4th of July Camping Trip

Over the holiday weekend we drove up to Little Lakes Valley near Mammoth for an overnight backpacking trip and we fell in love with the scenery...lake after lake and snow capped mountains galore. It lives up to it's reputation of being paradise (plus mosquitos). We applied mosquito repellent liberally as soon as we noticed we were entering Mosquito Flat, but still came away with about forty bites each.





After a brief detour at Mono lake to see the Tufa formations, we drove to Mammoth. That was my first time up there and I really loved it...reminds me of Park City with really nice shops and fun atmosphere. From there, we took a shuttle bus to Devil's Postpile National Monument and hiked to Rainbow Falls. Ask Scott about the cramped bus ride back with all the laughing Mexicans.




Next we drove through Yosemite via Tuolumne Meadows and we saw a gorgeous buck grazing away. Unfortunately, there was a fire that engulfed Yosemite in smoke, so we buzzed out of there and on to Sequoias and camped near General Sherman, the largest living thing on earth. Amazing.




After that we drove up the long narrow windy road to Mineral King Valley and hiked around fantastic old cabins and waterfalls. It was the wildflower mecca and home of yellow-bellied marmots. We saw about twenty of the cute little guys. We ended up traversing a small mountain and free-climbing some gigantor granite rock faces to reach our desired waterfall location that we caught a glimpse of from the road. Yes, we blazed our own trail and cheated death. I think that's Scott's favorite way of living, actually. His grin will attest. These two sunburned, pooped and thirsty hikers definitely enjoyed our reward cooling off in the frosty water.









We sure worked up an appetite and the little cafe in Silver City sure delivered. If you're ever out that way, stop in for the Pismo--grilled tuna on sourdough, slice of cantelope and the best chips ever. Oh, and a little slice of homemade Razzle-dazzle pie a la mode. Heavenly. But, be prepared to soak up the mountain air on the patio while you wait because pace up there is very laid back.