Eastern Sierra hikes - 2012
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In August, 2012 the group stayed in cabins at Annette's Mono Resort at Twin Lakes, near Bridgeport, Ca. Located on highway 395, Bridgeport is a scenic four hour drive from home.
The cabins were at 7,000 ft. The group consisted of: Rich & Linda, Jean & Bonnie, Patrick & Victoria, and me.
note - on a pc or laptop you can zoom in & and out, but not on a smartphone.
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Caples Lake on hwy. 88 |
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Bridgeport area |
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Twin Lakes |
On the first hike, we walked around sizeable Lundy Lake, which is near the NW corner of Mono Lake.
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Lundy Lake |
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Victoria and Patrick at lunch break |
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Jean |
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nearing the trailhead |
note - the rustic cabins and the Resort in general were pleasant, with overhead pine trees and a common space (surrounded by cabins) that was safe for kids to play & ride bikes around. There was also a decent restaurant.
Rich, Linda, Bonnie, Jean, Victoria and Patrick all stayed in one cabin, next door to my little 1 BR cabin.
When we ate outside R&L's cabin on the first evening, there was sunset light, way above, on saw-toothed peaks.
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a little out of focus... |
This was the first time that Patrick and Victoria joined the Eastern Sierra group, both working mates of Bonnie, in the Ops group at the Sac County Airport (SMF).
Our second hike was at Virginia Lakes, the access road heading west from scenic hwy 395, just before the drop downhill to Mono Lake.
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gaining altitude |
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at the high point | |
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downhill trail |
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good look at the trail | ||
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see note |
note - While on the long downhill walk, we saw a fire, just starting, for no apparent cause. By the time we reached the trailhead, a CalFire crew had equipment staged in the parking lot and about 8 guys were making the steep ascent with picks & shovels.
The Horse Creek Trail - this pleasant trail began and ended at the resort marina, a day off from driving.
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good scenery right away |
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long uphill section | |
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back at the resort.... |
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....and the cabins | |
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On the drive home the following day, we detoured south on 395 and took a side road to Bodie State Park, a great place to walk around with a camera. Years ago, the 13 mile drive was a terrible washboard gravel road, but now it is paved.
Bodie's high point as a gold producing mine was from 1878 to 1882, only four years, yet it had a thriving population of 5,000. Due to repeated fires, visitors today see only about 5% of the original town.
The State Park museum has a display of old photos from the town's heyday, and the images are stunning.
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food tin can siding to keep the weather out |
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mining was big here | |
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old cars melting into the ground | Monitor Pass |
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On the way home there was a construction-related traffic stoppage on highway 89 near Monitor Pass (8,314 ft. ), so I had time to take a photo, looking towards Mokelume Peak and Round Top at Carson Pass (8,652 ft.) to the right.
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Postscript - stories from rustic cabins:
On the second evening after dark we had a nice fire going in front of Rich & Linda's cabin and were having an enjoyable conversation for some time, but then a drunk neighbor, in a cabin just uphill from us, started to make fun of us from his front porch.
He was a big guy, downing beers & chain smoking. It was intimidating & creepy, and brought the night to a rapid end.
I stayed put and enjoyed tending a reduced fire, sipping red wine and biding my time. It was a cloudless night in the mountains, and stars could be seen through the pines.
After a quiet period of 10 minutes or so, the neighbor started murmuring angrily to himself and when he tried to get up, he fell off the front porch and landed awkwardly in the dirt and pine needles. The porch was only inches above the ground and I could tell he wasn't hurt.
At the next cabin over from his, two guys (older than me) who had been watching his antics, were in total hysterics ! It was their lucky night, with live entertainment, next door ! They yelled across to me..."did you see that ?...the dude fell off his front porch !!".
As the poor guy got himself up, he started yelling "gddm it, MFers" and groped his way around, to get inside. Later from inside my cabin, close by, I heard him crashing about & yelling the same thing.
The next morning I saw him drag out a huge black bag full of beer cans, and throw it into the back oh his truck. Then he drove away. On the road out, as we drove to our hike, I saw him on the side of the road, a mile from the cabins, just sitting and smoking at a scenic spot of the lake.
Two mornings later when I checked out, I mentioned the guy and hinted at his behavior, and the woman at the main desk said 'that guy has been coming here for years, always the same week, always in the same cabin, just sitting around and smoking & drinking all day and night'.
When she added "we think he's from Modesto", I couldn't resist saying, "well, that explains it", eliciting a few guffaws from the staff or shoppers among the aisles of the store.
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