Sunday Sep 10, 2023 - Big Bend Campground to Lower Twin Lakes Campground

It rained a bit last night but not very hard. The campground was wet and the sandy ground tracked easily into the van so lots of sweeping this morning. A doe and her fawn were strolling through the campground enjoying the tender grass the caretaker unintendely provided when they occasionally mow the campground. Getting turned out of the other campground was a good thing since this one is much cozier and the bathrooms are much cleaner.

Breakfast in the van and then back up Rt 120, Tioga Pass toward Yosemite again. Our first destination was Saddlebag Lake, the trailhead for the Twenty Lakes Basin hike that Deb had heard was spectacular. When we arrived at the lake, however, it started to rain and the weather looked iffy, so we instead opted to hike another recommended 2 mile hike in and out to Middle Gaylor Lake, at the top of the pass. The parking was just inside the park so we had to wait briefly in line to get in. There was an annual foot race (the Tioga Pass Run  that went all the way up Tioga Pass road, so we saw every level of runner/walked/hobbler on our way up the hill and also on the way back down midday. Must be a fundraiser of some kind with all the skill levels we saw.

The hike up to the lake wasn’t long but it was straight up . Deb took off and I somehow took a wrong turn, so I had a little backtracking to do half way up. We were so high up that you can see everything so no biggie. At the top of the climb you drop back down to the lake and we had nice cool weather and no rain (that came later today). Then back down the hill, into the van, and back down Tioga Pass to stop for “world famous” fish tacos at the Whoa Nellie Deli which came as a must not miss by our friend back in Bisbee.

Next stop was the Mono Lake (pronounced Moan-o) South Tufa area. Mono Lake is a salt water lake which means that water flows into but not out of and any water loss is from evaporation. In the late 1940’s they diverted water from here to Los Angeles and the lake halved in volume and doubled in saltiness. In 1994 Los Angeles lost a lawsuit and they agreed to let Mono Lake refill, but 30 years later it has only refilled a little. Birds love it here because it’s huge and there are lots of brine shrimp and alkali flies to eat. The California Seagulls nest primarily here on an island in the middle (no predators), but when the lake level dropped the coyotes could get to the island and eat the birds. So some people put fences up to slow the coyotes down until L.A. can get the water level back up.

A tufa is a buildup of coral looking stuff that happens wherever a fresh water spring rises through the salt water. So when the lake level dropped, these big anthill or coral looking things came out of the water.

Next stop was the ghost town of Bodie which is about 13 miles (10 paved, 3 washboard) off Rt 395. It is a state park now and they charge an $8 entrance fee. In 1877 they discovered gold and the town grew to 8,000 people within a couple of years, but then the mine went bust in 1882 and most people left. A couple of smaller mines survived until 1942 and they left. By 1962 there were only 5 people living there and the state bought it and has been trying to preserve it. They call it “arrested decay”, which means they keep the roofs, doors, and windows intact but they don’t do any real renovation. They have a great movie running continuously and the whole town is a museum. It looks like when they closed the original mines, they just left all of the furniture and closed the doors. So some odd people stayed with the small mines running but after 1942, only a few hard core people were left. Oh, and it rained off and on (along with major lightning and thunder)  the whole time we were there. Fortunately we had a couple of umbrellas (stolen from my brother last summer, guilt guilt) which kept the bulk of it off us, but we were both pretty cold and wet by the time we left.

So now, where do we stay tonight? Well, just north is a canyon with 5 first come first serve Forest Service campgrounds so we headed there. Deb picked the 2 or 3 right on the Twin Lakes and the first one had two empty sites. $14 with my lifetime senior park pass. So 6:00 and we are in for the night.

Odo = 16648