This was my 3rd visit to the east side of the Sierra Nevada in the past 8 months, but it was my first-ever trip here in winter...if you could call it winter.
My trip began with an overnight visit to my folks in Redding, CA, then east on CA44 to Susanville, CA (didn't see hide ner hair of Smokecreek1) where I joined US 395 and took that south and south that day to Mono Lake.
This map shows where I went and camped:
Red is paved, blue is unpaved.
OK...I have been very slow to process my photos from this trip...but I have assembled a 360° rotatable panorama that I shot the morning after my first night's camp "Camp 1", at that place on the southeast side of Mono Lake where I've camped in several trips before.
Here's a link to it, below. It's kinda big -- 4MB, and you need the QuickTime Player installed -- free download from Apple (I know!
something free from Apple!
)
Mono Lake Pano
Here's one small section of the pano:
The overnight low in this spot was 14°, my coldest night of the trip.
Usually CA120 (which takes off east from 395 south of Lee Vining) is closed during the winter (according to the map), and the turn-off from 120 to the USFS road to this spot is within the winter-closed zone (by just a few-hundred feet or so). But because of the drought-y winter the gate was open when I passed.
I've never been to this spot when there was snow on the ground. It was snowing very lightly overnight...and I couldn't help wondering, "what if CalTrans decides overnight that it's time to close the gate -- with me inside?!"
There's no way they would know that I was down that very-minor road. Now, there are 4x4 roads -- in sand -- that would get me around the gate if it was closed, but I'd rather not have to risk that.
But the gate was still open when I left in the morning.
My trip began with an overnight visit to my folks in Redding, CA, then east on CA44 to Susanville, CA (didn't see hide ner hair of Smokecreek1) where I joined US 395 and took that south and south that day to Mono Lake.
This map shows where I went and camped:
Red is paved, blue is unpaved.
OK...I have been very slow to process my photos from this trip...but I have assembled a 360° rotatable panorama that I shot the morning after my first night's camp "Camp 1", at that place on the southeast side of Mono Lake where I've camped in several trips before.
Here's a link to it, below. It's kinda big -- 4MB, and you need the QuickTime Player installed -- free download from Apple (I know!
Mono Lake Pano
Here's one small section of the pano:
The overnight low in this spot was 14°, my coldest night of the trip.
Usually CA120 (which takes off east from 395 south of Lee Vining) is closed during the winter (according to the map), and the turn-off from 120 to the USFS road to this spot is within the winter-closed zone (by just a few-hundred feet or so). But because of the drought-y winter the gate was open when I passed.
I've never been to this spot when there was snow on the ground. It was snowing very lightly overnight...and I couldn't help wondering, "what if CalTrans decides overnight that it's time to close the gate -- with me inside?!"
But the gate was still open when I left in the morning.