Among the motels, restaurants, all-night supermarkets and adventure sports shops which fill Bishop – the Owens Valley’s largest settlement and a useful base for climbing and hiking excursions into the wilderness – the Paiute-Shoshone Indian Cultural Centre and Museum (http://www.bishoppaiutetribe.com/cultural-center.html), 2300 W. Line Street, provides a welcome opportunity to discover something of the history and culture of the valley’s indigenous inhabitants.

Detour – Big Pine

South of Bishop on Hwy-395. The town of Big Pine is not much more than a bend in Hwy-395 lined by motels, diners and supply shops aimed at visitors heading for the natural sights around it. These include the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest and, 10 miles west, the various tongues of the Palisades Glacier – North America’s most southerly ice sheet and one whose tricky slopes present fresh challenges for experienced ice-climbers.

Detour – Laws Railroad Museum and State Historical Site

There was a time when California was dependent on railways rather than freeways, and on Hwy-6 (branching from Hwy-395 north of Bishop) the 1880s railroad town of Laws has been recreated. The produce of local dairy farms began its journey to the Sierra mining towns by narrow-gauge railway from Laws, where history enthusiasts in period dress are now eager to dispense fact-filled anecdotes of the old days.