This is the view of Owens Valley from Cerro Gordo, an historic mining town at the end of a long dirt road up from the town of Keeler. There was actually water in Owens Lake when we were there, a combination of recent heavy rains (for the area) and the fact that LA has agreed to leave about a 10 square mile portion of the lake with water in it to reduce the dust that the dry lakebed produces. LA agreed to this as part of the settlement of a lawsuit that the citizens of Keeler brought against the LA water district saying that the dust caused health problems. The water district has also begun planting a few native salt-tolerant species of plants, hoping that they will also reduce the dust. Measurements have indicated that these efforts have already reduced dust levels by 30-40 percent, but there is still room for improvement. A side note: the Crystal Geyser bottling plant is not too far off the left side of the picture, it collects snow melt that runs down the eastern side of the Sierra Crest. Not more than a mile away, in the center of the valley, is Dirty Socks Springs. Something to keep in mind next time you're guzzling a bottle of water. The town of Cerro Gordo, like many mining towns went through a period of boom and bust. Now there are a few people who live there and are working on restoring some of the buildings as a tourist attraction and educational resort type thing. The main thing they mined for here was galena - a mineral with high concentrations of silver and lead.