Today I drove 192 miles traveling from Reno, Nevada to Mammoth Lakes, California.
I stop at the Nevada State Capitol in Carson City before crossing the California border. I made stops at the scenic Mono Lake Tufa area and the June Lake Loop Road before reaching Mammoth. (Don't like long videos? Click  for some shorter videos from today.) |
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Hello Folks, This morning after I left my hotel in Reno I headed south. My first stop was at the State Capitol in Carson City. It was very hard to photograph. The grounds are covered in trees and it is hard to see the building through the trees. And I also had to shoot strait into the sun. Below is the best picture I could get for my sixth state capitol of the trip so far.  About forty miles south of Carson City I crossed the border into California. I was traveling on U.S. 395 most of the day and the West Walker River was flowing along the side of the road for several miles.  About 120 miles into my drive I stopped at the Mono Lake Vista Point. That 's U.S. 395 in the picture below. I am about to go down the hill and visit Mono Lake.  Mono Lake is a large, shallow saline soda lake formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in an endorheic basin. The lack of an outlet causes high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake. These salts also make the lake water alkaline.  Among the most iconic features of Mono Lake are the columns of limestone that tower over the water surface. These limestone towers consist primarily of calcium carbonate minerals such as calcite. This type of limestone rock is referred to as tufa, which is a term used for limestone that forms in low to moderate temperatures.  I rode my scooter around the South Tufa Area as far as I could until an obstacle blocked my path.  Only a few miles from Mono Lake is the June Lake Loop Road. It's an outstanding drive through alpine scenery. The road winds past a series of sparkling glacial lakes, all encircled by snaggletooth peaks that scrape the deep blue sky. The first lake I came to was Grant Lake.  About half way around the loop road I arrived at Silver Lake snuggled up against the base of Carson Mountain. I think this was my favorite of the four lakes along the scenic June Lake Loop.  Gull Lake was the third lake I came to on the loop road. The marina has a cute boardwalk area.  The fourth and final lake was June Lake. I was shooting into the sun at the final two lakes making the pictures less stunning.  After the June Lake Loop it was just about twenty more miles to Mammoth Lakes. I was going to ride the Panorama Gondola to the top of the mountain, but surprise, surprise it was closed for maintenance.  So I snapped a couple pictures and drove to my hotel which is just four miles away. I am staying at the Best Western Premier in Mammoth Lakes, California. After getting settled at the hotel I went out to eat. I was hungry, I hadn't had a bite to eat all day. The only restaurant in town is Carl's Jr. So that is where I ate. The worst news of the day came earlier in the day when I learned the Tioga Pass is closed. It usually opens in May. They had so much snow this winter that they aren't going to open it at all this year. This will add about 120 miles to my journey tomorrow to get into Yosemite. I have no luck with Yosemite at all. In 2014 I couldn't get into Yosemite Valley due to a raging forest fire. The way my luck has gone with things being closed this trip, I truly expect when I get to the Pacific Ocean it will be closed too. I better get some rest. It's going to be a LONG drive tomorrow. Tim |
100% of the original audio track is in tact for this video. |
Click on the arrow above for tomorrow's adventures.
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