LA County Ends Here

This two-lane winding road, tucked out of the way in between a freeway connecting Los Angeles and Orange Counties and a stretch of low hills, is all that remains of a canyon called Tonner. A big gape in one of the hills faces the fast-flowing 57 freeway is the closest resemblance to the deep gorge that it once was, but no longer is, tamed by erosion, road constructions, and real estate development.

We often take this Tonner Canyon Road to avoid the rush hour traffic that backs up at the interchange between 57 going north and 60 going east. The exit curves a full 360-degree rounding the base of a hill to prepare the commuters of a sudden change of scenery, where after a stop sign, the car re-emerges flanked by a high bank of dirt and the hills with grazing cows.

At night, the dark road seems lost in wilderness, in a time when Ichabod still galloped madly pursuing by the headless horseman. As soon as one's thought is filled with fearful anticipation, the car headlights pierce the eerie night to reveal one white cross, then another, then another, in successive apparitions.

Then a sign reads: "End of Los Angeles County."  ¶ 11:07 PM