South Tufa Mono Lake California

Benton California hot springs is an old died town that holds one attraction-Hot Springs ,it has 7 rooms and 10 RV spots,each site has his own private hot pool and only this fact made us take a long drive to Benton only to find out that one has to be a guest in the hotel or have a RV site to use the hot pools,no matter what we said nothing made the owners change their mind and we had to turn around and drive back to our C.G.

On the way back we stopped to see this unusual rock formations surrounded with wilderness and mountains.

At one point we stopped next to wilderness C.G and asked the owner about hot springs in the area , and look what we found, in the middle of nowhere a natural hot pool,what a treat it was (no pictures will follow ,guess why?)

At 6PM we joined a guided tour at South Tufa in Mono Lake CA.

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The reserve was established to preserve the spectacular "tufa towers," calcium-carbonate spires and knobs formed by interaction of freshwater springs and alkaline lake water. It also protects the lake surface itself as well as the wetlands and other sensitive habitat for the 1 – 2 million birds that feed and rest at Mono Lake each year.

Mono Lake is a majestic body of water covering about 65 square miles. It is an ancient lake, over 1 million years old -- one of the oldest lakes in North America. It has no outlet.

Throughout its long existence, salts and minerals have washed into the lake from Eastern Sierra streams. Freshwater evaporating from the lake each year has left the salts and minerals behind so that the lake is now about 2 1/2 times as salty as the ocean and very alkaline.

If you carefully you will notice an Aspray bird nest  on the high column and the bird sitting on the right one.

Click to enlarge.

We did not let the disappointment in Benton spoil our great day…

June Lake CA loop & hike to Parker Lake

The high Sierra Nevada is a Paradise for photographers,hikers,fisherman,nature lovers and all the rest that just want to get away from it all.

Mono Lake as our base gave us an excess to near by nature wonders as the June Lake loop that passes 3 lakes and is a trail head to some great hikes.

We started our day by hiking to an alpine lake called Parker Lake that is fed by a huge high waterfall .

The hike is  5 miles long ,moderate with some uphill climbing (they all are in the Sierras) and we had to cross some streams using logs that were on the water and enjoyed every minute.

The trail is not always marked well and we had to do some bush hike heading towards a general direction trying to meet the trail ahead,the good smell from the bushes stuck to our clothes and a fisherman we met on the way thought we just took a shower…

We took a break on the grass next to the lake ,took of the shoes and had a lite bite from the fruits we carried , the timer on the camera saved us some “selfees”

After the rewarding hike we continued driving the June Lake Loop and found Gull Lake to be the most beautiful one ,nice small marina with a renting place that also acts as a general store,fisherman with small boats trying to get a catch and all this in a fantastic surroundings.

Some “work” to make a catch and some don’t…..

Back at the camp ground in Mono Lake we had some nice handsome visitors

We did not see any all along the hike in the nature ,now I know why, they are visiting the C.G where it is easier to grab some food…

It sure was another great day,already looking forward for tomorrows adventures.

Lundy Canyon CA Hike

We pulled our 5W from Bridgeport CA to Mono Lake RV park , a central location for all our activities and this will be our base for the next 10 days till after Labour Day.

The C.G is very nice ,levelled shady sites,WiFi ,clean bathrooms and located just next to the East entrance of Yosemite N.P and on Mono Lake.

Mono Lake

We took a stroll down town Lee Vening that can be easily covered in 15 minutes, and asked about hikes with waterfalls in the area,accordingly to the people living in town and one in the information center –waterfalls can be seen mainly in Yosemite N.P and due to the draught most of the waterfalls in the area will be dry or close to dry, with this disappointing information we went to sleep hoping at least to see great views in Lundy Canyon in the following day.

I am so happy to prove all the pessimists wrong, immediately after 15 minutes of this 7 Mile hike R/T we saw the first “dry” falls one of a serial of waterfalls that were all along the trail.

   

I will sure go to the information center down town to show some pictures of the “dry” Falls….

As we climbed the trail towards the end of the canyon we passed many beaver ponds but have not seen even one beaver,may be they were on a siesta..

It sure was a fantastic hike ,it had it all,waterfalls,views,ponds and great smells from the vegetation.

End of the Lundy Canyon.

This day would have a very happy ending if my friend Rod would not make an attempt to cross a water stream with his truck and get stuck in it,but he took it lightly and got a tow truck to pull him out,we all laughed at this event on a glass of wine later in the evening.

As we waited for the tow Rod had the opportunity to use the stream as a free car wash….

Bodie Ghost Town & Travertine Natural Hot Pools

 

Bodie the Ghost Town is located 20 Miles from Bridgeport,the first 15Miles are paved and the rest is a dirt road.

The whole town is a State Park and every one is charged 5$ entering the town,I also suggest to bring  food and water as there is non in town, there is no shade and it is not handicap friendly, besides all this it is an interesting place if you are into Ghost Towns.

Only 5-15 State Park Rangers live in town that was totally deserted since 1960 ,everything was left in place since then and it looks like in few years a lot of history will be lost, although the State is using the fees to restore some houses.

   

Inside the houses (not open to the public) it looks even worse,dust,small animals and weather are taking a toll on the place.

 

The only place that was open to visitors was the Museum where we meet a nice lady ranger telling us that the State funds are not enough to keep this important place from falling apart…so go to see it now before it does.

We wondered around for 3 hours without taking a guided tour to the Gold Mine as there were only heavy old machineries on display and we had enough of this laying around.

I think that if houses were open and a ranger would talk about the life there,a bar should be open and so should the hotel,a video showing how life was then-it would bring more visitors….and make a difference.

It was hot,we got thirsty and had no where to sit,so we made our way back “home” to have lunch before hitting the hot pools we thought we deserved.

Grilled fish,salad,beans ,beer,a short rest  and we were like new again.

At around 5PM we headed to Travertine Natural Hot Pools (free) just 10 Miles from our C.G,this half of the day made a difference.

And then came the sunset….

Life is good you only have to grab what is given and not let it pass next to you.