Road Trip — Mammoth Lakes

Posted by Karen on 07-Oct-2006

(Click photo for all 54 photos)

I landed in the town of Mammoth Lakes last night and this morning over breakfast, I checked out the brochure and decided on my path of exploration for the day.  I start off with a trip up to the top of Lookout Mountain to see what there is to see.  I turned off the road and followed the dirt road up to the top and enjoyed a beautiful view of the valley in all directions.  I explored some of the other dirt roads and sat very still for a while to get a picture of a chipmunk–they are fast little guys!  I continued 4×4′ing it for a bit and went and found the geocache called “Joyride in the Forest”, which reminded me of the flying car in the Harry Potter movie coming out of the woods, all beat up and battered, to rescue the boys.  Next on the agenda was a visit to the Inyo Craters, volcanic craters from an eruption years ago.  After turned around a bit on the unmarked dirt roads, I found my way back to the main road and then went to check out the Earthquake Fault; it’s kinda cool how the earth just opened up like a zipper.  On the way to my last stop for the day, I passed the empty Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort and saw the big woolly mammoth.  The Minaret Vista view point was my last stop for the day.  At 9,265 feet high, it provides an expansive view in all directions–a nice place to enjoy the sunset.

“This is the sense of the desert hills, that there is room enough and time enough.”  –Mary Austin, 1903