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Published: September 26th 2010
Devil’s Postpile is the first National Monument or Park I have visited which required visitors to park outside and take a shuttle bus in. Apparently they’ve done this here since 1980 but this is the first time I had ever experienced it at any National Park. The requirement applies to day visitors only, not overnighters, nor of course handicapped visitors. There are a few other reasonable exceptions.
The shuttles run every half hour and the trip from Mammoth Mountain Ski Area parking lot takes about 20 minutes. Tickets are $7 and they cover entry into the park as well as shuttle in and shuttle out. The shuttle requirement lasts from June to September. Check the park website for more detailed information.
It was absolutely no imposition. Yes, it added a few logistics details to my day, heading for shuttle stops, not quite timing the busses arrival and departure properly. But I sat and relaxed while I rode in, and I sat and relaxed while I rode out. I looked out the window at the park I was visiting. And I enjoyed a mostly traffic-free, emission-free valley. I'll be looking to hear and talk more about this within the National
Park system. I'm looking at you, Yosemite.
I hopped off the bus at the main park Ranger Station, the stop closest to the Postpile itself. My plan was to walk the short quarter-mile path to explore the formation and then continue hiking the further two miles down to Rainbow Falls.
A short walk down this trail and the formation appeared as a fractured cliff face rising up above my left. Like a stack of nuclear fuel rods, the columns rise above a talus slope of their broken siblings. Trees and bushes sprout on top and around them. An alternative trail head up above the stack and there you can stand on top of the columns squeezed tightly together and polished off by past glacial activity. They form quite a smooth pavement on top actually. It is amazing to think that this strange orderly formation could be the result of a natural process (uniform cooling of molten basalt).
The further two mile trail down to the falls meanders along with the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River. Beginning with relaxing riverside meadows, the river’s course soon cuts a small canyon of its own which the trail overlooks.
Most of the path is shaded under a pine canopy, with occasional glimpses west up to the spiky peaks of the Minarets. The pine forest ends just after the Stock Bridge (appx halfway point) leaving the rest of the trail exposed to the sun, and increasingly dusty until the falls themselves.
The Postpile is a very horse friendly park. Reds Meadow Resort, technically in the Ansel Adams Wilderness just outside of the park, hosts stables and offers horse riding along the parks’ trails. Be aware that you will be sharing these southern portions of the trail with the horse teams, leaving lots of fun obstacles for you to avoid.
Rainbow Falls is a suitable reward for the hiker however. The San Joaquin River here takes a 100-foot plunge into a very popular swimming hole. A great many people line the edges of the pool in order to enjoy the cool spray from the impressive falls. From the falls viewing areas up to down to the actual pool requires a traverse of steep stone stairways which won't be for everyone. But the pool was crowded and popular. On this hot day, I would wager this cool attraction was the
most popular in the park. The river cuts and falls over volcanic cliffs not far from the columns of the Postpile as a further reminder of this region’s volcanic origins.
The hike back up to the Reds Meadow shuttle stop is uphill, sunny and dusty. Upon arriving I was glad to see the waiting shuttle. The park service makes sure that the busses are packed pretty full before they depart. The shuttle crowd on the way in is happy and expectant. The crowd on the way out is hot, dirty, sweaty, and tired. Good thing they keep the bus windows open.
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Devil's Postpile
