Day 1 - Sunday
August 6, 2005
Minarets and
SNOW way off in the distance from Highway 395 as we get closer to Mammoth
Mountain. |
At Mammoth Mountain Lodge. Bob Johnson, Dick Sar, Sierra,
Michelle and Dave Van Wicklin |
Michelle and Sierra on the one mile trail from the lodge up to the Minaret
Summit view area. |
Sierra bums a ride from Dave. We all got lightly hailed on for 5 or
so minutes on the way back! |
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Day 2 - Monday
August 8, 2005
Sunrise in the Sierra's!
Time to pack up everything from our Motel 6 room and hit the trails! |
We drove up to the Lodge, left the cars there and hopped a bus down to
Devil's Postpile to start our trek. The post pile is a bunch of weird,
naturally formed, 100' tall ribbons of rock. |
After a couple of hours of uphill we took our lunch break at this
beautiful spot. |
Getting closer! The Minaret range is still way off in the
background. |
Only 1/2 hour or so to go. The entire hike with stops took 6 hours. |
Sierra follows grandpa Doug over the final ridge. |
Dave Van Wicklin leads the way! |
One of several beautiful waterfalls along this route. |
Will it rain or will it not? The afternoon clouds are
building up.
(Fortunately, we remained rain free for the entire trip. Was a
pleasant surprise after the deluge yesterday afternoon.) |
Finally done hiking for the day! |
Bob Johnson and Dick Sar arrived some time before we did and found a
spectacular campsite location at the 9,800 foot elevation lake.. |
Sierra pondering her Sierras from inside her tent. |
The gang resting after gourmet freeze dried dinners. |
Michelle and Sierra near the shore of Minaret Lake. |
Michelle, Dave & Sierra set up their tent above us on a flat rock
outcropping. |
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Doug does his rock art! |
Dick, Doug and Bob get ready to turn in for the night. Our tents
were a mere 150 feet from the waters edge. |
Our Day 1 Sunset. Those who got up in the middle of the night
were greeted by a zillion bright stars! |
It didn't
take very long for any of us to realize we "discovered" a new favorite
spot in the Sierra's. The scenery here was even more spectacular
than any of our previous long time favorites: Vogelsang, Lake Ediza or
even Rae Lakes out of King's Canyon. |
