Adventuring

We took advantage of today’s blue skies and warm temps to hit several outdoor spots we wanted to see. 

First up was June Lake, about 25 minutes north, where we had a picnic lunch beside the lake -

and spent more time chasing our food than eating it. Beautiful but gale-force breezy.

On the way north, we noticed a sign for an obsidian dome a few miles off the highway 

so that became our second stop.

So cool!

The dome was formed by the same type of event that gave us Inyo Craters - 

magma hitting underground water, 

turning it to steam, 

causing a biggggggg explosion to release the pressure,  

and voilá - a mountain of glass boulders.

Do you think anyone would mind if we took one home with us???

I wasn’t expecting much from our third stop.

We’ve seen earthquake faults before and they were kinda ‘ehh’. 

This one, though, was impressive. 

 Who can spot the tiny husband?

Such a shame it isn’t being maintained (maybe we were too early in the season?)

and there were no informational signs anywhere around.  

This was one site I’d love to know more about. (Good info here - apparently this is a “fissure” rather than a “fault”.)

Next on our list was the actual Mammoth Lakes 

the largest of which is Lake Mary.

We made it as far as Twin Lakes,

and the waterfall across the highway,

before the road to Lake Mary was closed, literally as we drove up to the gate.

  View of our condo complex from Twin Lakes

I’m hoping we just got there too late and we’ll have another chance to visit later this week.

Path by Twin Lakes

One of the things we’ve been really impressed by is the system of bike/hike paths throughout the area.

Pathway near our condo

We thought Mammoth was primarily a winter playground but apparently they get even more visitors during the summer. 

Creek running under that last bridge

From what we’ve seen, it looks like a biker’s paradise. 

Outtakes - Obsidian Dome

From the earthquake fault -

Inyo Craters

Sunday’s adventure was a short hike to Inyo Craters,

located between the town of Mammoth Lakes and Mammoth Mountain.

The half-mile, slightly uphill trail was perfect for getting our feet wet, so to speak,

before we try some longer hikes later this week.

I usually think of craters as being formed by meteor hits 

but these were caused by an explosion when magma from the earth’s core hit the underground water table. 

Can you imagine the local Indian tribe’s reaction when 4 or 5 of these explosions went off within days of each other??

Mother Nature held off on the afternoon’s predicted rain until we were home again, 

but then she put on quite a show, with rain, wind, thunder and, finally, hail. 

Very happy we were indoors to enjoy the extravaganza. 

Quilt Finish

Finished this and gifted it to a friend before leaving on our vacay to Mammoth. 

Debbie and I collaborated on this “cheater” - the front is one giant 50x70” panel - 

and the quilting is little travel trailers. 

We’re both pretty pleased with how it turned out, especially with Tula’s Fairy Dust on the back.

So happy and cheerful. 

Scenes From A Long Drive

Seven hours is a loooooooong time to sit in the car 

 
but the end result was worth it.

We’ll be in Mammoth Lakes until next Sunday, enjoying the quiet and rain and maybe even snow flurries tomorrow!

 Volcano!

 A very dry Owens Lake. I thought it was salt flats at first.

 East side of the Sierra’s

 Revisiting one of hubby’s favorite places from his backpacking days.

 Getting closer to Mammoth 

 Almost there

 Our condo



 View from the front porch