Hiking around Mammoth

Call me crazy but who gets up at 1:30am and drives 5 hours just to hike around and drive back? Only I would do something as spontaneous as that. At 10:00pm Saturday night, I was just lounging around telling myself that I should go on a mini road trip. Since it was already pretty late, I doubt anybody would have wanted to tag along on such short notice. I decided that I would drive up to Mammoth Lakes and visit the Devil's Postpile National Monument. So I went to bed hoping to get a few hours sleep before I ventured off. Leaving at around 2am, I hit the road loaded up on coffee for the 5 hour drive. It seemed as if the only people on the road at this early hour were people driving back from a night at the bar or nightclub.

The first light of dawn started peeking it's way out of the eastern skies at around 5am. Slowly, the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range started to come into view. Driving past the small town of Lone Pine, I knew that one of those peaks was Mount Whitney, the highest point in the continental United States. I finally arrived in the town of Mammoth Lakes and saw that Mammoth Mountain still had a few patches of leftover snow. It seemed a bit strange to still see snow in late June, even though I was at 9,000 feet in elevation. After grabbing a quick bite to eat at the McDonald's, I continued my drive down the 203 towards Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort to the entrance of Devil's Postpile National Monument. Initially, I was going to catch the mandatory shuttle but since I arrived before 7am, I was able to just drive in. I planned my arrival so that I would be able to enjoy some solitude and avoid that large amount of visitors that would start arriving later in the morning. I parked at the Devil's Postpile trailhead and was one of only 3 vehicles there. The day before, it was a scorching 105 degrees in Simi Valley and I figured it was going to also be quite warm up here. With that in mind, I only came up wearing a light t-shirt and shorts. However, when I got out of the car to start my hike, it was very chilly. The hike to Devil's Postpile was very easy, only about 1/2 mile and with even terrain throughout. Devil's Postpile is a cliff of columnar basalt and for anybody who knows anything about geology, it is one of the best examples of columnar jointing in the world. The postpile was created by a lava flow and the columnar jointing was created as the lava cooled. A glacier later came through eroding much of the rock and exposing the postpile. Over thousands of years, many of the columns have fallen off creating a huge pile at the base of the cliff. It had been over 10 years since I was last here and I forgot how cool this geologic formation was. I hiked a very steep pathway to get to the top of the postpile and after just a few steps, the high altitude really began to hit me.

After the postpile, I got back in my car and drove further down the road to hike the Rainbow Falls trail. The trail leading to Rainbow Falls was only about a mile and half long. With most of it even leveled or slightly downhill, it was a very easy hike going down. It was extremely peaceful and quiet and I was a little worried that some random bear would come out for a surprise attack. However, with the exception of the occasional chipmunk that would quickly run across, I had the trail all to myself. Many of the trees along the trail were fallen or dead. I'm not sure what killed them or caused them to topple over. It didn't appear that a fire had worked it's way through the area as there wasn't really any signs of burning. The roar of the waterfall slowly got louder and louder when all of a sudden, Rainbow Falls appeared right in front of me. It was a good size waterfall, about 100 feet, but what I loved about it was being able to enjoy it all to myself in complete solitude and peace.

After hiking back to the trailhead, I got back in my car and made a quick stop at Sotcher Lake. There wasn't much to see here, just some nice lake scenery and a few people in canoes. Leaving Devil's Postpile National Monument, I paid my $7 fee and made a quick stop at Minaret Vista. It was quite windy up here but I was rewarded with wonderful views of the surrounding high country and Ansel Adams Wilderness. Having seen what I had wanted to see, I left Mammoth Lakes and headed for home. However, after just a few miles on the 395, I saw a sign for Convict Lake. I had heard about this lake and saw some photos from other people who enjoyed camping up there so I exited the highway to check it out. I was not prepared for the stunning beauty of this lake. It was easily one of the most beautiful lakes I had ever seen. The waters were deep blue and surrounded on 3 sides by incredibly steep mountains. I just sat here for about 15 minutes soaking up as much of the scenery as possible. Back on the road, I was extremely exhausted and hunkered down for the long drive home.

---

---