June 26, 2013, 4:05 pm June 12, 13
We moved from Mammoth, where it was merely warm, to Bishop, where it was decidedly hot. Thankfully, none of our hiking activities were in Bishop but in the nearby mountains at close to 10,000 ft, where the temperatures were pleasant. One nice thing about Bishop is that it has a Mexican restaurant that serves a unique enchilada dish. It is our favorite—we have never tasted anything like it elsewhere.
Despite spending many days in Bishop in the past, we have never gone up into the White Mountains and checked out the Bristlecone Pines. We drove to the new visitor center and hiked the roughly 4 mile Methuselah Grove trail. It’s a very unique feeling to walk among the oldest known living organisms on earth. The ages of individual trees are not marked, but a sign does indicate the general area of the oldest trees. It’s amazing to consider that some of those larger trees are well over 4,000 years old. Another interesting sight was the sharp boundary between the Bristlecone Pines and Mountain Mahogany.
 Walking among ancient Bristlecone Pines The next day we headed for the trailhead at South Lake. We have never hiked in this area, but were looking forward to it despite our general level of tiredness. We chose to head up to Chocolate Lakes with the idea that if our energy level permitted we would loop around Chocolate Peak and return via Ruwau and Long Lakes. The climb (several sections with stone steps) took enough out of us that we decided Chocolate Lake was far enough.
 Chocolate Lake Links
—Bristlecone Pine and Chocolate Lake Hikes 2013 gallery
June 25, 2013, 6:20 pm June 9, 10, 11
Reservations were made weeks ago for our trip to Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Durango (and maybe some Moab too), but consecutive drought years brought on early season fires and national forest closures in the area. It might have been fine, or it might have been ugly smokey, and for sure the Sandia Mountains were closed to hiking. So, we changed our plans.
We love the eastern Sierras, and since this was a low snow year, June is not early to visit. We headed over to Mammoth, hoping to find some new trails to hike, as well as some old favorites. We stayed in our normal choice for a motel that happens to not have air conditioning. Given that it was warm, even during the night, we found it uncomfortable. Maybe we’ll have to rethink our accommodations.
 Silver Lake from the Rush Creek trail Our first day’s hike was up Rush Creek. The trailhead is at Silver Lake on the June Lake Loop. Rush Creek always looks so pretty as it splashes down several hundred feet of steep granite. Our intended destination was Agnew Lake and then Gem Lake above that. The trail climbs steadily for 1300′ with no shade for at least the first half. By the time we got to Agnew Lake we were cooked. I blame it on not being acclimated to the elevation and the very warm temperatures (but maybe we’re losing our abilities). On top of that, the lake was unattractive with very low water.
 Parker Lake The next day we headed to Parker Lake on the advice of our son-in-law. This was a much nicer hike—not as much elevation change and a pretty canyon and lake. On the way up in the morning we could see the thunderheads building and just after we reached the lake we heard the first peal of thunder. Thundershowers were in the weather forecast so we donned our rain jackets and had a pleasant hike back down the trail in a gentle rain (thankfully no thunderhead decided to dump on us).
Having, hopefully, recovered somewhat, we headed up Rock Creek to the Mosquito Flat trailhead on the next day. This hike into Little Lakes Basin is one of our old favorites with a gentle climb and beautiful surroundings.
 Heart Lake Links
—Parker Lake and Little Lakes Basin 2013 photo gallery
May 31, 2013, 8:02 pm  Zucchini and peppers on the grill For a quick dinner we grilled some vegetables and whipped up some chili verde (thanks Trader Joe’s for the components). Later, we picked some boysenberries, added some strawberries, and made homemade sorbet. Three cups strawberry puree, two cups strained boysenberry puree, and a cup of sugar. Throw it in the ice cream freezer and then try to not eat it all at once.
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Consider this:“Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.” Romans 12:16 |
