Mammoth Lakes, CA last weekend

Rasila and I drove to Mammoth Lakes, CA.  My brother and his girlfriend were climbing Mt. Whitney on Friday, so we decided we could spend time with them.

We left about 3:00 PM from Irvine, and encountered the usual slowing on CA-91, but otherwise had a pretty easy trip.  We arrived in Lone Pine about 7:15, after stopping at Starbucks in Fontana and the rest stop at Coso Junction.  They had ordered Pizza already, so when we arrived at the Pizza Factory, they were just starting.  We made Mammoth by 9:30, stopped by Mammoth Reservations, and went to our condo at Mammoth  Green.  Normally this would be more money than I'd like to spend, but since school has started and skiing is not started, this is the off-off season, and it was very reasonable.

It was windy and chilly the next day, so we drove to the 3 lodges, Eagle Base, Canyon Lodge, and the Main Lodge, and described the ski mountain.  We didn't take the gondola to the top as the temp was 33F/0.5C at the top with winds of > 30 mph/26knots.  We then drove back down to the Mammoth Scenic Loop, but stopped at the Earthquake Fault for a look.  We then drove to the Mono Craters for a short hike.  A forest service geologist named Bobby was there and recognized us, courtesy my dog, and invited us to join his guided hike.  This was a big plus as he told us how to identify the 4 types of conifers (Jeffrey Pine, Lodgepole Pine, White Fir and Red Fir), some basic lightning safety and wildlife safety as well as the geology of the craters themselves.

That night we had an early birthday dinner at Whiskey Creek, since Cervino's is closed until later this fall.  We watched "Spaceballs", which Rasila had bought for my brother for our birthday, and went to sleep.

The next day we went to Blondie's Kitchen for breakfast, then my brother and his girlfriend left to drive back to Salt Lake City, and we started home.  We stopped at Manzanar and then drove up to Whitney Portal Picnic Area for lunch.  From there, we pretty much just drove home, so we could pick and water the vegetable garden before dark.