As I continued up into the Sierra Nevada Mountains the temperature dropped accordingly. The air conditioner wasn't working in my room in Mammoth Lakes. It was warm when I went to bed. But, in the morning I woke up to ice on the windows of the van.
The motel had lots of issues. No air conditioning, no ice, and then to top it off, they only served powdered milk with the Continental breakfast. The rolls were 3 days old... When I headed up the mountain all that crap melted away from my mind.
When i drove over a hill in the road and I saw the waterfall and the lakes ahead, I knew this day was going to be good. The water in the lake was so clear and cold, you could see down 20 ft where it was sandy below. The fishermen putting around in their little floating tube rafts was a trip. Fly fishing for trout is very big up there. The road to the top of the waterfall was closed. Areas of the road still had 5 or more feet of snow across it. So, I hiked through the magnificent pine trees and shuttered cabins to the edge of the waterfall. Wow, It didn't look so high from the lake. But as I hiked up along the side, the sound of the cascading water was incredible. Almost deafening! For 2 hours I worked my way up to about 1/4 of the way up. At one point I thought the edge of the snow bank I was on might break loose. My lungs were burning and screaming for more air. After i got back I found out I was up to 11,000 ft.
The climb took until noon. Then I headed back north and was hoping the pass into Yosmite was open... Well, any day they said. I didn't make it into Yosemite but a short stretch down the road was Mono Lake. There was a high pressure coming in and the wind was hitting 60 mph with gusts even higher. In certain areas I had to slow down to 20 to 30 mph because the wind almost walked me right off the road. I passed by Mono Lake hoping to get back around sunset. Bodie, the old mining ghost town was on my radar. It seemed to take forever to get there. I'll tell you, driving in the mountains is quite an experience. At least it wasn't as nasty as the road out of Jerome, AZ.
On the way up to Bodie I came around a bend and there was a large area where a forest fire had scorched everything. It was very surreal and stark. As I walked out into the charred area the ground crackled under my feet. Almost like you are in a huge bowl of Snap, Crackle and Pop cereal.
Sadly, I only got to shoot in Bodie for a couple hours. They close at 5 pm for the Winter hours. I was looking for a motel to stay at and wasn't having much luck as most of the motels around Mono Lake were still closed for winter season. Turning north again I was praying the next town would have lodging... Boy did they. To the tune of no less then $135 a night. After stopping a 3 establishments, the owner of the last one said it was slow and doubled my discount. AAA and AARP to the rescue! Oh, I almost forgot, gas was $4.89 a gallon. I almost cried when I filled my tank.
After quickly checking out the room, I decided to drive back south to Mono Lake and prayed the wind might die down by sunset. The distance to the entrance is deceiving and I almost didn't make it to the lake in time. When I got there, I was the only soul around. Then, just when I got a shot set up, a bus load of 40 or more Chinese tourists arrived and they swarmed around the area like bees. Then I had a hard time keeping them out of the shots. The wind didn't completely die down like I had wished. But, the clouds were forming to the west over the mountain range, and as the sun started its descent, the clouds in the sky turned to fire. I shot like hell until it was dark. And let me tell you brother, it was Mo Fo Dark. There isn't any light pollution out in the Mono Lake basin. As I started walking back, the full moon came out for just a few minutes giving me enough light to find my way to the trail that headed back up to the parking area. Then, the moon slipped behind some clouds. I was cold and tired when I got back to the motel and it took every last ounce of my energy just to get my camera gear in the room and pass out.
