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My Post-Pork-Rally Eastern California and ? Trip


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#1 MarkBC

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Posted 19 October 2010 - 03:08 AM

I'm camped near the south side of Mono Lake tonight, after spending last night above Upper Summer Meadows south of Bridgeport. Even though it was cloudy/rainy much of the time in the Upper Summer Meadows area, the fall-color of the aspens was amazing! It's like that all along the east side of the Sierras. When I was here in May I'd sorta planned to come back when the trees changed color -- looks like my timing worked out!
I'd probably stay in this south-of-Mono spot Tuesday night, too, but my propane tank is almost empty and will need filling by then -- for some reason I didn't get the tank filled in Lee Vining...or Bridgeport...or before I left Bend, for that matter. :rolleyes: So, either I propane-up in Lee Vining and come back here or continue on south to Bishop for propane and lots of other needed provisions, etc.

To start off, my truck reached an important milestone soon after I got over to the east side, when I turned off 395 and headed up 108 a ways (all of the FS CGs were closed up there, by the way). So does this make my truck (a 2000 F250) now officially middle-aged or a senior citizen?

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These 3 photos below are near where I camped Sunday night -- Upper Summer Meadows, off the Green Creek Road, just south of Bridgeport.

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These below are where I'm camped tonight, south of Mono Lake -- a few miles east of US 395 on CA 120, then a mile or so on a FS road.

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(The elevations on the map are in meters -- the lake is ~6000 ft elevation)

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To be continued... :)
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#2 Dughlas Stiubhart

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Posted 19 October 2010 - 01:15 PM

Thanks for the report and photos from one of my favorite areas, Mark. Keep it coming!

Stew
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#3 MarkBC

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Posted 19 October 2010 - 06:50 PM

I haven't left my Mono Lake camp yet, but soon I'll pack up and head on down to Bishop for propane and other supplies/groceries. I'll stop by the FS station and inquire about the Whites regarding snow up there and road closure. Weather forecast for the Owens Valley is now fouler than it was yesterday morning <_< ...but I'm flexible and can go looking for dryness if need be. Currently it's partly sunny here -- quite nice, but clouds surround.
We'll see... My first/primary/main requirement for a vacation is "not working", and the secondary requirement is "in a place I like". So I've already got the important stuff going on. :D
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#4 Missing Link

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Posted 19 October 2010 - 07:08 PM

Good meeting you last weekend Mark - thanks for the photos and allowing us to vicariously share your vacation. Beautiful shots of a beautiful area. Have fun and be safe.
-Richard and Ginny
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#5 MarkBC

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Posted 21 October 2010 - 06:40 AM

I spent two nights camped south of Mono Lake, about 2 miles from the water.
Late-morning today I hiked out to the shore, to a tufa formation that I could see from camp. It was pretty cool, but similar to others I've seen. Then, as I started to walk back to camp I found a string of mini-tufa (I call them) -- I've never seen anything like them...looked like little fantasy structures. I posted a bunch of photos on the Eastern California Gallery, a few of which are also below.

This is the "standard" tufa formation that I could see from camp:
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Below are the mini-tufa...very strange. The biggest ones of these are only a couple feet tall. Seeing these really made my day -- maybe even made my whole trip...I doubt I'll see anything as new and cool (to me) on this trip as these weird deals:

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Check out the Eastern Sierras/Mammoth Lakes Gallery of California if you want to see a few more.

I'm in a motel in Bishop tonight. I needed to come to Bishop for supplies (including the vital propane!), and I didn't get here until near dark, and I wanted to take a shower, etc. I plan to head up into the White Mts. Thursday morning.
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#6 MarkBC

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Posted 21 October 2010 - 07:47 AM

Thanks for the report and photos from one of my favorite areas, Mark. Keep it coming!

Stew


Thanks Stew.
By the way: A few months ago I posted a photo I took when camped at the exact same spot south of Mono Lake in May. When you mentioned sagebrush in a comment to my photo I said, "No, those are greaswood (sarcobatus vermiculatus)." Well, I actually based that on a guess from looking at my photo (not from memory) -- those shrubs do have the aspect of greasewood and it seemed like greasewood habitat, what with the alkaline lake and all....
But now that I've revisited the area (and hiked/shoved through the shrubs) I see that they're actually bitterbrush (purshia tridentata). And closer to the water there are some huge artemisia, too...and no greasewood.
So -- I was wrong, and I just wanted to put it in writing. :P
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#7 marc

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Posted 21 October 2010 - 01:10 PM

Mark ... looks like your having a great time and hit the colors just at the right time. It was a pleasure meeting you, and I thoroughly enjoyed the pies and ice cream you made, yum, yum :) . Keep the pics coming.

marc
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#8 ski3pin

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Posted 21 October 2010 - 02:46 PM

Mark, thanks for the great photos and report while you're on the road! Wonderful photos of the mini tufa and you had us scrambling for our field guides on the bitterbrush. We are awaiting a White Mountains report.
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#9 Dughlas Stiubhart

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Posted 21 October 2010 - 03:07 PM

So -- I was wrong, and I just wanted to put it in writing. :P


It's about time, is all I have to say :)

I missed the mini-tuffa (very cool!) on my many trips to Mono Lake, but then I spent a lot of time digging my 2wd out of the sand instead of hiking about.

Stew
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#10 pvstoy

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Posted 22 October 2010 - 02:14 AM

Hey Mark I'm glad you found the "Sand Tufa". There are some stretched out along the shore. The group you discovered we have shot lots of pictures of. They are very VERY delicate and would hate to see them disappear. ( as you found out there are hidden, hint hint..).


The Tufa that you shot at the lake can be nice with the right light. And inland is some nice reflecting ponds.

Enjoy your travels.
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