Yes- it’s China Lake.
Can you say what you did in China Lake?
I hike the Pacific Crest Trail, which is in the mountains straight west of China Lake. The PCT crosses CA 178 at Walker Pass, then continues north to Kennedy Meadows, which is east of Sherman Pass. A friend and trail angel of PCT hikers, lives in Kennedy Meadows. We often took trips down off the mountain, meeting the 395 just north of Pearsonville, in order to get resupplies in Ridgecrest, and mail in Inyokern.
I think you asked me if I ever hiked the AT, which sounded like it’s in your backyard. No- I haven’t hiked anywhere else except for the PCT, and the Grand Canyon once. I have done 1,000 miles northbound from the US-MEX border, to Sonora Pass, which is above Yosemite NP, and west of Bridgeport, CA, and 750 miles southbound from the US-CN border, to include all of WA, and about 200 miles of northern OR. I have about 900 miles of the PCT yet to hike to have it completely covered. 650 miles of northern CA, and 250 miles of southern and central OR, remain un-hiked by yours truly.
Oh yeah, I didn’t do anything secret. I think I only had a secret clearance once, and that was for one project and only because they thought it was needed, but it really wasn’t after all.
For the most part, I did avionics software. But it was a pretty neat place, where people could move around fairly freely between different projects. I imagine one could spend their whole career there and never get bored.
My first job was an environmental engineering. The environment of the missiles and airplanes, not the liberal wacko kind :-). They pretty much got put through the paces in a huge lab, with lots of accelerometers attached and then the forces on the structure were examined to look for any potential break ups. And it was fun going out to the field, a lot of what was shown in that picture, when the aircraft were flying. But that was a small percentage of the time with the majority stuck back in the lab evaluating everything.
Then after that I just did avionics software. First for the AV8B. And then the F-18. The AV8B or Harrier jet was a British collaboration, that was the one that could hover. I was in mission planning, writing the software that the pilots What plans are mission with. It was fun, actually too much fun.
That’s pretty neat that you hiked so much of the PCT. How long is that trail system anyway? I wonder how it compares to the AT. I don’t ever plan on doing the whole thing, just parts around me :-) I love to take off for a day and just go and be away from people. Actually I see people all the time there. In the Sierras, I saw absolutely nobody after the 3 miles and that was wonderful. That forest really was in my backyard, I would lock up the cabin and take off right out my backdoor. It was a neat feeling to know that there were over a million acres right behind me, not that I would ever see any of it and I’m talking the whole system, through California and up through Nevada. but still…IF One wanted to hike that far out of civilization they could :-)