We spent the week after Labor Day at Mammoth Lakes. We used to go nearly every year, but it had been four years since our last trip. One of the hikes that we did was to Heart Lake, about a mile of climbing up the east side of the lakes basin. Everything was beautiful, just as we remembered it — pine forest, aspens, sagebrush and great views. I was going to paint the scene of one of my recent shots, but then I happened to look through some older photos, and found one of the same hike that included our dog, Darby.
One day while we were staying in Mammoth, we drove way out east of Mono Lake to look for wild horses. We found an article online which mentioned several likely side roads off highway 120, and we tried the first one listed. A few miles out on a dirt road we saw some tiny spots on the horizon. We stopped and started walking toward them. We realized that the distances were deceptive and it would be a very long walk, so we went back to the car and tried to get closer on dirt tracks through the desert. The roads were bad and we were risking getting stuck out in the middle of nowhere, so we gave up. We did actually see horses, though they were far away, and we were impressed by what a huge, beautiful area they had to roam in.
Another day of our stay in Mammoth, we went to Rock Creek for a hike. The end of the road at Mosquito Flat is just about the highest trailhead in the Sierra, at 10,300 ft. Climbing higher on rocky trails into Little Lakes Valley is not easy, but we made it as far as the first lake. The scenery is wonderful with high peaks all around and reflected in the lake.
