Eastern Sierras (Summer 2023)

*The clouds actually are blocking the view of the Sierras here*

Driving to Las Vegas puts you on the other side of the Sierras so you might as well enjoy being on the east side. The mountains themselves make a great barrier that makes visiting some of these sites quite difficult when coming from the Bay area. From the pass through Yosemite up north to the highway through Bakersfield down south, there is just no road in between that goes through the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

The difficulty also makes it less crowded and more pristine when you do visit. There are a bunch of small no stop light towns and nice views along the road here. We stayed the night in a couple of those towns, Big Pine in the south and Bridgeport further north.

PSA: When in Big Pine, everyone says to try Copper Top BBQ which we did. It was good but also it’s not like you have a lot of choices here. They specialize in tri tip and pulled pork.

Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest

I’ve wanted to come here for quite a while to check out the oldest trees on earth. I believe the oldest one they found is over 4800 years old.

It’s not the easiest place to get to as it’s just kind of out there with not much around it.

*They don’t even bother to fence since there is nothing out here*

*I almost hit these cows on the way to the park*

It was Labor Day weekend so the parking lot was actually fairly full. I imagine on any non-holiday, you can get some solitude here and hike without seeing anyone since we barely saw anyone on the longer trail even on a holiday weekend.

The park apparently is a popular dog destination as it seemed everyone had one and it also appeared that a lot of the dogs were headed for the shorter Discovery Trail although we did see a few on the longer Methuselah Walk.

It’s part of the National Park service so your annual pass would work here if you have one.

*Most of this forest is dominated with only these trees because they can survive the harsh environment.*

*The forest exists around 10,000 ft elevation and the trees can survive the poor soil - they seem to grow out of rocks sometimes.*

Here are a bunch of tree photos from the 4 mile hike through the forest.

*This is the Methuselah Grove*

*The oldest tree on earth is somewhere in here - they don’t tell you which one it is to help protect it*

*Mountain Mahogany is one of the few other trees that grow up here*

*It flowers with these white spiky shoots from its branches*

Mammoth Lakes

I think Mammoth is basically Tahoe for people from LA. It takes about the same amount driving to get here from LA as for the Bay Area people going to Tahoe. It’s a ski town during the winter with great hiking and mountain biking during the summer.

The town is not as big as South Lake Tahoe but it is very scenic and the hiking spots seem to have more organized parking areas than Tahoe. Mountain biking is a huge thing with lots of people taking the lift up the hill and riding down.

We asked a woman who was a volunteer at one of the scenic areas where to do a short day hike and she recommended Crystal Lake.

Hike towards Crystal Lake

This was only a 1.5 mile hike but seemed longer because it was pretty much straight up the whole way and it rained a bit.

*It rained and hailed during parts of the hike*

*The white stuff in this photo is hail*

Once we got to Crystal Lake, we found the low clouds covering some of the view - it’s probably prettier on a sunny day. A lot of people were hiking up here with fishing poles. Still patches of snow up here that will likely last until next winter.

Crystal Lake (on a cloudy day)

All the dead trees washed down from the mountain

Great views on the hike back as the weather cleared a bit. Sometimes you would see these big boulders of volcanic rock out of nowhere. Don’t know if a volcano blast deposited it there or a glacier.

Burgers - Mammoth Lakes

The lady who recommended the hike also recommended this place for a burger. If your name is “Burgers” you would assume the do a good job.

I must admit I was so hungry from the hike I forgot to take more photos. I’m assuming I will be back in the future so will take some more photos then.

One of the nice things about this place is that it is directly across from the Mammoth Ski resort area and if you dine here you can park here for an hour to check out the shops across the street.

Distant Brewing - Mammoth Lakes

This brewery seemed like very much a local hangout. Very busy and also dog friendly!

Great beer offerings and they also served food. The had indoor and outdoor seating but it was just chilly enough on Labor Day Weekend to make the outside too cold without winter gear.

Black Velvet Coffee - Mammoth Lakes

Wanted to grab a coffee before leaving town. The first place I tried to go to was actually closed so chose this one instead.

It was actually pretty big inside with multiple levels of seating.

Everything about this place was great except that the espresso beans were a bit on the sour side. Why are people into the sour coffees?

Mono Lake

I’ve been to Yosemite many times but I’ve never ventured a little farther east to see Mono Lake. This was a good opportunity to fix that problem.

I must say that the weather and sky were cooperating nicely this day for taking pictures. The above photos were taken from the visitors center.

I talked to the ranger there (always get advice from the ranger) and she told me to go to the South Tufa Trail, the Panum Crater, and also hit Bodie on the way back the next day. We did all three.

South Tufa Trail

The South Tufa area takes to on a short trail where you walk down to the lake and also around many of the tufa formations. Although the formations look delicate, they are quite hard. I learned that these salt lakes form in this basin because this Great Basin area doesn’t drain out to the sea.

*This sign marks the mandated lake level*

*The sign says that once Mono Lake was protected from being drained for people in LA to take more showers, it was decided that the lake will be allowed to return to this level that existed in 1963*
*If that happens someday, it would wipe out most of this South Tufa trail*

Panum Crater

The ranger at Mono Lake suggested that we check this place out since it is on the way to or back from South Tufa. It is the youngest volcanic crater in the area and you can see the mix of volcanic glass and pumice when you walk into the crater.

To get there you actually have to drive down a single lane dirt road. It has lots of turnouts so cars can let each other pass each other while going opposite directions along the single lane.

*Sign at the parking lot shaming careless people*

*Thanks to inflation - $35K seems like quite the bargain!*

Walk and views to the crater rim

Inside the crater

Bridgeport

This is one of the aforementioned no stoplight towns you find in this part of the country. Spent the night here before heading back home.

Bridgeport Inn

Tri-Tip Caesar

We tried to go to the actual “bar” in town but it was too crowded on a holiday weekend. Instead we were able to grad some bar seating at their historic inn and grabbed a beer and dinner here instead. It wound up being a much better choice - especially for food.

Bodie

Another recommendation from the ranger. When we told her that we were staying in Bridgeport, she recommended that we check out Bodie, an old abandoned gold mining town.

The last 3 miles to get there is a dirt road. We passed a sheep herd grazing off the side of the road on the way there.

It’s part of the California parks system so the National Park pass doesn’t work here.

Remains of the bank

The town was abandoned in the late 1800’s when the gold ran out but a lot has been preserved. You can enter in some of the houses and some you can look into the window to see the remains. There is also a small museum where they house a lot of the household items that were found here.