Sierras – May 16 to 18, 2009

Last updated: May 21, 2009

Henry & I drove around the Sierras for a couple days. There still was snow above 7000 feet.

Mon May 18: Rental boats at Silver Lake

There was a heat wave Saturday through Monday, twenty degrees warmer than before or after. It was in the 90s here (Campbell), over 100 in the central valley, and in the 70s and 80s in the high desert and mountains.

Saturday, May 16

Henry drove down from the San Francisco airport, we (with Mischel) had an early dinner at Hawg’s, our local seafood favorite, then Henry stayed overnight with his #3 daughter in San Francisco.

Sunday, May 17

Henry drove back from San Francisco and we hit the road by 9 am, taking 280, 680, 580 and 120 to Yosemite, with a stop for almonds.

The adventurers

11:15 am: A reservoir by 120

We planned to take Tioga Pass to Mono Lake.

At the Yosemite Park entrance we found out that Tioga Pass was still closed, apparently for maintenance, not because of snow – it’s one of several Sierra passes normally closed for the winter.

It wasn’t a total loss: I bought a lifetime national parks senior citizen pass for $10, instead of paying the $20 day use fee.

So we went in, but quickly figured out that we couldn’t both see Yosemite valley and get over the Sierras before dark, so we turned around.

We retraced our steps on 120 and took 49 north, stopping for a good Mexican lunch. It was about 3 pm when we started on 4 over the Sierras, with stops at Calaveras Big Trees state park and Lake Alpine.

It doesn’t photograph well, but here’s Henry on the stump of a Calaveras giant redwood that for a while was used as a dance floor:

Henry on “The Discovery Stump”

Onward. Lake Alpine was partly frozen:

Sun May 17: Ducks on Lake Alpine

Me at Lake Alpine

It was shirtsleeve weather: 80’s

Further north at Lake Alpine

Nearby, we found a rock formation decorated with stones to be a monster:

Rock monster

Sunday 6 pm, at the 8730 foot pass

Just beyond the pass was another frozen lake.

Our ride (Henry’s picture)

You can see how this screw pine got twisted, from following the sun.

Art: backlit screw pine

It was too late for more sightseeing. We considered staying at a local motel, but decided to drive 89 and 50 into Tahoe.

I got us casino rate rooms at Harvey’s. We tried getting a light dinner at the Hard Rock Café, but after about ten minutes of no service and loud music, we left and went to the coffee shop at Harrah’s. Then Henry turned in and I gambled a little… well, until a little after midnight.

Monday, May 18

After a light breakfast, we got going about 8 am.

Leaving Harvey’s

Lake Tahoe from Tramway Road

We took 207 east, over the Kingsbury Grade, into Nevada, then 395 south, back into California, to Mono Lake. “Mono” derives from “monoster”, or something, the name for the local sand flies.

Henry photographing a “tufa” at Mono Lake, at a county park

Visitor center visitors

The tufas are limestone formations, originally formed underwater at underground springs. They were exposed as the lake level was reduced when water from Owens Valley was diverted to Los Angeles – see the “Chinatown” movie. There’s now a minimum lake level, set by a lawsuit.

You can just see the beaks on these birds, mud swallows or something, in the back eaves of the Mono Lake State Natural Reserve visitor center:

Visitor center residents

About noon we headed south to the June Lake Loop (route 158) around the Mammoth lakes.

Heading to June Lake

We had lunch at the Silver Lake Resort (see the picture on page 1).

Then, back north on 395 to Bodie, the silver mining ghost town. It’s 13 miles east off the main road, but the paved road (270) stops about 3 miles too soon. It clouded over and sprinkled a little.

About 2 pm we ran out of pavement:

Heading to Bodie

Bodie started in 1862, grew to about 20,000 people, and was largely abandoned by 1942. By then, electricity and gasoline had been added.

Downtown Bodie

Bodie houses

Bodie house: kitchen, tub, etc.

The town buildings are mostly wood. The mining buildings are corrugated metal.

Bodie commercial buildings

From “Ghost Towns for Dummies”:

“Outhouse”

We would have taken 108 west, but we were low on gas, which we found at the Topaz Lake Casino. From there we took 89 and 88, getting home about quarter to ten. 846 miles, 24.5 mpg.

Yet another Sierra lake

Tuesday, May 18 epilog

Henry, his #3 daughter, his Sacramento sister, and 8 other relatives left San Francisco for a two-week vacation in mainland China.

Linda stayed home to help with the imminent arrival of the #4 daughter’s first child.