. Nearly 5 years in they met up just about an inch off from one another.
After the Elizabeth Tunnel the water flows in many above-ground pipes. Often they go all the way down to the valley floors and back up the other side. Siphons.
Mulholland built several hydro powerplants along the route. There are no pumps along the entire distance, but the water does fall from a high of around 4000’ above sea level to nearly sea level, so he took advantage of that fall and generated electricity along the way.
And speaking of fall, this particular power plant was completely wiped out by the falling water after his San Francisquito Dam collapsed…
Stock photo of the Cascades
If you’ve ever travelled the state on the 5 near Magic Mountain you might have seen the Cascades. The water leaves the pipes, comes down the hill, goes under the freeway and into a reservoir for the good people of Los Angeles to drink!
