East Sierra Trip - Twin Lakes - September 2022

Walk Two - Virginia Lakes

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On the second day, we drove to Virginia Lakes, maybe 20 miles south on Hwy. 395 from Bridgeport, passing by the popular turn-off to the mining ghost town at Bodie State Park.

The road to the VL trailhead is a long, steady uphill drive in good scenery.      

Dunderberg Peak at 12,379 ft., from Hwy 395 near Mono Pass, taken Sept. '19.

The trailhead is at 9,800 ft. and once again hazy air was prevalent.   

note - you can enlarge any part of a picture by left-clicking in and then out again. 

	Virginia Lake, near the car park				the group
		< Blue Lake & Corn Lilly in fall >		above Blue Lake
	Kathy & John		old cabin
		Cooney Lake
	Frog Lake
		White Pine pine bonsai-in-training, only 3 inches tall		also a White Pine (see Postscript)
	creek crossing		lunch view

After lunch some of the group went uphill for 30 minutes, turning around at Teapot Lake, just below the un-named pass at 11,100 ft.  

	high altitude lake grass
		wind-sculpted & nearly uplifted			Barb, Diane & Kathy at Teapot Lake
	near tree line		John & Kathy in good scenery		descent to Blue Lake
					rabbitbrush
			a friendly Samoyed named Denali		attractive peak above the car park

The Teapot Lake group walked the furthest, about 5 miles with 1,000 ft. of gain.  

Postscript  - Many of the hikers saw (or heard) Clark's Nutcrackers out on the trail. This 12 inch tall bird (in the Corvid family) inhabits higher altitude western coniferous forests, admirably over-wintering in place, so campers & hikers see them in summer and skiers in winter.     

The 2017 National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America description: "Chunky grey bird with a long slender bill, black wings, and black central tail feathers. White wing patches and outer tail feathers are conspicuous in flight. Wingbeats are deep & slow, crow-like. Calls include a very nasal, grating, drawn-out kra-a-a."  

web photos of Clark's Nutcracker

from the Field Guide

Rich later (email) sent info about the beneficial relationship between Whitebark Pines and Clark's Nutcrackers, whose ranges are similar in US & Canadian forests.   

The birds depend on the pine nuts, rich in oil, while the trees benefit when the birds cache seeds in the ground, for winter retrieval, some of which sprout into new trees.   

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Post hike - later the group drove 1.5 miles to the far end of Upper Twin Lake, a scenic lakeside drive to Annette's Mono Village Restaurant, for dinner. It was dusk when we arrived, with little wind. 

One hour later, when we emerged from a nice dinner, it was nearly dark, and the wind was ferocious. You could see whitecaps on the Upper Lake, and rain was blowing sideways, into our faces. We instinctively ran for the cars, a comical outcome.   

Gusty winds continued into the night, so the group dispersed to our respective accomodations once we reached the cabins.   

I stayed up late reading, with windows & screen door open, since it was still balmy, in spite of occasionally intense wind.

There was an enjoyable sense of wildness, hearing the repeated buildup from silence to crescendo, as powerful Sierra winds descended from on high, bounced off the lake, and then pummeled the pines & aspens just outside the cabin. It was a bit like a bowling alley, being amongst the pins. 

When I went outside the following morning, I expected to see branches down everywhere, but found none, so I had to assume that winds like last night occur here regularly.     

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