12th September 2010

The alarm woke me up at 07:00 and I managed to drag myself up. I could have done with staying in bed for longer. After a shower and a quick goodbye to Carlos, who we saw on the way out, we were on the road by 08:10. We had decided to make our way to Big Pine and then see where to go from there. We went up the 95 North and then across the 266 West, back into California. We stopped, at a historic marker, to read about a town called Lida and then again at a marker commemorating Palmetto, a mining town that didn't really take off as resources were not as plentiful as first thought.

The 266 gave way to the 168, which led in to the hills where the road crested and gave way to a wonderful view of a valley, surrounded by hills, with a lake in the basin to the far West. We stopped to take a photo of the valley on the road leading up and West out of it but I had left it a little too late to capture the lake in the shot. The 168 was a fantastic road. It was twisty and initially provided glimpses of distant, snowcapped mountains. It took us up into the Inyo National Forest, through mountains, and down the other side, via a sharply winding, undulating road, to leave us in a massive valley between two mountain ranges. I stopped to take photographs and hope that they will capture enough detail to enable me to remember that view for the rest of my life.

The 168 became the 395, which led us eventually to Bishop. Here we stopped for nearly two hours to plan our onward journey, book a motel room and refuel both ourselves and the bikes; at McD's and the gas station, respectively. At the garage I got moaned at by an elderly couple for blocking the pump while putting sun screen on, despite the fact that both they and the car I was supposedly blocking were taking fuel on board. Bishop was a nice town but quite busy. I can see why Maxine would like to retire there, what with Bishop being nestled in a warm valley between two gorgeous mountain ranges.

We finally left Bishop at around 14:00, continuing along the 395. We stopped to take pictures of the fabulous mountain views on the way up the hill out of town and then again looking out over Lake Crowley. We had already booked a Motel 6 room for the night at Mammoth Lakes, which was only 42 miles from Bishop. The only other alternative was a much longer ride or a much more expensive room.

As luck would have it, our decision to book the room in Mammoth Lakes turned out for the best. There was plenty to do in and around the area and it would have been a shame to miss what the it had to offer.

We stopped at Mammoth visitor centre to ask about local attractions, including the Devil's Postpile, which we were headed for. The visitor guide gave us a map and suggested a ride on the gondola to the top of the mountain, before providing us with directions. The gondola ride was $21 each but was worth it. It took about 10 minutes to get to the top of Mammoth Mountain. There we stopped to talk to some of the downhill mountain bike riders. There are a number of the preset courses to negotiate and then you can shuttle back up on the gondola, if you buy an unlimited pass. Apparently it takes about 2 hours to ride down. We had our photograph taken and I climbed to the very summit, where the altitude was listed as 11053 feet. I had my photo taken there by a German couple, in return for doing the same for them. Unfortunately, the cafe was closed at the mountain top so we went back down on the gondola and had a freshly brewed coffee at The Yodler; a bar at the mountain base. We chatted to the staff there. The manageress left but came back shortly afterwards shaking, with her two little chihuahuas who were also shaking. Apparently the dogs were off the lead, running about when a coyote popped its head over a bank and started for them. The manageress shouted it off and had come back to the bar. One of the dogs was named after an alcoholic spirit; Don Julio, pronounced with a H, not a J.

We finished several cups of coffee then headed for the Devil's Postpile. This is a geological formation of hexagonal basalt columns, which result from a combination of volcanic and ice age activity. When you look at the columns, they could look like massive piles of mail, hence the name.



Mammoth Mountain

The road to the Postpile led down a steep incline. The road had a pay box, where you had to pay $10 to get into that particular section of park. I rode straight through, not looking at the window but Bill got collared for both of us. The road down to the Postpile was about 7 miles and then a .25 mile walk to the monument when parked up. We saw lots of squirrels scurrying about on our stroll. They seemed slightly different to our UK version. They had longer, fluffier ears. The Postpile monument was interesting. There were some fallen columns. You can easily see the hexagonal definition. We took some photos before making our way back. The sun was setting by this time. We were high up and it was rather chilly at not much more than 50 degrees.


The Devil's Postpile

We got to the Motel 6 after a few scrapes of the footboards round the mountain roads. The room was nice and warm. The AC was off and a good job too! We settled in and then made our way across the street for an evening meal. Bill had fish and chips and I had a burrito, which was filled with meat and rice. Bill's chips were a bit sparse but he made his way through it all, including three fillets of breaded fish. I had two amber beers with my meal. They tasted almost like British bitter but were a bit expensive at $5 per (not even a pint) glass.

After our meal we went to see if the post office had a stamp machine but no luck.

We went back to the room, where I sit writing the diary. The time is 22:03 and I feel tired tonight. No alarms tomorrow morning.

The bike mileage is 48369, which means we have travelled 221 miles this day and are 7 miles away from completing our 4000th mile since collecting the bikes.