To explore the infinite abyss

Today I went with a couple friends to Una Lake--what's known locally as the "bottomless lake" of Palmdale, California. It goes relatively unnoticed near Palmdale Lake which is a popular fishing and hunting location in the area. Turning north on Sierra Highway from Avenue S, it's not even a half mile down on the left side. It's all fenced off and adorned with No Trespassing signs, but does that ever stop anyone? The lake is one of several along the San Andreas fault line which may be why it's said to be bottomless. Local folklore tells stories about cars that have driven off the road into the water and never been found, scuba teams that have gone in trying to find the bottom and been lost, and swimmers that have disappeared. People also claim to have seen glowing lights or bubbling on the surface of the water, strange animals, fish with legs or without eyes, or a bat-like sea monster similar to the one said to be seen at nearby Lake Elizabeth, another lake along the fault some twenty miles away. These "lakes" are really what's known as "sag ponds"--depressions caused by fault movement stretching the land and filling with water. From Una Lake westward it goes Palmdale Lake, Lake Elizabeth, Lake Hughes, and Munz Lake, all bodies of water caused by seismic activity along the fault line. Is it really bottomless? Do the ghost stories and disappearances have any truth? Who knows, but it is a beautiful place. With a marsh stretching out east into a field with the snowy San Bernadinos in the background, the cool breeze of impending spring, and the sound of the train pumping past--being next to an abyss, while a little eerie--was peaceful.