Eastern Sierras - Devil's PostPile & Lake Mary

Sunday, Sept 7th

Today's outing, starting once again on Main Street in Mammoth Lakes at the Best Western, took us to the geologic wonder known as Devil's Postpile National Monument (established in 1911) and considered one of the world's finest examples of columnar basalt (good to know for cocktail chitchat). 

It was stunning but our ride of 41 miles and 4600 feet of climbing afforded us with many other impressive scenes of nature. 

Some club members were staying at a lodge and had treats waiting for us during our ride.  How marvelous.  Speaking of treats, not 5 minutes after The Boyfriend left me as we climbed out of Devil's Postpile (a long slug of a climb), a mtn. biker came upon me and told me that he liked watching me swing and sway on my bike, dancing away to the music on my iPod Nano. 

Another stunning view from the Crystal Crag Lodge.

Stark but still beautiful at Horseshoe Lake.

Horseshoe Lake.  Yes, once again, I lagged behind everyone else but it didn't matter thanks to the generosity of the club members hosting the party at the Crystal Crag Lodge and the breathtaking scenery.  Occasionally I stumbled upon the group and that was swell.  The Mammoth Lakes area is simply beautiful. 

Eastern Sierras - Convict Lake

Saturday, Sept 6th

The first ride for our Eastern Sierras adventure was a new one for The BF and me -- Convict Lake, nestled in the aspens of Convict Canyon in the Sherwin Range of the Sierra Nevada, and apparently an ideal location for weddings.  According to the Wikipedia entry (if we are to believe the details to be correct), the lake is named after an incident in 1871 involving escapees from a Carson City prison.

We started from the Best Western Hotel in Mammoth Lakes at 8:30am.  Well, as The BF and I discovered, our hotel room clock was 8 minutes off and the gang almost left without us.  The ride was 38 miles with 3,000 ft of climbing.

As mentioned in the previous entry, we didn't realize that the Fall Century was happening and it was fun being swept up the event, especially as we traveled on US-395 with a police escort.  As mentioned in the previous entry, I lagged far behind but eventually caught up with The BF at Convict Lake and we biked together back to Mammoth Lakes.  The photo above is the lovely bike path in town.  A good first outing.

Here in Mammoth Lakes - Prologue

Saturday, Sept 6th

The Boyfriend and I arrived last night in Mammoth Lakes for the start of the annual get together with fellow cyclists from Western Wheelers and Almaden Cycle Touring Club doing The Eastern Sierras trip hosted by Dick and Donna Matthews.

We saw the devastation of last year's fire as we drove through Yosemite.  We also saw the impact of the drought with meadows that looked somber (no amber waves of grain) and lakes a bit on the shallow side.  Nature will rebound but we must do our part as well in preserving our ecosystem.

Meanwhile, seeing friends we haven't seen since last year's trip was a joy, and making new friends was nice as well.  Time to acclimate.  Mammoth Lakes is at 7800 feet above sea level and boy did I feel it.

As it turned out, our first ride (next blog entry) coincided with the High Sierra Fall Century (check out the photos and video).  We got swept up in the ride and our photos taken, thanks to Captivating Sports.

Am I bitchin' or what!  Well, I don't know.... Most of our group is retired and let me tell ya, they rock, as in, I was in the back of the pack, always trying to catch up.   Let's continue with the merry adventure, shall we....