I love blogging...
I learned about the 100 Mule project.
As TheChief will tell you...I'm not big on reading the newspapers...local or otherwise...
But in my defense...there really wasn't as much attention paid to the project up here
as apparently there was in LA...
or so I was told by some locals in Bishop who also found out about
the "parade" by word of mouth.
To make a short story long...
I saw the project on Liz's
blog...
and then she commented on mine and said the mules were going to be in a parade...
that morning!!!
Now I had just gotten up...which isn't all that easy for me to do as I tend to be a night person...
and was still a bit groggy when I checked my blog.
Well...her comment woke me up!
I started searching the internet to find out what time the parade would be
and couldn't find a thing...except a couple of articles in October telling about the project.
So I turned around, said to Kelly, let's head to Bishop!!!
Well...I have to admit...I had to stop and get coffee on my way...no matter how long it took!!!
We got down to Bishop around 10:15...
I went to the rodeo stadium and saw a few people parking and heading into the stadium.
But no signs...no nothin' telling me what was up...
So I pulled up along side one of the people parking who was slinging a pretty nice camera getup...
...I figured she'd know!!!
Yep...the "parade" was going to start at 11...
So I went into the stadium...Kelly had to stay in the car 'cause of the signs saying no dogs...
and I tend to follow instructions...(unlike some others who brought their dogs on in!)
I got to go right up to the mules and get some pics...
More people came in...and the mules were getting hooked up and readied for their parade...
Eventually they started circling...lining up each string of pack mules, one after the other...
It was quite a sight...
circling and circling...until everybody was in line....
then they started in...
If I had had a pencil and paper...I would have made an attempt to get everyone's names...
But I left my purse in the car and replaced it with my camera...
So I'm not sure who she was...but she was the Emcee...telling about the project...
as the mules trailed in...
First to enter the stadium was Dolly...
the Solar Mule...
She carted this equipment the whole way...
enabling the group to post their progress to Facebook...
It took about 15-20 minutes for all the mules to get in the stadium...
they were all decked out with American flags...
It was quite impressive...
the Mules kept circling as the Emcee spoke about the trip from Aberdeen,
the beginning of the LA Aqueduct...to the Cascades in Sylmar,
where the aqueduct reaches it's final destination...
The project was put on by Lauren Bon, Director of Metabolic Studio,
and granddaughter of well known philanthropist, Walter Annenburg.
"One Hundred Mules Walking the Aqueduct"
Loren described the project as a "commemorative artist action to connect
Los Angeles to its water supply."
The trip began in mid October with the goal of arriving at the Cascades on November 5
to commemorate the first water reaching Los Angeles, 100 years ago to the day.
Loren chose to do the project with mules due to the history of mules as an integral
part of the construction of the aqueduct as well as their historical significance
in the Owens Valley...farming, mining, construction...
 | | |
| Loren Bon, addressing the small crowd at Mike Boothe Stadium in Bishop, CA |
Bon originally came to the Owens Valley in 2007...
her specialty is conceptual art performances and educational efforts.
Her studio has sponsored youth employment training,
home gardening, sustainable agriculture training,
and farmers markets.
Her primary goal has been to raise awareness of water issues
between LA and the Owens Valley.
Each "set" of pack mules was led by their Pack Station Master...
I learned that we have a lot of pack stations here in the Eastern Sierras!!!
You can pack back into the back country for some gentlemanly camping...
and they even have pack trips to view the wild mustangs!!!
I'm not sure...but I have a feeling the big smiles on the pack leader's faces
were as much from a feeling of relief at being back home...
as being so happy that they participated in the project!!!
The event itself only lasted about 45 minutes....
The mules headed out of the stadium and went back to their "staging" area...
the crowd was invited to visit the animals and talk with the participants...
But Kelly was waiting patiently in the car and I promised to take her for some play time!!!
Yep...we found some water...
and had a lovely walk!!!
Kelly got good and dirty!!!
references for my research on the project are:
