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Alpine Lake along California State Route 120 near
Tioga Pass |
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An engineering marvel, the road over Tioga Pass
is built on a scree slope |
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Bodie -- not exactly a ghost town any more, and
a lot less rowdy than it was in its heyday! |
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Next morning we took CSR-120 out of the park
over Tioga Pass. It's one of the most beautiful roads
anywhere. Evidence of glacial activity is all around as you
cross the top of an enormous hardened granite bubble -- a
batholith. On this road, amazing pictures will practically
fall into your camera. Early morning light has its own magic
to impart upon the landscape. We wound down Tioga Pass to
the Sierra town of Lee Vining. You must downshift down this
road, or burn up your brakes otherwise. Remember all the energy
from the many gallons of gas you burned getting up to 9,000
feet is being converted into the frictional heating of your
poor brakes! It's steep, because the entire eastern edge of
the Sierras is moving upward at -- in geological terms --
a tremendous rate. The road cuts through a series of thrust
faults.
We ate breakfast at the Whoa
Nellie Deli in the Mobil station just west of the junction
of US Highway 395 and SR-120. I highly recommend this culinary
experience.
We then followed US-395 north to CSR-167 and then followed
County Road 169, which is the southern road into Bodie
State Park. It's a well-maintained gravel road with a
great view of the Mono caldera. It's a fun drive! SUVs and
cars didn't seem to have any problems, although it'd be a
bit rough on the suspension of a sedan. Bodie was quite busy
on this particular Sunday, so we did not hang around long.
Bodie, a picturesque ghost town, is a well-loved and very
informative outdoor museum. We took CSR-270 to the west out.
It's almost entirely paved, and good gravel otherwise. No
problem for cars.
Heading out of Bodie there are fantastic views
of the glacier-carved Sierra Nevada Mountains to the west.
The classic U-shape and moraines are like handwriting on the
wall. Only ten to twenty thousand years ago, the climate of
this planet was radically different. During the Ice Ages (of
which there have been several) the winter snow did not completely
melt away in the summer, and built up year after year.
We turned south down US-395, and took in a great view
of Mono
Basin from a well-placed roadside overlook just south
of Conway Summit. We then visited the south shore of Mono
Lake, via CSR-120. Nearby Navy Beach is BLM land, and some
folks park there to avoid paying a use fee, but they have
to walk a ways to the tufa formations. I do recommend the
Mono Lake Visitors' Center, but we skipped it because it's
possible to spend a great deal of time inside with the interesting
displays, and we still had a ways to go.
Next:
Hot Creek, Bishop, & Independence>
Mark
Helmlinger
August 7, 2005
