Jun 7, 2012 - 2012-Mono Lake, California

We left Denver June 4th on time and with good weather. Roads were good and we arrived in Richfield, UT at 4:00 as planned. Left June 5th again to good weather & roads headed for June Lake, CA. Our route took us on UT-50 and NV-6 and geez, what monotonous roads. No rest stops, towns, pull-offs, nothing. Scenery was nice, we drove thru the Great Basin in Nevada which is a HUGE flat area between two mountain ranges. I emphasize flat because it was the only flat place in two full days of driving. We did have snow in Ely, NV! A big cold front...

May 13, 2012 - June Lake, California

5/13 – 5/15 Our next stop was Class Creek Campground in June Lake, California (43 miles north on US395). Another beautiful campsite. While we were in the area we took two scenic drives. The first one was a short lake tour which included June Lake, Gull Lake, Silver Lake and Grant Lake. A gorgeous area. The next day we took the Mammoth Scenic Loop, a pleasant drive through the wooded foothills. We stopped in the town of Mammoth Lakes for a little grocery shopping. After lunch we drove to Hot Creek Hatchery to check out the trout and lastly...

Jul 24, 2010 - June Lake and Bodie

Entry #2 June Lake area: This morning (Saturday) Craig & Sharon stayed at camp while Jim & Elayne and Mary and I took off for the high desert gold mining ghost town known as Bodie, 9000' elevation and 13 miles off the highway. Gold was discovered here in1859, by 1879 the population was about 10,000. Gold mining stopped in 1937 and the people had all left by 1942. In 1962 the state of California took control of the land and now maintains it as a state historic park. Winters here are brutal, 12'+ of snow, 50 degrees below zero temperatures...

Aug 15, 2009 - Ooooh shiny lights...

Oooh...shiny... August 15 2009 – 11:50am (2:50pm Oakville time) Sorry I didn’t update again last night, something I ate for lunch didn’t agree with me and I was feeling like crap all night. Attempted to take a pill to settle my stomach and ended up throwing it up. Not a good night. Anyway...Reno wasn’t all that exciting. We drove on the strip a bit, there were lots of shiny lights and cheap cheesy wedding chapels. Like I said, it’s like the smaller, sketchier version of Las Vegas. We’re currently sitting in the parking lot of a grocery...

Jul 17, 2009 - Mono Lake,Yosemite National Park, and Bodie

July 13th: Mono Lake – We went to visit Mono Lake at sunset. This salt lake is 2nd in size to the Great Salt Lake in Utah. This is the favorite breeding ground for the California Sea Gull and other migratory birds which feed on Brine Shrimp and Alkali Flies, the only living things in the lake. July 14th: Yosemite National Park – My cousin Bette arrived for a 2 day visit with us as we camped and took in various sights. Our friends Craig and Sharon and myself took in the sights in Yosemite Valley and the beautiful high country of Tuolumne...

Jul 12, 2009 - Around camp this weekend

June 11th there was a lot of excitement around our campground on June Lake. It was the annual June Lake Triathlon. This is the highest elevation for that kind of competition in the US. It is comprised of a 1 mile swim, 25 mile bike ride and 6 ½ mile run all done at 7600 feet elevation. Mary and I walked down to the lake from our campsite for the start at 8 AM. The first swimmer back to shore made it in 18 minutes! Mind you the water temperature is around 58 degrees. That is why in the pictures you see the competitors in wet suits. There was...

Jul 10, 2009 - Geocaching and fishing

Greetings friends and family, July 10th: Yesterday Mary and I found a couple of Geocache sites. One was near a very interesting old 1937 Chevy Flatbed truck way off the beaten path. We don’t know how it got here, but we had a good time discovering it. For those of you who don’t know what Geocaching is check out the official website http://www.geocaching.com . It is similar to a treasure hunt with a GPS rather than a compass in almost every country in the world and right in your neighborhood too. We have found many points of interest off the...

Jul 9, 2009 - Still camped at June Lake, CA

We are still camped at our first location of our road trip -- June Lake, CA. We will be here until July 19th. The scenery around June Lake is spectacular. The daytime temperature is about 75 degrees and the evenings get downright chilly at about 40 degrees. In the middle of July, I can't believe I need to wear a jacket once the sun goes down! There are over 400 high alpine lakes in the general vicinity. There are numerous side destinations we will be taking to National Parks,Forests and Monuments. The postings from us will be dictated by...

Jul 4, 2009 - June Lake, California - June 30th to July 3rd

June 30th: Mary and I left home at 7 AM, we drove for 7 hours and 20 minutes to the Oh Ridge campground in June Lake, CA, a total of 296 miles. We took it easy the rest of the day after meeting our friends the Stewart's and their entourage of family and friends who also joined us. July 1st: A very large "dust devil" (mini tornado) surprised us and damaged two of the three trailers in our group that had their shade awnings out. Mary and I luckily hadn't put ours out. It is really beautiful here at an elevation of about 7500 feet, sunny and...

May 10, 2009 - Sierras again

May 10, Sunday We left Linda's and headed for "Plan C", a return to the east side of the Sierras. Plan A had been to drive down the Big Sur coast, but they had a devastating wildfire last July, so the state parks were still closed and there was a lot of fire damage - and to top it off, there is a fire currently raging in Santa Barbara! Plan B had been to do some kayaking in a wildlife refuge near Lake Havasu in Arizona - but we discovered that the temperatures were in the 100s - no fun! So we drove up US 50 again to Lake Tahoe, where we...

Aug 31, 2007 - Bears!

The average American seems considerably nicer and friendlier than the average Brit, last night's psycho landlady excepted. A park ranger really helped me with accomodation today, letting me use their phone, etc, and lots of people have been like that. Still, I was pleased to leave Bishop, and even more pleased that the clouds had lifted and the mountains looked magnificent. Everything is so big here! (Though yet to see any really huge people). I was a bit ambivalent about where to go next, but decided to at least have a look at Mammoth...