Eastern Sierras Road Trip, Take Two...

Last year, we headed out for the Eastern Sierras with a week-long road trip in mind. After visiting Yosemite and Bodie, Mike became very ill. We went home after two days, discovering that Mike had Covid - I got it two days later. So much for our 2013 vacation!

September,2024: Let's try that again! 

At 5 a.m. on Sunday September 29, we left for our vacation-road trip. First stop was Mojave, a different way of traveling to the Eastern Sierras than we usually take. Traveling that early on a Sunday, traffic on highway 5 was light.  Along the way: trains, air force bases, old ruins of aircraft, heat, endless fields of windmills, power stations, aqueducts, rows and rows of almond groves and other crops, dust, signs about the government withholding water, etc. After 6 hours of travel, we were tired and hungry. We found an America's Best Value Inn and went to reserve a room. Even though check-in was at 1:00, our hotel manager- named Mike - let us have the room at noon. He was a really nice guy. 

After unloading, we walked to the Denny's restaurant down the street, one block. We shared a "BeetleJuicy" burger, which was loaded, and included 3 meat patties. The name is timed for Halloween month, after the film "Beetlejuice." 

Back at the hotel, Mike used the swimming pool, the water of which was cold - even on that 90-degree day.  I slept better there than I have anywhere, in spite of the continual trains, trucks, and other noises. The sound of the air conditioning was like white noise, I guess. 

The next day (September 30), we headed out early to Red Rock Canyon. We soon realized that there weren't too many places we could go in the canyon without a 4WD. We lucked out when a ranger for the park gave us information about one spot we could drive to - that dirt road wasn't too bad - and it was her favorite place in the canyon, called "Red Rooster". We followed her white park vehicle, which she drove like a race car, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake. When we got there, we could see why it was her favorite spot, and I asked if she could pose for me in front of the "Red Rooster". She gladly did and also with us - her name was Ranger Martinez - and she left us to explore and hike the area. 

We only hiked about a mile in on that hot day but at least got to see some of the gorgeous terrain.  Leaving Red Rock Canyon, we made our way up to Lone Pine via Highway 395. Once there, we secured room #14 at the Trails Motel, where we always stay in Lone Pine. 

That room has easy access to the back of the building, where you can get an excellent view of Mount Whitney. As with our previous motel, we were allowed to move into the room right away.  Once settled, we headed out for the Alabama Hills and hiked around there - in the heat! - for about an hour. 

That hike completed, we were off to our room in Lone Pine, sleeping very well yet again.

The next morning (October 1), we walked to the McDonald's down the street for breakfast (I had my favorite, Steak-Egg-Cheese bagel).  After our meal, we walked to the Lone Pine Museum of Western Film History. We had been there in 2020, and there were a lot of changes that were fun to check out. Spent about an hour there.

 Next, we made our way to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine forest - a long, windy road with drop-offs, which always terrify me - and started out hiking the Methuselah Trail, a 4-mile loop. We only hiked about half a mile on that trail before deciding that we didn't want to do the whole thing (the path - like most that we hike - was narrow, studded with rocks). At almost 11,000 feet, we coastsiders were feeling not only the heat, but the altitude. We were drinking water by the gallon!  We still wanted to enjoy the bristlecone experience, and so we decided to take the 1-mile course.  So much was uphill at first, a bit of a slog, but the trees were way more interesting on this trail (maybe we didn't go far enough on the Methuselah trail). 

We had done that trail before - I got my best shot in 2016, of one of the trees. But each time is different, and we enjoyed the scenery while snapping off a few photos. The day was half done by that time, so we traveled up the highway to June Lake, where we secured the same suite (#306) that we had last year at the Boulder Lodge - we also stayed there in that suite in 2016 and 2010. Yet again, we were allowed to move into the room before check-in time. Later that night, I experimented with my star photography from our balcony, capturing a slightly fuzzy Big Dipper. 

The next morning (October 2) Took more shots of the stars from our balcony at 5 a.m., noting that the Big Dipper had traveled from the left of the sky to the right, and flipped over (astronomy is not my strong suit.) 

We took a walk on the shore, encountering deer and ducks along that marshy beach. Bought duck food at a Boat-Bait shop and fed the ducks. 

Saw deer, too - a mama and her babies. They seemed to be used to humans - the fawn walked to Mike when Mike talked to it, then looked over at its mom, who was grazing on a tree...the mother made a sound towards the fawn, and the fawn moved away. 

I had wanted to visit Mammoth Lakes, so we made that part of our plan. The town of Mammoth is pretty busy and has possibly the largest shopping center on that part of the eastern sierras. Our drive along the five lakes was possibly the most scenic part of our trip.  After stopping off at the Visitor Center, we got a map and checked out each of the main five lakes (We got out at Twin Lakes first, then along the loop, Mary Lake, George, Horseshoe, and Mamie). 

On Thursday, October 3, we headed out to explore the Mammoth Consolidated Gold Mine ruins (not without getting lost on the way there).  The mine began in 1877 during the Gold Rush and ended in 1881 when the mine was sold off. The Mammoth Consolidated company took over in 1929, operating until 1933. Since then, prospectors mine the area to this day. The remnants of the mine include cabins and other structures which are preserved in the same way as the town of Bodie, in "arrested decay". 

We hiked for a couple of hours there - the mostly shaded trails lead to two narrow, steep rocky trails, each of which leads up to a mine shaft. Mike was hesitant to try these trails - the altitude had us breathing a bit harder than usual when hiking - Mike: "Are you sure you want to go there?" Yep. I wanted to check them out, so we did. Well worth the hike! 

As we made our way back out to the Mammoth scenic loop, I saw a sign which said: "Inyo Crater". Mike turned around, and we went to check it out. Two miles of dirt road led us to a 1/2 mile trail to the crater.  Though not a long hike in, it was uphill most of the way at high altitude, so we took our time. I kept joking with Mike that we were going through all of this just to check out "...a big hole in the ground!", imitating the SNL bit in the same tone as "Matt Foley": "Living in a van down by the river!"  Maybe you had to be there. In truth...that's what it was. 

We snapped a few shots then went back to June Lake, to take the June Lake loop drive. Along the loop is at Silver Lake Resort Cafe we shared a Sierra Nevada Melt with fries - I also had a chocolate shake. DELICIOUS! Hit the spot.

Made the rest of the June Lake loop and settled into our room at the Boulder Lodge. Made the decision to stay in June Lake for two more days before returning home, since our previous plan to wind up at Camp Richardson in Tahoe was foiled (Oktoberfest weekend in Tahoe). 

Friday, October 4:  A day of rest...mostly. We went for another walk along the beach, fed the ducks again, spoke with some fishermen (and fisherwomen) and then walked along the main street. Checked out the Willingham Clay Studio along the way, and Ken (the artist) shared about some of his projects and techniques. Many lovely and also humorous pieces in the gallery.  Walked back to our suite, and rested up for our trip home.

 

Saturday, October 5: We started out early for the drive home. Took the Sonora Pass route, since Yosemite was booked (they have a new system where you have to reserve to just go through the park). Highway 108- the Sonora Pass route - was actually the better choice - less traffic, and a scenic drive, including some fall colors on the Eastern side of the road. 

 

Took all day, with a few stops at look-outs, and a last stop in Columbia State park, which we visited back in 2012. Hot weather slowed us down a bit - 95 degrees - but enjoyed checking out the displays, shops, historic buildings and scenes. 

 

 Arrived home around 3 p.m. and spent the rest of the day unloading and organizing, etc. So happy that we finally got to have our annual time away for a while!

In total, we covered 1,130 miles on our trip.