The Palmdale Ditch has just crossed the California Aqueduct and Pearblossom Highway flowing west from Littlerock Dam toward Lake Palmdale
The ditch is usually dry, here in the late fall it is one day after a rainfall
Here the ditch flows under the eastern bridge entrance of the Tejon Park trail, this area skirts the southern side of the San Andreas Rift Zone
Not long after crossing Pearblossom Highway the concrete lining ends and the water flows between earthen embankments on a sandy bottom
Released from a long narrow concrete restraint
Temporarily the harsh aridity is transformed into a scene of tranquil liquidity
The ditch is flowing at a rapid rate several feet deep, despite the impression of a lazy shallow
The ditch skirts the base of the hills that border the south side of the rift valley, the juniper and brush are nearly impassable in most places along the shore
One of the tortured trees successfully struggling on the very edge of the Mojave desert
The ditch marks the border in many places between the desert on the north and the foothills of the San Gabriels on the south
An antique backroad bridge, one would do well to think twice before driving over it
The ditch crosses a moderate canyon in this culvert
Below steady leaks rain a shower into the thirsty sand
This sturdy foot bridge crossing of the Tejon Park trail is just a few years old
After rounding a final steep hill, the Palmdale Ditch drains underground to cross both the railroad tracks and Sierra Highway in the background
From here it is less than a mile to the one hundred year old Lake Palmdale
Gazing north from the rolling foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains
