the wandering chick
...The Eastern Sierra Nevadas
Along Highway 395,
Mammoth to June Lake
The surrounding pictures are of June Lake. It's one of many, many fishing lakes in the area. In fact, without a rod and reel in my hand, I feel like a real outsider.
Gull Lake is located adjacent to June Lake and has a marina of which the following pictures were taken.
Gull Lake with Carson Peak looming overhead.
A waterfall gushes down the side of a mountaintop on June Lake Loop Road. It flows into Silver Lake (below).
This waterfall streams into Rush Creek, also taken on the June Lake Loop Road.
The town of Mammoth Lakes is the largest in the area of June Lake and Lee Vining. Just on the outskirts of the picturesque town is Mammoth Mountain which offers several recreational activities such as biking and skiing. Skiing in July is usually unheard of, but here in this year of 2011 the gondolas were going for a few die-hards.
A Steller's Jay ponders a whisk broom on a picnic table at Pine Cliff RV Resort in June Lake. Below, a chipmunk skitters about.
Obsidian Dome, located off 395 between Mammoth Lakes and June Lake, appears as a pile of rubble...a very large pile. But at closer look and with a knowledge of the geological history of this very volcanic area, it becomes obvious that this huge hill is actually volcanic glass.
From the recreation area at Mammoth Mountain, a mandatory shuttle takes you into the Devils Postpile National Monument and Reds Meadow Valley. The postpile, above and below, is an eruption of basalt lava. Basalt lava, certainly not unique to this particular area of the states, IS unique in that its cooling process results in veritcal columns.
It appears forest fires have damaged this region of the Inyo National Forest and recent enough that not a whole lot has grown back. How it looked in the days of John Muir and Ansel Adams, I don't know. The area was named in honor of Ansel Adams after his death in 1984.
Rainbow Falls is accessible by hiking only. The 100-foot drop from the San Joaquin River is sure to produce a soothing rainbow in its mist, especially evident at mid-day. Pictures of the hike between Devils Postpile and the falls are below. .
Virginia Lakes (above and below) and the Virginia Lakes Resort (below) is nestled in the Hoover Wilderness area on the east side of Yosemite National Park.
Angling is popular throughout this fisherman's dreamworld.
Above and Right: The soft meadows of Virginia Lakes Road
A couple of destinations in this area not to be missed are:
Bodie, a most well-preserved ghost town and
Mono Lake, so extremely eerie with its unique tufa rock-formations.
For other California destinations, please return to the California home page.
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