A dream I shared with my wife a month ago, of finding myself in a remote desert place seems a metaphor for the sabbatical I have been on away from blogging. A desert is wonderful for seeking to clear ones mind and as a blogger finding his way.
Ironically, this vision was prophetic. Sheri and I spent part of a morning on our road trip wandering a stretch of high desert scrubland east of Mammoth Mountain. We had been seeking geothermal springs advertised as being a short drive away. But this is getting ahead of ourselves.
To celebrate my 65th birthday, we decided to continue past our too- brief 2023 Hwy 395 road trip for a longer circuit of California. This would be a 65th birthday week traveling the Eastern Sierra, exploring Lake Tahoe, then traveling north and then west to Lassen Volcanic National Park. I had read another’s blog calling it a California “Yellowstone”, less the crowds, bison and tourons.
As we drove between Bishop and our first night at Mammoth Mountain, we learned a friend of ours had just completed a week-long hike of the PCT between Mammoth mountain and Bishop, California. Though we were not as prepared, I was inspired to hike with my spouse at least a little at each scenic stop. At an elevation of nearly 9000 feet, a few walks at Mammoth seemed a good compromise for a trip requiring backpacks, sleeping bags, a bearbox and no showers for a week. We opted for a couple complimentary (birthday) drinks with dinner. An acceptable reward for making good choices thus far.
Day 2
Leaving Mammoth, we did a small hike to the Inyo Craters, which are the remnants of a centuries- old venting of volcanic origin. The literature describes an ancient super volcano exploded shaping the region’s geothermal energy production – and hot springs. Still early in the day, we were eager to see the thermal springs that fed the nearby river. And that’s where our 4- wheel adventures literally took a wrong turn.
On my phone, the map app showed us what we hoped to see. However, plugging in “Hot Springs Geologic Site” into Sheri’s phone, Google Maps diverted us off the paved road and onto gravel past high school-age runners. Not long afterward, my 4Runner became baptized by the trail as an outdoorsman. When successively more primitive trails and rocky outcrops lead us past surprised ATV’rs, we then knew we were on the road “not traveled”.
The intended destination was actually five minutes farther down the paved road. We wisely forgot to take any pictures. My map timeline history is record enough. One must be very specific with Google. Otherwise, it takes the naive and foolhardy to the geographic center of a region. I’m just grateful we were not in Death Valley in flip flops!
The rest of that day we remained on blacktop, detouring at Lee Vining to see Mono Lake. Farther north, we detoured again. At June Lake, we bought a couple postcards for our grandchildren. A fellow traveler recognized me as being in the dining room at the Mammoth hotel from the previous evening. I wanted to say I didn’t think anyone would know I had worn the same tshirt from dinner for a second day.
Stopping for a couple nights in Carson City, we took an opportunity to hike to Kings Canyon Falls in a foothills park, a short distance from the hotel. It occurred to me later, this may be a lovers’ spot for younger folks –two couples were a bit perturbed that their grandparents were choosing there and then for a photo op.
Day 3
The following morning we drove west along Highway 50, to Lake Tahoe. With no desire to visit casinos nor ride gondolas up the ski slopes in summer, we drove through South Lake Tahoe, stopping at the Taylor Creek Forest Service Visitors Center.
We met Dave, a retired Marine and his wife who volunteered at the Visitors center. Just as I enjoy retelling sea stories to both old friends and new people, from the expression of the young uniformed Forest Service employee, I believed she had heard these stories hundreds of times.
His casual remark of “you may encounter bears”on our walk, then later him sharing his up-close pictures of a few bears that were frequent visitors- I was glad we had no first hand experience.
Should my wife and I decide one day to be volunteers for a place that hosts visitors, I will have to keep blogging notes. At some later date, I may share some of Dave’s more humorous questions he has collected over years.
Our choice of a hotel in Carson City was the best decision as it was short a drive to Reno’s National Car museum (The majority had once been the late casino founder Harrah’s collection). Driving around the area, to first find the museum, to find the Truckee Riverwalk, and to find lunch, we laughed that we were now experts at finding our way in a four- block radius.
Carson City and Reno
Day 4
With fire season begun across the western US and Canada, we had advance warning of several weather- related blazes in California. None, we presumed a couple days beforehand would affect our travels. However, due to the tragedy of one man’s criminality, the Park Fire he started, is destroying livelihoods and hundreds of thousands of forested acres as I write this.
With only one westerly highway direction remaining open to take us to our intended next destination, our route to bypass the park on the 26th of July took us through the Park fire’s thickening haze. Along the way, we passed, I surmised later, 3 PCT hikers evacuating to the small town of Chester. This was a day before the northern march of the blaze passed through the town we had just driven through.
To be continued
It's a Dog's Life 