Another Hike and On To Mono Lake

On Friday, we decided to take another hike and headed back to Mammoth Lakes. Our destination was Lake George, another beautiful lake, at an elevation of 9,250. There are a number of hikes, but the one we choose was one that goes to a couple of lakes, Barrett and TJ Lakes. There is a campground and day use area at Lake George and there were people fishing as well as kayaking and canoeing.

 

The trail is not that long, under a mile, but mostly uphill and involves crossing some small streams. Joe and walked on the rocks but Savannah likes to get her paws wet.

 

 

 

 

 

In the picture below you can see some steps to climb on our way up to the small lakes.

 

We stopped at Barrett Lake and had some snacks. There were a number of people and happy dogs playing in the water.

 

 

 

Some wildflowers added to the beauty.

 

 

Wonder what this was all about.

After we finished the hike we drove back down lake Mary Rd. I can't get over all the bike paths and we didn't bring our bikes this time.

 

 

We crossed this bridge on one of Mammoth's many ski lifts many a time.

The bike path right before Main Street.

We took a back road to Glass Creek. You can't tell from the picture but the road wasn't bad but we were constantly going up and down, up and down. The ATVers probably loved it.

 

Another day we got take out from the Breakfast Club, a breakfast and now lunch as well, popular restaurant on Main St. We took it to a near by park where we had ridden our bikes to when here before. Sunday we went back to the Arts and Crafts Fair, where we bought a metal welcome sign with stars and the moon on it, which we will put at our Jojoba site when we get back.

Tuesdaywe packed up and drove back to Mammoth to use Shady Rest's dump and water fill up. We made 12 days without having to get water or dump. Pretty good. We took short navy showers and filled up a couple of gallon plastic containers whenever we went into town, which helped. I had read about a couple of boondocking spots near Mono Lake on the Shunpiker website, which is a very helpful tool in finding free camping. On monday, we had driven there to check it out and found a great spot overlooking the lake.We then went to Whoa Nellie Deli, which is in the Tioga Gas Mart, near Lee Vining. Yes, a restaurant inside a gas station mart. It is not your typical food mart or deli. Some of the things on the menu are wild buffalo meatloaf, pork loin with a berry apricot glaze, lobster taquitos, fish tacos with a ginger coleslaw and mango salsa. Joe just had a cheeseburger(yawn) and I had the special, a great shrimp ceviche. It was more like a gazpacho, with tons of cucumbers, tomatoes, avocado, chilies, and just the right amount of heat. Delish!! A nice place with sitting outside overlooking the lake, which also has music Thursdays thru Sundays

Anyway we got to our great little spot over looking Mono Lake. We will be kayaking this amazing lake tomorrow.

The pictures below are our views out our passenger side windows. Not too shabby and another free camping site.

 

I zoomed in for a picture of some ofthe tufa formations that make Mono Lake famous. You'll see many close up ones from our kayak trip next blog.

 

As the sun sets on another awesome place.

 

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A Happy 4th in Mammoth

We have stayed in Mammoth several times for the 4th of July. This time we are not right in Mammoth but took the 9 mile drive into town to watch the parade. Before that we again when to the annual Pancake Breakfast put on by the local Lion's Club. Lots of locals there and as we have been coming to Mammoth for over 30 years, we felt at home. After having pancakes with sausage and orange juice(already had our morning coffee), we went back to the car and got our sand chairs and set them up in a shady spot by the side of the road. As the parade doesn't start until 11, we walked over to the arts and craft fair over in the Footloose Sports Store and did some browsing.

 

 

 

 

Lots of dogs around in this dog friendly area and Savannah likes enjoying a little time in the shade as usual.

 

 

We like this traditional small time celebration of our country's birthday. Especially being full time travelers who appreciate our government's foresight in protecting the beauty of this country by setting up National Parks, landmarks, monuments, and forests for all to enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was lots of candy thrown to the crowds. The little girl on the right in yellow and pink had a blue and red bag that was as full as a Halloween night by the end of the parade.

As the parade airplane came to a telephone wire, they had to stop and lower the tail so it would go under. The crowd applauded as they made it through.

 

 

Bringing up the rear were the emergency crews. A tribute had been made earlier to the 19 firefighters who gave their lives in the tragic Yarnell Fire in Arizona and of course to all fire fighters and other emergency workers everywhere.

 

Hope every one had a great Independence Day celebration and enjoyed a nice long weekend.

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Paddling at Lake Mary

Earlier this week we did a little kayaking. We drove over to Lake Mary, the largest of the 11 lakes in the Mammoth Basin. Set among the lodge pine poles, it is a beautiful place to paddle. We found a spot on the side of the road to park our jeep, pull out the kayak, blow it up and head on out. I didn't take the camera out on the water this time but took some pictures from our put in spot. The weather was great, not too hot and not much wind. It was a nice relaxing paddle.

 

 

 

After our paddle we brought out our sand chairs and continued to take in the views while Savannah had a little nap. It's hard work for a little Cavalier to keep watch at the front of the boat.

 

Hey, I'm awake now. Time to explore.

 

The next few days, we had sunny mornings but clouds and even some rain and thunder in the afternoons. After the hot weather we have had lately, it was actually refreshing. We went into town for breakfast one day and did some grocery shopping, but just spent a few days relaxing, reading books outside in our wonderful campsite.

This is a big area for ohv/atvs with lots of trails accessilble right from the campground. In fact, on Wednesday, a big group came in and parked across from us in a recently vacated spot. There were big rvs with trailers full of atvs' Oh no, our quite little time is over. Actually, there are a quiet group. Considering, it is a holiday weekend, this campground has been very quiet and peaceful. Love it.

 

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