New Cuyama Ca

IN the Cuyama Valley, I keep running into people I would like to be. If I confess this to my friend Jeanine, I think she is going to recommend therapy. She warns me not to lionize my favorite local, Emery Johnston, but that's going to be hard. Johnston is a big reason we're here. Jeanine has been trekking through the canyons ringing this flat valley for decades, but she's never gone horseback riding with Johnston.

Although Southern California abounds in little-known nooks, few are as remote and mysterious as the Cuyama Valley, 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The drive north from Ojai passes stunning gorges, 8,000-foot peaks and a condor sanctuary before descending into Cuyama (population 264), which has no bank, post office or fire department, but does grow fabulously tasty apples.