Roaming the Eastern Sierra Nevada Caldera, PART TWO

Mundo4x4Casa

West slope, N. Ser. Nev.
This T.R. is in three parts as the forum limit is 25 images.
On the way in: I turned the free wheeling hubs on here:

snow melt:


Here's the spot:

It doesn't look like much except when you turn around:



Wait! Whats that in Jeanie hand? We had 5 bars cell service here, better than we get at home. And what is that apparatus in the background? Seismic tectonic vibration reading equipment. We eventually ran across a half dozen of these self same readers around the caldera.

I can't post a report without our familiar SeeAlice pose with one shared Sierra Nevada beer and the two chairs as the sun sets: bath tubs are a little much to drag along.

I call this: Hope springs eternal:

By the morning, it was a whole new light: The big white thing is Mammoth Mountain ski area,

Not many tracks other than bicycles through the pumice flats:

Jeanie took this short vid on the way down to the pumice flats: click on vid to open:

We wanted to savor the area that we had quickly passed over in our youth and decided to check out the Inyo Craters. A mile hike up to the cones was rewarded with these youngsters in terms of geologic age. 550 years ago, one after another within 100 yards of each other, in a few days span, the three cones erupted. Carbon dating discovered the history.

Highest cone:

Middle cone:

lower cone:

Now we know why there is so much pumice around. These three blew only pumice and tear drop obsidian, no lava. After lunch we decided once again to change plans. I wanted to further explore around Mono Lake. We set out for the site of Mono Mills, a logging and firewood narrow gauge railroad operation that serviced Bodie on the edge of that Jeffrey Pine Forest. Also, I wanted to drive on some sand.

Here any truck camper is too wide, even the 86” wide Lance. A snootful of desert pin stripes ensued.

 
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