Mammoth

The four-and-a-half hour drive from Bakersfield to Mammoth Lakes never fails to impress me  - and Bene and Amanda were even more in awe seeing the Sierra Nevadas for the first time. Our first detour was through Red Rock State Park, with a red rock landscape unlike anything we see back home. We then stopped at Fossil Falls, a dried up water fall, which has unique wind and water swept rock formations. Highway 395 hugs the east side of the Sierras, with endless views of up to 14,000 foot peaks, including Mt Whitney, the highest point in the continental US. We took the 45 minute detour to the trailhead for Mt Whitney, which gained a few thousand feet in elevation, giving more and more breath taking views the higher we climbed. It was dark by the time we reached George and Sheila's house, so Ben and Amanda had the gorgeous views of the snow covered mountains to look forward to with breakfast. 

On our first full day in Mammoth we had a nice hearty breakfast and headed over to the main lodge to catch the shuttle down to Devil's Postpile National Monument, a volcanic formation of 60-foot, hexagonal rock "posts." To get ourselves acclimated(the house is at ~8,000 feet, main lodge of Mammoth is 8,900, and the top of Mammoth is 11,053) we did an easy 3.6 mile hike to the Postpile and then on to Rainbow Falls, before returning to the trailhead to catch the shuttle back to town. Rainbow Falls did not disappoint, as the mist created a huge rainbow at the base of the falls. After the hike we went over to the Mammoth Brewing Company tasting room to pick up tickets for the Mammoth Festival of Beers and Bluesapalooza. We had a few samples and then came home for a big steak dinner, and drinks and stargazing in the hot tub. The stars are just brilliant up here. I could get used to this! 

It is now day two in Mammoth. It's been 75 and sunny so far, and should continue that way throughout the weekend. We just had our breakfast and are getting our packs ready for our overnight hike on Saturday. After we finish we'll do a quick 2.5 mile hike to Arrowhead Lake and do some cliff jumping into the frigid alpine water. After Arrowhead Lake it's time for Bluesapalooza featuring Tom Ball & Kenny Sultan, Ana Popovic, and Blues Traveler! We didn't even realize the festival was this weekend until Sheila gave us the heads up on our way up here. We'll miss the Saturday and Sunday performers but that's just fine since we'll be spending Saturday night at Iva Belle Hot Springs - an 11ish mile hike from the Rainbow Falls trailhead. I've read that there are seven pools on the hillside, which vary from 100 to 110 degrees. On Sunday we'll make the return hike, spend our last night in Mammoth, and then head off to Yosemite on Monday morning.