Mountainback Mammoth Lakes

... clip 1 clip 2). It was strange seeing the gulls paddling on the top of the lake, they looked like they were floating on the surface because of the high salinity. With the underwater springs and calcium in the water, tufa rock is formed which is what can be seen in the pictures (or this movie). The tufa would normally be below the surface but because the lake is shrinking due to some of the feeds being ...

... It kind of reminds me of Switzerland.... lake, mountains, snow! It's an area for relaxing and it seems like most people come here for fishing!<br><br>We quickly set up our tent and sorted out our stuff, then got in the car again to do some walking. We visited the Panum Crater, which is one of the youngest "mountains" in the US. Basically, there are a bunch of craters here, which are active volcanos. Therefore, the &#8220;mountains&#8221; get ...

... which was only a 10 mile detour, and started filling up with petrol, only managing to get the tank 3/4 full before petrol started draining out of the van onto the garage floor. I stepped away as I needed the bathroom and gave Kathryn detailed instructions of the extinguisher location and escape routes that she may need and advised her to not lock the door in case a quick get away was needed - I am so helpful. <br><br>So, we went into the ...

... by mountain. Back up the other side, a one lane pass is all that got cut through the rock. Steep walls on both sides. Followed by a most serene area, steep down grade, very tight twisties, with sagebrush (yes it smells wonderful), joshua trees, and ancient pines cover the steep hills. Here is a link to a you tube video that shows the last piece of this great road, and no Helen, we did not ride it ...

... make sure it wasn't a scam so i investigated further , i called up the number (it was a hawaii number) and spoke to the guy in charge cliff . he didn't seem pushy or anything but i still wasn't stopping there . i searched other bloggs to see if anyone else had written about this trip . it took me a while (2 days) but i finalyy found a couple . they both said they went and had very positive things to say . with me being proud of ...

... the time of year I was visitng the area, there no was water coming over the falls so I was a little bit disappointed.<br><br>By the time I got to Mammoth Lakes it was starting to get dark so I found a hotel and went to a nearby bar for some pizza and beer. I made a slight mistake ordering my first beer as they ended up bringing me a massive jug of beer and it cost me $16! By the time I had a couple more regular sized beers I was pretty full so I just went back to my hotel room.

... then up the coast we went, this time the SUV leading the way. Thick fog on the coast for a while, drove onto Santa Barbara pier and had lunch then up inland for a while to Solvang, a beautiful European town up in the mountains with a M/cycle museum, town started by Europeans and has kept that theme. Could have stayed here easily, but we were on a mission to Monterey. Down the mountains back to the coast, temp dropped ...

... tipping!!! Luce went swimming, trying to get home via the Pacific, but that didnt work for us....oh well, there's only a week to go. Peter obviously missing home (he hasnt forgotten anything in a couple of days!!). Last night at host families, so home to pack for relocation to Chino, which we've heard a bit about........cows, country, smell (just like home says Rhonda). The Team

... speak louder than words.....(here is a small selection - see all piccies above) After a 3 hr walk we got back to the car park and had lunch before heading further into Yosemite past another amazing lake with this HUGE mountain backdrop. We had an excellent day and can really recommend Yosemite - we never even got to the main tourist area closer to the west entrance, we'll save that for next time.

... see the world's largest living tree. It is the General Sherman tree, this tree is thought to be between 2300 and 2700 years old. It is more than 274 feet tall (higher than a 27 story building), more than 36 feet thick and 106 feet in circumference. Its largest branch is bigger than most trees east of the Mississippi. Last year a branch fell from this mighty giant and this branch is bigger than most trees I have seen. The pavement that the branch ...