The Mono Lake Committee visits Los Angeles

This post was written by Lynette Villagomez, 2013 Project Specialist.

It’s generally Mono Lake Committee Executive Director Geoff McQuilkin who journeys to Los Angeles for meetings and events, but last week the entire Committee staff had the opportunity to take a group trip to LA. From beginning to end our four-day excursion was chock-full of activities. Here’s a snapshot of our itinerary—watch for more in-depth posts to follow.

Thursday, March 7:
Lee Vining to Burbank in time for lunch at the Kogi BBQ Truck
After a winter in Lee Vining with only one possible restaurant to visit, we devoured our delicious tacos, and made sure to add a “Long Live Mono Lake” bumper sticker to the Kogi truck before we left.

Meet with Shelly Backlar of Friends of the Los Angeles River
Shelly took us to the Sunnynook Footbridge area of the LA River, where we were able to walk down to water and see the abundance of life present along the waterway. It’s difficult to imagine that the mostly cement-lined LA River, in the heart of a bustling city, would contain as much wildlife as we saw—cormorants, kingfishers, ducks, geese, songbirds, and more!

Friday, March 8:

Tour of the Orange County Water District’s Groundwater Replenishment System
Staff from the OC GWRS warmly greeted us and explained the process in which they treat water that eventually becomes integrated into the larger municipal water system for household use. We got a fascinating tour of the facility.

Lunch at Homegirl Cafe in downtown LA
We enjoyed delicious meals cooked and served by high-risk and formerly gang-involved young women who are learning job skills and working towards healthy futures for themselves. We loved it there.

Meet with Evelyn Cortez-Davis of the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP)
Evelyn and her assistants Jennifer and Ralph talked to us about DWP’s efforts at water conservation, recycling, and reclamation.

Take in the sights of downtown LA
We stopped for a photo shoot outside DWP’s building, walked through the Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels, peeked into the LA Times building, and enjoyed a tasty dinner at the Pitfire Pizza Company.

Saturday, March 9:
The second annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival—Los Angeles!
Held at the Cinefamily Silent Movie Theater in West Hollywood, the event consisted of two film sessions and a reception hosted by Barefoot Wine & Bubbly to celebrate Sally Gaines, who was chosen as one of Barefoot’s Soles of the Year. The film festival was well-attended and served as a platform to inspire and inform an enthusiastic audience.

By the end of our trip many of us were overwhelmed by the multitude of freeways that comprise the maze of the LA Basin—we made sure each of our three vehicles had someone with a smartphone to navigate. Our traditional intuitive Eastern Sierra navigation system would prove not to be enough while driving in Southern California! By Sunday, we were excited to make our way back up Highway 395.

Everyone enjoyed their time down south and relished in the warm coastal climate, which treated us to rain, a faraway dusting of snow on the San Gabriel Mountains, and fantastic clouds the whole time. Throughout the trip I tried to document our journey in real-time, and you can find some of these candid photos of Mono Lake Committee staff let loose in LA on the Mono Lake Committee’s Facebook page.

Our trip was made possible by a generous grant from member Roger de Freitas. Many thanks to you, Roger!