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»CA.ROAD TRIPS Cowboys & Indians East of the Sierra Nevada the green, populated West Coast ends, and the brown, sagebrush-covered West begins. This is the Old Frontier of our imagination, a realm of real cowboys and real Indians (and also, as we shall see, of cinematic cowboys and Indians.) Highway 395 hugs the state's eastern border, and the 264-mile stretch of high desert from Reno to Lone Pine, which passes tumbleweeds, swinging-door saloons and ghost towns beneath the breathtakingly sheer eastern wall of the Sierra Nevada, is one of California's most iconic drives. The northern stretch traverses ranchland that was once—and sometimes still is—the domain of Basque sheepherders, and in the town of Gardnerville, just over the border in Nevada, you have your choice of excellent Basque restaurants. As you drive south, keep an eye out for cowboys, although these days they're as likely to be riding an all-terrain vehicle as a horse. Farther south, as you approach Mono Lake, you'll probably encounter members of the Washoe and Paiute tribes. Highway 395 grazes the shore of enormous Mono Lake, which is so alkaline Mark Twain once joked he could do his laundry merely by dragging it behind him in a boat. In Bishop, the studio of the late photographer Galen Rowell has become a major attraction. Stop at Manzanar, just off the highway, for a poignant visit to the site of a relocation camp for Americans of Japanese heritage during World War II. In Lone Pine, the Indian Trading Post sports autographs on the wall from Gary Cooper, John Wayne and other cinematic cowboys who filmed Westerns in the nearby Alabama Hills. A few tips: Springtime, when the Sierra is still clad in snow, is the prettiest time for the drive, although some side trips 8 2 2 013 travel guide to c al i fo r n ia HOG ISLAND OYSTERS at Tomales Bay north of San Francisco, above; the eastern Sierra Nevada range near Bishop, above right; otherworldly tufa towers at Mono Lake, below. may be limited. For an overnight stop, the town of Bishop offers the largest selection of motels and restaurants. Day Trips You don't have to spend days or weeks on the highway to see the best of California. Within easy reach of major cities are exquisite road trips you can do in less than a day. San Francisco Head north, across the Golden Gate Bridge, to sample some of Northern California's most bucolic scenery. Almost within sight of San Francisco's skyscrapers you'll come to Muir Woods National Monument, a cathedral-like preserve of old-growth redwoods at the foot of Mount Tamalpais. Follow Highway 1 to Point Reyes National Seashore, where you might catch tule elk grazing on misty hillsides above the wave-battered coast. West Marin County, with its organic farms, artisanal bakeries and gourmet cheesemakers, is the breadbasket for San Francisco's foodie culture. Stop for lunch at the Hog Island Oyster Farm, where you can munch on bivalve mollusks pulled straight out of Tomales Bay. The long, narrow bay, incidentally, is a submerged section of the notorious San Andreas Fault. Farther north on Highway 1 you'll come to Bodega Bay, a sleepy fishing village where Alfred Hitchcock unleashed avian terror in The Birds. The Tides restaurant, where terrified townspeople took shelter, is still there, although hardly recognizable in its current form. A few miles inlandz, in the separate town of Bodega, you can find the familiar schoolhouse and church from the movie. Continue on to Sebastopol, renowned for its juicy Gravenstein apples and an outpost of Sonoma County's wine country. Turn south on Highway 101 and head back to San Francisco, stopping for a celebratory cocktail in Sausalito, with the lights of the city twinkling across the bay. LYNN FRIEDMAN/CREATIVE COMMONS; AUBREY LAUGHLIN; SL WORKING; SEBASTIEN BUREL; ROBERT FULLERTON places it's hard to average more than 30 miles per hour. If you're prone to carsickness, this isn't the trip for you. Keep your gas tank full and your bladder empty. In some areas, particularly Big Sur, it's more than 40 miles between gas stations—and bathrooms.