We took the PAV up to Mammoth Lakes area in the Eastern Sierras over the July 4th holiday weekend. We saw many firsts.
First first is Obsidian Dome. This is a steam explosion volcano that aside from lava rock made the glassy obsidian rock. It was wild to look down into cracks in the ground knowing that a furry from underneath made these rock formations and the endless piles of rubble.
Just at the edge of beautiful forest starts a large pile of rocks several hundred feet high
The rubble seems to go on forever
Part lava & part obsidian - the holes are from the hot steam
Obsidian
Glass-like obsidian rock
Yes, this is a crack that goes down, down, down
Another crack
Next first was Mono Lake. Mono Lake was formed by the same seismic activity that formed Obsidian Dome. It is one of the oldest lakes in North America. There are large calcium carbonate tufa formations made by underwater calcium rich springs bubbling up from the lake bed. Over time when these springs mix with salty Mono Lake water these tufa tower formations are made. It’s too bad that the City Of Los Angeles Water Department has drained much of the lake but restorations are in progress.
Mono Lake
Tufa formations
Tufa formations
Mono Lake
More tufa formations
Tuff forms
Next first was summer skiing. This year Mammoth Mountain ski resort was open through July 4th. We went up to check it out and I found my next business. Yes, a burrito truck build on a snow cat. For you southerners a snow cat is like a giant combination between a bulldozer and a snow mobile. They are used to groom the snow on ski slopes, transport equipment and personnel, or as we learned… sell burritos.
It might need a coat of red paint but I can make it my own!
"One burrito, one beer, ten bucks please" See, I can do this!
Taking a break from by busy burrito selling
Yes, we're in lounge chairs in the snow slope-side... What? Are we wearing the wrong clothing?
Any clothing goes here! Yes, those are high heeled clogs...
We drove around to other nearby places to check on places for a return visit. We’ll be back!
The guide-book lists this lake as just a "7" (out of 10) on the scenic scale. This was as far as we got on our hike up to Crystal Lake. Liz deemed the snow cover patch as "closed till spring".
The last first was downhill mountain biking. We survived but felt intimidated by everyone else who had more skills.
Just to prove that we did do some mountain biking
Video in a post sometime soon
J
Our View From The Road 