Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Calif. — THERE are some nifty pictures to be seen in them thar hills -- once, that is, you've risen at the crack of dawn, obtained security clearance, had your car searched, listened to a pep talk from the local police and driven deep into a weapons testing base.
The pictures, or rather petroglyphs, are well worth the inconvenience.
Far inside the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, past 90 minutes of desert scrub and rocks, we saw primitive drawings chipped into rock -- of men hurling spears and shooting arrows; mountain lions leaping; rattlesnakes slithering; and bighorn sheep, bighorn sheep, bighorn sheep, sproinging about on seemingly every surface. Some of the designs, which were pecked into the rock by ancient Native Americans living around the Coso Range, date back a century or so. Others are more than 10,000 years old.
Protected by its military locale, the Renegade Canyon national historic landmark, better known as Petroglyph Canyon, is not only one of the best petroglyph sites in the West, but it's also one of the best preserved.
On a recent Sunday, a friend and I took a Maturango Museum tour to the site, roaring 160 miles north into the Mojave Desert.
Getting there was part of the fun. With a loaded CD player and rations, Manuel and I barreled out of Los Angeles on a Saturday, taking California 14 past the tract homes of Palmdale and into the wilds beyond.
We saw miles and miles of Joshua trees, scraggly at first then fatter and more imposing as we gained in elevation. We saw tumbleweed, creosote bushes and rusty-red dried flowers. We passed mauve volcanic mountains and red cliffs frilly-edged by erosion.
By late afternoon, the town of Ridgecrest was our oyster. Ridgecrest is not, say guidebooks, a spot in which to linger. But we were content for a night, filling up on beer, chicken tostadas and pork and beef \o7sopes \f7at the basic-but-tasty Astorga's Mexican Grill, then lounging in our basic-but-comfy Carriage Inn room, sipping wine and channel-surfing.
Rules and more rules
THE alarm went off at 5:45 a.m. I swigged some dank motel coffee, then we stumbled out and got to Ridgecrest's Maturango Museum, where tours begin, at 6:30 a.m.
We 12 tourists and three guides were grouped in a convoy of five vehicles. At the entrance to the naval base, hoods and trunks were popped and searched, and IDs checked.
