Lee Vining

Sep 13     Bishop - Lee Vining     66 miles     2 hours

We continued on Hwy 395 to Lee Vining. It took us a long time because we stopped at a rest stop for lunch. The quaint town of Lee Vining is at a higher elevation and a lot cooler here. We're staying at Mono Vista RV Park for 5 nights, water and electric for $34.72 per night. Very crowded here, they really pack everyone in. After 2 nights we'll be moving sites. It's so busy, we can't get 5 nights in the same site. The location is perfect. Lots to explore in the area.

Our site for 2 nights

Silver Lake

Sep 14   We took a drive out to June Lake Loop today. A scenic 16 mile loop around four glistening lakes. Autumn brings a phenomenal display of colorful aspens along the loop, unfortunately, we're a couple weeks early. Still very scenic, beautiful drive.

Grant Lake

We checked out Oh Ridge Campground. Very nice campground overlooking June Lake. Dry camping for $27.50 per night.

The beach at June Lake

Wouldn't mind staying here next time we're in the area.

June Lake

Another view of June Lake

Hard to see the waterfall

Mono Lake was our next stop. One of the oldest

View of Mono Lake from the visitors center

lakes in the western hemisphere, Mono Lake is hauntingly beautiful.

The lakes most distinctive feature is its eerie tufa towers. We did the one-mile trail winding along the shoreline and among the tufa towers.

Tufas

California gulls

It's also a sanctuary for birds. Tiny green plants called algae capture the sun's energy, then become food for millions of alkali flies and trillions of brine shrimp. Over a million birds feast on the shrimp and flies.

We stopped at Whoa Nellie Deli's for lunch. Excellent food and lots of souvenirs for the surrounding area.


Last stop was a store in town to buy some much needed rugs for the RV. We're real happy with the purchase, beautiful!








Sep 15     We had to change sites today, so we had a late start this morning.

Our new site for the next 3 days

We went to Bodie State Historic Park, about a 40 minute drive from Lee Vining.

Methodist church built in 1882

Memories of California's wild gold mining days come alive on Bodie's long abandoned dirt streets, with 170 of the town's relic buildings preserved in a state of "arrested decay."

 From 1877-1888 Bodie had an estimated 10,000 residents and produced more that $35 million in gold and silver.

Inside one of the houses built in 1900

We spent about an hour touring the area. They charge $8 per person and $2 for a map of Bodie.

Swasey Hotel 1894

Stamp Mill

Schoolhouse

Inside the schoolhouse

This house had 5 children, notice the rocking horse

Travertine Hotsprings

After we had lunch we drove to Travertine Hot Springs. Kind of small with 3 pools.

As we approached, an older, fat, naked guy started talking to some other people around the pools. He wasn't in the pool, he was standing outside...in all his glory! Everyone else was stripping down and getting in.

Very uncomfortable for us, needless to say, we decided not to go  in.

Old naked guy standing outside the pools

Rock Creek Lake & Hotsprings

Sept 12     Today we drove out to Rock Creek Canyon. One of the highest paved roads in California leads the Rock Creek visitor to an alpine setting over 10,000 feet in elevation. Surrounded by John Muir Wilderness with views of 13,000 foot peaks from anywhere in the canyon, this area is about as far as you can get from the city's hustle-bustle.

We did a two mile hike around Rock Creek Lake. Fall color is vibrant in Red Rock Canyon but we're about two weeks early. Still very beautiful. 

After the hike we found a picnic area and had lunch right alongside the lake. We got to rest, eat, and marvel at the lakes beauty.

The we went hunting for the hot springs that I read about. We found Wild Willys Hot Springs. Out in the boonies, in a remote area, in the middle of a cow pasture. What a welcoming sight...I was so excited! 

Cows all around us

Two good size pools. One was lukewarm and the other hot. Two guys were there in their underwear but they were ready to leave. There was a girl that arrived the same time as us. We got to enjoy the pools for almost an hour before anyone else came. We were in heaven, soaking in a hot tub with beautiful views. 

All of a sudden a lot of people started coming. Good timing for us, we were just about ready to leave.

So relaxing

I really enjoyed our soak, so relaxing. The best part was it was free! If we ever come through Hwy 395 this is a definite stop.

Convict Lake & Mammoth Lakes

Sep 11     We drove out to Mammoth Lakes Basin Area today. The drive from Bishop took us about 1 hour. The elevation in this area is about 8900. The fresh, crisp mountain air and beautiful scenery was really, really awesome. Twin Lakes was our first stop. Absolutely breathtaking...

Twin Lakes

There were some people fishing using floaties. Kind of strange. They wear waders underneath and paddle around with their legs.










Continued on to see Horseshoe Lake, drove around Lake Mary and then parked by Lake Mamie. It was good timing because while we were there, a truck stopped and started planting trout in the lake. We've never seen this before, the guy climbed on the back of his truck with a big scoop net and started scooping fish from a big tank on the back of his truck.

Horseshoe Lake

Lake Mary

Lake Mamie

Planting trout in the lake

We were at the top of Twin Lake Falls overlooking Twin Lakes, such a beautiful site.

Waterfall in background

We took a drive to Upper Twin Lakes to see the waterfall from the ground. We discovered there's a campground there and found that there were sites that our motorhome would fit in. That's good because I wouldn't mind spending some time here. There's also a nice walking/bike path that goes around the whole area. Lots of people around getting some exercise.

First wildlife sighting

Our next stop was Convict Lake. So we drove out of Mammoth down to Hwy 395 and traveled for about 1/2 hour. Another beautiful lake. We did a hike around the lake, about 3 miles. The elevation here is about 7850 and we got pretty winded hiking but we just took our time and enjoyed the scenery.

Our last stop for the day was finding this hot springs that I read about. It's out in the boonies but pretty popular so a lot of people go there. Well, we found it but it was very small. There was another couple already in the tub...butt naked....so we didn't want to get in with them. There was another one in the area but Joe had enough. I was kind of tired too, maybe we'll try again tomorrow.