Morale is flagging: although the air has cooled off a tad and there is a breeze, the sun is relentless. We are used to temperatures about 40 degrees cooler. We are weather wimps.
The plan: head to Lundy Lake for a hike up the canyon. It’s in the Inyo National Forest and the Hoover Wilderness area. This is a new spot for us… not sure what to expect. Pack up the pb & js, load up on water, and applying sunscreen. (Some more than others: Dudley has a ghostly, filmy sheen.) Down the washboard road, south on 395, back up another washboard road. Park. Start walking. And…
WOW!— was it spectacular! 6 miles of shady, twinkling aspen groves, grassy meadows, waterfalls, lakes and the wildflowers. Did we mention the wildflowers? — meadows of high desert dandelions, lavender, delphiniums, rock rose, ferns, mariposa lily, fireweed, cow parsnip, redbud, Indian paintbrush, penstemon, juniper trees, willows, and so many more. We were “Wowing” the entire hike.
After the hike, we continue south to Lee Vining, at the eastern entrance to Yosemite. Laura’s friend Marty told us about the Whoa Nelly Deli at the Mobile gas station. It’s quite something: there’s a full restaurant inside, with draft beer available, a market, a swag section, picnic tables outside, and free water for the van! It’s a bounty of wonderfulness. We order beer, blog overlooking Mono Lake, and load up with water.
If you know Laura, you know that she can’t pass up a visitors’ center or ranger talk. On our way back to Bridgeport, we stop at the Lee Vining market, the sports store, and the Mono Lake Visitors’ Center. It’s an A+: a gift store, a trail with educational markers, dioramas, buttons to push, a ‘gardening in the desert’ exhibit, and other interactive exhibits, such as “Guess your weight in brine shrimp!” Dudley mostly waited outside, looking at the lake. Laura regales Dudley with facts all the way home: “Did you know that there are 5 species of birds that rely on Mono Lake? Guess which ones.” and “The Visitors’ Center said that freshwater plus alkaline water equals limestone, which equals tufas!” [Secretly, I was hoping we would be in the area at 6pm for the free ranger talk about tufas. It was not to be. To be honest, Dudley knew the answers to most of my questions; we have been here before.] There is much to see at Mono Lake; apparently we saw most of it 5 years ago when we were on our mammoth, 10000 mile camping trip. “Did we have a good time on the Mono Lake trail?” Laura asks, hoping Dudley says we didn’t go on it. “Yes, we had a good time,” he says. Darn.
Knowledge gained, we head back to our distant campsite, with a stopover at the hot springs. We venture into the lower pools, where there was only one nudist and 3 other ‘springers’. We are resting now at our site, wind blowing, wearing sweaters and fleece, cocktails in hand.
It has a been a delightful way to spend the first day of summer. Morale has rebounded a bit.
this IS the fun 
a kayak trip on mono lake is well worth it!
lundy canyon goes all the way up to saddlebag lake in yosemite. gorgeous. STEEP! xoxoxo
Coming from you, Ellen, being a denizen of this area, that’s a good suggestion. But DANG it’s sunny out here… not sure we could survive out there in the sun. Awaiting clouds… And Lundy was one of the most amazing hikes.
really beautiful! And you are hilarious. I miss you.
I miss you, too! Thanks for reading…
When I began reading, I said to myself, they are coming home early. Glad to read that I am wrong. I am hoping there are more wild flower photos. I love me some mariposa lily. I laughed out loud too. This blog is delightful.
: ) The flowers ARE gorgeous out here.