Originally uploaded by Kiki Karia.
ANNIVERSARY ROAD TRIP DAY 3
Today we were up and on the road by 9:00 AM. We were headed to our next destination – the town of Bishop. The skies were a milky white with darker clouds gathering on the horizon. The temperature was in the low 40’s. Hard to believe it’s June. Since these trips are also meant as a time for exploration and adventure, we decided to turn off and visit Virginia Lake, not too far from Twin Lakes. This lake was rather small, compared to Twin Lakes, but it had a similar beauty. It was surrounded by high, snow-capped peaks, and there were many fisherman lined up along its shores. They were having great success in their endeavors as the lake was well stocked with fish. Mike and I crossed a rickety wood foot bridge and made our way to the shore’s edge to take some photos. Since it was overcast, we did not spend a lot of time here. We checked out the resort lodge, and I spoke with a young man named Christian who worked in the store there. He informed me that the lake we had just seen outside was actually little Virginia Lake. There was a big Virginia Lake further up the road. He pulled out a map and began to show me that there were many lakes which made up the Virginia Lakes. They also had a hike that would take you from there to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park. I’m sure that would be a rather arduous and strenuous hike. I prefer to drive there.
We continued on our drive and stopped about 15 minutes later at Mono Lake in Lee Vining, CA. We have been to Mono Lake many times, but we still enjoy visiting. Mono Lake is a majestic body of water covering about 65 square miles. It is an ancient lake, — one of the oldest lakes in North America. It has no outlet. Throughout its long existence, salts and minerals have washed into the lake from Eastern Sierra streams. Freshwater evaporating from the lake each year has left the salts and minerals behind so that the lake is now about 2 1/2 times as salty and 80 times as alkaline as the ocean. The Mono basin’s long history of volcanism is evident in the hills that mark the north and east boundaries of the basin. To the south lie the Mono craters. Panum Crater, the northern most of these craters erupted only 650 years ago. Mono’s islands are also volcanic. Pahoa Island is thought to be around 300 years old. Hot springs and steam vents in the basin show that volcanic activity is still present. This whole area of the eastern sierras is full of geo-thermal activity. Mike and I even saw a hot springs along the side of the road. We stopped at the Mono Lake visitor center and perused the displays and their gift shop. Mike bought me a little stuffed bird that chirps when you squeeze it. We have been collecting these birds for a few years now. The one he purchased today was a meadowlark. I named her Malarky.
Our next stop along the way was the town of Mammoth Lakes. We drove to the Minaret Summit view, which is over 9,000 feet in elevation. From this lookout, we can see across the valley to the group of mountains known as The Minarets. These peaks are very jagged and have a beauty all their own. Storm clouds were gathering, so we did not stay too long here. We took several photos and also video taped the Minarets and its environs using my cell phone. We then sent the video to Jeremy our son. It’s amazing what you can do with modern technology. It still blows my mind.
We reached the town of Bishop at about 2:30 PM. After checking into our room and getting settled, we drove around the town to do some exploring. We headed east on Hwy 6 for a few miles as we wanted to check out the Laws Railroad Museum. It was closed by now, but we wanted to find it in order to visit tomorrow. We rode a few miles further on Hwy 6. We were out in the middle of nowhere, with the White Mountains to our east and much scrub and sagebrush everywhere else. Out towards the west, dark foreboding clouds hovered ever closer. We could see sheets of rain in the distance dumping on the mountains.
We headed back into town and found a local Mexican Restaurant where we ate a delicious, albeit a little too spicy meal. Ironically, above our table was a big photo of over 100 different hot sauce brands. We looked to see if the “Wrath of God” hot sauce was there, but it wasn’t. We had a good laugh over the names of some of the other hot sauces though. There were names such as “Last Rites”, “Lotta Hotta,” “911”, and “Spitfire”. My favorite was “Tongues of Fire”. We retired early to get a head start on the next day’s adventure.
Old Cabin at Little Virginia Lake
Boats by Little Virginia Lake
Little Bridge at Virginia Lake
