Motel Goodies

Waffle (Mammoth Lakes) - Sierra Nevada  2019

Motel Coffee (Boomtown) - Nevada  2019

Top photo: exquisite waffle at the Comfort Inn in Mammoth.

Bottom: early morning coffee at the Best Western in Boomtown during a recent trip.

Clouds

Cloud - Sierra Nevada  2019

Clouds - Sierra Nevada  2019

Taken while a weather system was moving through. No rain, but plenty of clouds.

Turkeys on Fence

Turkeys on Fence (Fairfax) - Marin County  2006

Obligatory Thanksgiving turkey photo. Taken from our dining room during the high water mark of our local turkey population. Nowadays you can hear them sometimes, but off in the distance.

Devils Postpile

Postpile - Sierra Nevada  2019

Postpile Detail -  Sierra Nevada  2019

"The monument was created in 1911 as Devil Postpile National Monument, but is widely referred to as Devils Postpile National Monument, and has been officially styled as plural without the apostrophe since the 1930s." Wikipedia

So, I shouldn't have used apostrophes in my previous posts. Not going back and changing them though.

An early-morning visit, nobody around.

Sotcher Lake / Rainbow Fire

Sotcher Lake - Sierra Nevada  2019

Burnt Forest (Rainbow Fire) - Sierra Nevada  2019

I've visited this lake before, and taken photos from virtually the same spot. Interesting.

For some reason I've never noticed the burnt areas on the other side of the road before. Remnants of the Rainbow Fire. I walked across and took some photos.

Monday Cat Blogging

Ediza (Cat) - Sierra Nevada  1986

If I had continued on the hike, I could have gotten to Lake Ediza. But I've been there before, more than once.

The above photo was taken in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada; the cat was named after Lake Ediza. Below, a nearby apple tree.

Apple Tree - Sierra Nevada  1986

Ritter and Banner

Mount Ritter, Banner Peak - Sierra Nevada  2019

Meadow - Sierra Nevada 2019

So, somewhere in my mind I had gotten the idea that this meadow, with its nice views of Ritter and Banner, was just a short distance beyond Shadow Lake. Huh. It's not a short distance.

My first photo of the meadow was taken in 1976.

I ate lunch, then headed on back. My iPhone was able to track my total hike mileage:

Dayhike Stats

Shadow Lake

Shadow Lake - Sierra Nevada  2019

Juniper, Mammoth Mountain - Sierra Nevada  2019

There's a longish downhill section at the start of the hike (not good for the return), a bridge across the San Joaquin River, then a series of switchbacks with progressively wider vistas emerging.

At the top, the trail goes for a short spell alongside Shadow Creek and then Shadow Lake comes into view.

Rocks and Plants

Rocks, Plants -  Sierra Nevada  2019

Manzanita Branch - Sierra Nevada  2005

There's a short, desert-like section of the trail that has special significance for me, due to the image of a manzanita branch that I took in 2005 (second photo above). I was using an Olympus C-8080, as I've detailed before, in the post Olympus C-8080 and the Digital Manzanita Branch.

This time I didn't spot any neat manzanita branches, however. But I still needed to stop and take a few photos.

Agnew Meadows

Fence Post - Sierra Nevada  2019

False Hellebore - Sierra Nevada  2019

This trip I was unable to get a wilderness permit to use the Agnew Meadows trailhead. To compensate I decide to take a dayhike starting from that trailhead up to Shadow Lake and beyond. The start of the hike featured some nice black and white subjects.

Red's Meadows

Ladder, Mops (Red's Meadows) - Sierra Nevada  2019

Beer - Sierra Nevada  2019

OK. I know that my original intention for my Plan C car camp was to use only what I had carried in my Gregory backpack. But of course no visit to the area would be complete without a jaunt to the Red's Meadows store.

Nice . . . they had Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in cans!

San Joaquin River

Clouds, San Joaquin River - Sierra Nevada  2019

Morning, San Joaquin River - Sierra Nevada  2019

Top: an afternoon view of the San Joaquin River near the campground.

Bottom: early morning on the bridge crossing the river in Devil's Postpile National Monument.

Monday Horse Blogging

Horses, Red's Meadows  - Sierra Nevada  2019

Nice group seen just off the road going to the Red's Meadows store. I stopped and used the iPhone out the window.

[UPDATE: Actually, these might be mules.]

Minaret Falls Campground

Mike, Hot Cocoa - Sierra Nevada  2019

So, my August 2019 plan A was to backpack using the Agnew Meadows trailhead. Plan B was to backpack using the Devil's Postpile trailhead. (Which I did, but not for a full hike.) But now I was on to Plan C: a car camp that strictly utilized just the stuff I had taken for my backpack.

Back at the trailhead I loaded my stuff into the Toyota then drove over to the Minaret Falls campground to see if there were any sites available. Yes!

It only occurred to me much later that I had my first camping experience here in 1959 . . . 60 years ago. Wow.

Howard - Sierra Nevada  1959

Minaret Creek Sightems

Pine Branches, Tree Trunk - Sierra Nevada  2019

Tree Trunk - Sierra Nevada  2019

I was using an Olympus EM10 with a 25mm prime lens. I like this combination at lot, but it tends to lure me into taking photos that look good in the viewfinder but end up being somewhat uninteresting.

Minaret Creek

Minaret Creek - Sierra Nevada  2019

Pine Branches - Sierra Nevada  2019

I had Minaret Creek to myself for most of the day (some JMT backpackers arrived in the evening).

In between photo shoots I was reading War and Peace on my Kindle.

Kindle (War and Peace) - Sierra Nevada  2019

Campsite

Tent - Sierra Nevada  2019

Pine Tree - Sierra Nevada  2019

After a bit of scouting I found an ideal spot for an overnight stay situated close to Minaret Creek. The site featured a small bonsai-like pine tree in the center of a decomposed granite area. Could almost have been imported directly from Kyoto.

Stream Crossing

Backpacker Crossing Minaret Creek - Sierra Nevada  2019

Backpacker - Sierra Nevada  2019

I've used this trail before, but somehow hadn't remembered this Minaret Creek crossing. The last time I was here the water level was pretty low, but this year had been a wet one and the water level was considerably higher. Another backpacker advised me to put my camera inside my pack before crossing. Alas, my Gregory backpack was quite full already, with no extra space for my Olympus camera.

The backpacker pictured above managed the crossing pretty easily, but a) she wasn't carrying a camera, and b) she was way younger and stronger than me, alas.

And I can't forget to mention that the JMT backpackers were reporting hideous mosquito conditions. After dithering a bit I decided to skip the crossing and explore the many campsites situated in the vicinity along Minaret Creek.

Backpack

Two Snags - Sierra Nevada  2019

Backpack Stuff  (Devil's Postpile) - Sierra Nevada  2019

As I drove through Yosemite over Tioga Pass last August I was considering my backpack options. I wanted to use one of the trailheads near Devil's Postpile National Monument, which one dependent on whether or not I could secure a wilderness permit. My first choice was the trail past Shadow Lake going towards Lake Ediza. Second would be the trail leading to Minaret Lake. On the one hand, I felt pretty confident about being able to get a permit, since I was showing up at the Ranger Station the day before and only wanted a permit for one person. But on the other, there was a certain element of stress involved, not knowing exactly what permit I'd be able to get.

So, I didn't get my first choice (Shadow Lake), but got a permit for Minaret Lake. I got the permit all right, but I was slightly disconcerted to not get my first choice.

I drove down to the Devil's Postpile trailhead early in the morning, using a picnic table there to organize my stuff.

Monday Squirrel Blogging

Squirrel - Sierra Nevada  2019

Creature seen during my stay in Minaret Falls campground.

Backpack / Camping

Minarets - Sierra Nevada  2019

Fritos & Beer - Yosemite  2019

Photos taken last August. I had scheduled a one week backpacking trip towards the end of the month, but things didn't quite work out the way I had planned. But I had a nice enough time in the end.

Top: Early morning shot of the Minarets as I was driving down to the Devil's Postpile trailhead.

Next: The required Fritos and Beer shot taken during my lunch at a pullout near Tioga Pass.

Chevrolet

Chevrolet Bel Air - Los Angeles  1998

Chevrolet - Los Angeles  1998

Maybe these pix were taken in Los Angeles. Maybe not.

Mt. Whitney 2001

Sunrise, Mt. Whitney - Owens Valley  2001

Sunset, Mt. Whitney - Owens Valley  2001

Taken in the vicinity of the Alabama Hills.  I was using a Minolta 35mm SLR.

Other posts: view on the top, and view from the backside.

Sagebrush, Rocks 2001

Sagebrush, Rocks - Owens Valley  2001

I'm pretty sure that this was taken just off the road going to Bodie.

Lupin, Creek 2001

Lupin - Owens Valley  2001

Creek - Owens Valley  2001

Kodacolor film.

Keeler Sightems - 2001

Keeler Market - Owens Valley  2001

Building (Keeler) - Owens Valley  2001

Two more photos scanned from color film. Probably taken with a Minolta SLR.