Day 5
Wednesday August 19, 2020
The only thing on tap for the day was a visit to Devils Postpile National Monument. The park has a short season, generally not opening until after Memorial Day. Considering this is ski country and the drive from the entrance kiosk to the trailheads is twenty minutes of twisting mountain roads, I get that.
Ordinarily, you’d have to park your car and take the shuttle bus in. Due to Covid-19, the shuttles aren’t running, so it’s first come first served. When I drove past the kiosk the sign said I’d have to clearly post that I had paid the entrance fee. The kiosk was closed and my annual pass expired last month. I parked and took my chances. I never got a ticket from the Park Service, but the guy next to me did. Good to see parking in a handicapped spot still matters.
Just before the entrance kiosk, there's a turnoff for the Minaret Overlook. Considering the colors brewing in the eastern sky, I pulled off. There were about twenty people all standing by the overlook.
Being just past sunrise, there weren't many cars in the parking lot. I found a spot under a tree and started up the trail.
Just before the postpile, there's a trail that goes up top. That's where you'll see the two to three foot hexagonal pattern caused naturally by the former lava flow's uneven cooling. Glaciers cleared and smoothed the top. Flowing water exposed the front of the postpile.
As for the top...
Back down below...
Back in 1911, this area was in danger of being blasted to make way for a hydroelectric dam. President Taft stepped in, declared is a national monument and saved it.
A nice, wide two and a half mile trail takes you Rainbow Falls.
The top of Rainbow Falls...
And the almost shot of the day. I came around a bend in the train and saw this chipmunk going to town on what looked like a chip of wood. I snapped off a shot, then quietly unzipped my pack, swapped to the 300mm lens. Just as I was standing up, a loud group of hikers comes around and he runs away.
Still not bad, heavily cropped...
The first overlook for Rainbow Falls...
There's a set of stairs that go down to the base of the falls...
I stayed for a while, slowly watching the morning sun come across the top of the falls and get closer to their mist. It seemed I wasn't going to see any rainbows any time soon.
From an overlook near the falls...
Earlier in the day, I only did one end of the trail to the top of the postpile. Walking back from the falls, I decided to do the whole thing.
A quick stop back at the ranger's station to refill my water bottles, then it was time to tackle the fairly easy 1.3 mile trail out to Minaret Falls.
Minaret Falls...
Back at the car, the lot was full and a few cars were circling. Good thing I started out early. By now it was mid afternoon and I was thinking lunch. Time to check out Distant Brewing, a newcomer to Mammoth Lakes. The sign at the entrance says to pick a table and gives the web address where you can find their menu. Good food and a tasty pilsner hit the spot.
As the day waned, I considered driving back out to the lake for sunset. Between the light smoke and cloudless sky, it seemed pointless. However, the smoke would make for an interesting sunrise the next day.
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