Fall in the Sierras... The Real Thing!

[F1Addict]

This trip started off like any other so I won't bore you with a recap of my ridiculously early departure. I did leave a little earlier this time, hoping to reach the only open campground before all the spaces being vacated were filled by new arrivals. I rolled in around 9:30 in the morning and was surprised to find that it was only 1/2 full and when I left, five days later, there were only four occupied spaces. Perhaps it was the government shut-down or the weather forecast that scared people off but I wasn't complaining.

Because this trip was only half pleasure, I spent the first day scouting the best foliage for a Fall Preview article I'm writing that will hopefully be published next summer. I didn't have to look far, I was camped smack in the middle of it.

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There are some amazing places back east to view the changing leaves, places that overwhelm you with color, where brilliant yellows and reds and oranges stretch for miles. The Sierra display is a little different, the Aspens and Birches grow in bunches among the more common Jeffrey and Lodgepole Pines. In some ways, the contrast adds to the impact.

When we arrived, the daytime temperatures were fairly typical for this time of year with highs in the 80s and overnight lows in the high 20s but that was forecast to change by mid-week. The first night was an early one, I didn't sleep much the night before and the 400 mile drive and setup had taken it's toll. I was up before the sun on my first full day and ready to go. My first destination was the east entrance to Yosemite National Park. I was curious to see how the government shutdown had affected the area. The roads through the park remained open but stopping for any reason other than a "provable emergency" was prohibited and the Park Rangers were citing anyone found "recreating" within the National Park... pathetic.

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I didn't actually enter the Park. For one, despite the fact that you couldn't actually do anything, they were still charging the $20 entrance fee but also because this place is a part of my life, I've probably been here a hundred times since my mom and grandpa first introduced me to Yosemite at the age of three, to enter with the restrictions imposed by the shut-down would be too disappointing and even depressing. The signs of our government's inability to pry their heads from their asses were everywhere...

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From the thousands of U.S. Forest Service managed roadside restrooms

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To the dozens of Forest Service and concessionaire managed campgrounds.

Disgusted with my elected officials and still feeling the effects of the altitude and yesterday's long drive, I decided to have a little birthday party for myself and sleep early. I had a full day planned for Tuesday.

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The Tuesday morning sunrise was spectacular.

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Even after the brilliant colors of first light had faded, the beauty remained.

While I was shooting the sunrise I realized I had forgotten my GoPro back at camp so I ran back to pick it up when I was finished. As I was leaving I spotted a herd of Mule Deer in the meadow that surrounds the campground. There were probably 10-15 total but this one was the most curious and funniest looking.

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I spent the balance of the day circumnavigating Mono Lake via off-road trails. The vast majority of these trails are extremely soft sand and since this is my first 4x4, I find it really rewarding to go places normal cars can't.

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Lizard tracks in the dunes.

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This area is highly volcanic. One of the islands in the lake, the larger one (Pahoa), is only 350 years old and when you consider that the lake is believed to be some 750,000 years old (one of, if not the oldest in North America), the island is a fairly recent geologic addition. There are also several volcanoes in the area, volcanoes that are not extinct and still rumble from time to time. This basin is located just above the northern edge of the Long Valley Caldera, a depression in the Earth that resulted from a massive eruption long ago. The Long Valley Caldera represents one of the largest eruptions on Earth which created a caldera (crater) 20 miles long, 11 miles wide, and over 3,000 feet deep. The result of all of this volcanic activity are hot springs. Water is super-heated by magma close to the surface and forced through fissures in the Earth's crust. Some of that water emerges as sulfur-scented steam which rises from cracks like the byproduct of some huge, evil industrial process. The ski town of Mammoth Lakes actually utilizes this super-heated steam to generate electricity for the town. In other places it bubbles to the surface as water which then flows until it's either reabsorbed by the earth around it or emptied into a lake, stream, or pond.

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One of several unnamed geothermal springs flowing along the eastern shore of Mono Lake.

While traversing the deserted eastern shore I interrupted the lives of several birds.

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Red Tail Hawk

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Cooper's Hawk

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Mountain Blue Bird

As I reached the end of the sandy trail I came across this crazy tree that looks like Mickey Mouse! Nature can be funny.

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As I headed back to camp, I stopped along a dirt trail for this shot of one of the more spectacular Aspen groves.

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The day had been crystal clear without a cloud in the sky. Now, late in the afternoon, clouds began to lace the upper atmosphere, the first signs of the snow that was forecast for tonight and tomorrow. I wasn't convinced that it would actually happen but I was prepared, either way.

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After eating dinner, I made a fire and watched the stars and thin clouds pass overhead. Tomorrow I would head to the ghost town of Bodie, a Gold Rush era town that has a checkered history full of fire disasters, wild west shootouts, hardship and lots and lots of gold and silver.

Part Two will be up tomorrow!...

[OrangeXJ]

Very nice can't wait for part 2

[4.3LXJ]

Great pics. Mono Lake was always someplace I was just traveling past on 395. Never had a chance to stop there

[F1Addict]

Great pics. Mono Lake was always someplace I was just traveling past on 395. Never had a chance to stop there

I'm sure that you are not alone. Very few people consider it a destination, it's more of a side-show along the route from north to south. From the highway, it doesn't appear to offer much in the way of interest. It isn't until you stop to look that it's beauty and uniqueness are revealed. I think what makes it special, for me, is the dichotomy between the harsh, desert lake basin and the lush and rugged mountain range just to the west. As the crow flies, there are only seven miles from the shore of Mono Lake to eastern edge of Yosemite National Park yet the two environments could not be more different.

[4.3LXJ]

Very true. Mono is a volcanic creation, Yosemite is from glacial action

[F1Addict]

Part Deux...

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We awoke to 15ºf and two inches of snow, I shouldn't have been such a skeptic. I should mention that I brought mom along for the trip. She's an avid outdoorswoman and a great assistant when it comes to photography but a bit... Uh... mature(?) for tent camping in sub-freezing temps. You may notice her riding shotgun in some of the video I posted in the preview. We rented a 28' trailer this time, which was delivered to our site with all the comforts of home, sans air conditioning which was completely unnecessary given all the snow on the ground. We packed the Jeep up early and were on our way to Bodie before the sun had made its way above the horizon. Instead of the normal route, which takes off from Highway 395 near the town of Bridgeport, we opted to take the less-traveled Cottonwood Canyon, accessed from the road to Hawthorn, Nevada (Route 167). I'd read horror stories about this road being virtually unpassable by anything other than a robust off-roader. It was only slightly disappointing to find that, other than a few washboardy sections, it was beautifully smooth and perfectly fine for any car.

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Along the 10 mile gravel road you'll see cattle, possibly on the road, and several abandoned pre-1900 buildings that belonged to prospectors, ranchers, and entrepreneurs (usually shady toll operators) who wished to avoid the lawlessness of Bodie.

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This likely belonged to a Chinese resident. They made the trek from San Francisco to work on the railroad that linked Bodie to the lumber mill on the southeastern shore of Mono Lake. They weren't allowed to work in the mines because they weren't allowed to join the Miner's Union. Besides the railroad, they also sold produce and ran laundry services and opium dens. A typical Chinese home was dug out of rock and fortified with a stone foundation, unlike the Western houses which were usually just a bunch of boards nailed together that frequently collapsed under the weight of winter snow or succumbed to the hurricane-force winds common to the canyon in which they were built.

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The view down what used to be Main Street and into what remains of Bodie.

Founded in 1859 by Waterman (William) S. Bodey. Unfortunately for Mr. Bodey, he got stuck in a blizzard just three years later and froze to death. I don't actually know all this stuff, I'm just paraphrasing a little book they give you at the entrance. I mean I know it now, but only because I read the book.

The town languished for nearly 20 years with only twenty brave residents (give or take) but a rich gold discovery following a shaft collapse in 1878 caused a rush and the town grew to more than 10,000 in less than a year. Bodie once boasted 65 saloons, a bowling alley, several hotels and every other thing a town might need.

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This house belonged to Henry Metzger and was built in 1878. He worked as a mine foreman until 1916. Two of his seven children were born in this house. I think Henry's car has been vandalized.

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This is the inside of Tom Miller's house. He worked on the Bodie & Benton railroad.

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The town suffered two fires, one in 1892 which destroyed most of the business district and another in 1932. It was this last fire that spelled the end of Bodie. The fire was started by a little kid playing with matches behind the Sawdust Corner Saloon and it destroyed most of the town. Only 5% of the original buildings still stand and are maintained by the State Park System in a state of "arrested decay".

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The Old Methodist Church, built in 1882 at the corner of Green and Fuller Street.

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Inside the church. The original gas lamps were eventually converted to electricity when it was brought to the town in November of 1892. Originally used to power the electric motors used in the mining operation, the electricity that flowed to Bodie was generated by a hydroelectric plant located on Green Creek, 13 miles from town. Although other hydroelectric plants existed, this was the first time in history the electricity had been transmitted over such a long distance.

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This house belonged to James Stuart Cain who moved to Bodie when he was 25. He began in the lumber business but eventually came to own the largest and most productive mine in Bodie.

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This is the front of J.S. Cain's house. While he appears to have been a bit of an exhibitionist with all those windows, the front of his house doubled as one of the town's mercantiles.

Fun Fact: In early spring, men would cut blocks of ice from frozen ponds and store it in cellars. The ice, insulated with saw dust, would last through summer.

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This was last the Swayze Hotel but had, at one time, been a clothing store and also a casino. The fact that it still exists may be credited to it's proximity to one of the few fire hydrants.

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An old truck being slowly consumed by the elements. Maybe one of you afficianados can help me out with the year and make of this. Google has failed me.

At this point, I'd had enough of Bodie. The wind was blowing 20-30 mph, the temperature was just below freezing but the wind made it feel much colder and the snow actually hurt when it hit your skin. Mom had spent about half of the three hours we were there in Jeep with the heater on. We left Bodie and headed out the conventional way to the small town of Bridgeport (population: 575), the county seat of Mono County. Bridgeport is a popular place during the spring and summer months but empty and idyllic in the fall and winter. We ate ice cream in the snow and bought shoes at the rustic sporting goods/hardware/general store.

On the way back to camp we decided to head up Lundy Canyon, past the lake and into the narrow, unpaved forest. The canyon is full of beaver ponds created decades ago when beavers were fairly common in the area. Considered a pest up until just a few years ago, they've been all but eradicated. Some claim to have seen one but the gnawed Aspens that typically indicate their presence are gone, the pointed stumps that used to dot the landscape have been obscured by new growth. I haven't seen one there in ten years. However, as we were leaving the canyon, I spotted this...

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As the beaver population has been on the decline, the Bald Eagle has made a comeback. Once virtually extinct in California, there are at least 20 known mating pairs along a 100 mile stretch of the Eastern Sierras and their numbers continue to increase. They are still a very rare sight.

I realize this is getting a little long so I'll save the adventures of our last two days for Part Three...

To Be Continued...

[Cherokee85]

wow, some awesome pictures! :)

[Carves]

Yep, some great pics here .. :thumbsup:


.... best you get your tail down here and start taking piccies for me .. :D:D

[nickyg]

Nice trip, I'm jealous. The only scenery we have around here is walmart with an occasional target.