Steppesister
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2013
M is for: Mono Lake and Mighty Mountains
Bodie was absolutely fascinating, and we adored our time there, but the drive time from there to Olancha, CA was slated at over 3 hours- not including 14 potty stops (exaggeration, but not much), dinner, and photo pauses. As you’ll see, I (reluctantly) sacrificed photo stops. As with most things in life you simply can’t have your cake and eat it too. Unless your mom makes a pineapple upside-down cake which I plan to eat a slice of tonight. If only there was some Dole Whip to top it with, but I digress.
I can positively say that this stretch of highway along the Eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada Mountains was some of the most scenic we encountered on our entire trek. The jagged, towering mountains that rose up straight from the high desert like meringue peaks edging a cake were stunning with the cloud formations and sunlight shafts cutting through to the valley floor. The occasional rainbow crowned the peaks making for a mesmerizing drive.
This was one of those precious few times Zach drove- it was straight and remote- so I was free to take the time to appreciate the gorgeous scenes to right.
Our next stop was Mono Lake, someplace I’d wanted to visit for decades but never had the opportunity. For a rundown on the geology of the lake and how it got its unique “tufa towers” you can click the Wiki article below.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mono_Lake
It didn’t disappoint, and if anything, the cloudy day made for some really nice photos. Zach was being a party pooper and sat in the car while I took a very short 30-minute roundtrip saunter to the end of the boardwalk trail and back where far fewer tourists venture. Most stick closer to water’s edge that is adjacent to the parking lot.
(Wish it'd been a skooch more in focus!)
Given the time constraints and need to make it to our campsite that evening we moved on.
Just about 4:30 or so we got into Bishop, a small town of 3,700, but one that services a huge area of Eastern California ranchers, perhaps some State services employees, and probably some Mammoth ski resort workers. That said, the dining options are… dismal. We were both in the mood for some ramen, pho, or something else noodley like that. Mexican might have been good too. Or a sandwich. Or anything. We’d arrived a bit too early for much to be open, but didn’t have to wait around either. We Googled and found a promising option: Thai Thai. I plugged it in, and we ended up here:
(The airport in Bishop)
The food was as bad as the location unlikely. I ordered some lettuce wraps that were abysmally disgusting. It was literally some ground chicken sauteed up, not really broken up very finely, and some weird spice mixture tossed on and not stirred in very well. Some bites were plain, bland chicken, and some crazy salty/unmixed in seasoned. No green onion, or mushroom, or grated carrot, or anything. Just yuck. Zach’s soup was a bit better, but not inspiring enough to merit any photos. Sorry. Or perhaps, you’re welcome.
The remainder of the drive more than made up for the lackluster dinner, however. Sadly, neither my prose (nor my in-motion photos) can compete with the lovely views, but enjoy what I-395 had to offer on Day 3 of Steppe’s Cross-Country Road Trip.
Around 8:00, just about dusk, we rolled into the Olancha Resort. Trust me, there was nothing resort-like about it. But it was unique and comfortable. Definitely one of the more fun places we stayed along the way. Such a beautiful settings, but probably would have been moreso had it been a bit more set off of the highway. The roar of trucks woke me earlier than I’d have liked, but that’s okay. We needed to get on the road sooner than later. You can find more and better photos here:
https://www.bishopmotels.net/olancha-resort
Our Horse Tipi, that was handmade by Native Americans from Oregon (yes, I chuckled at the irony of that too) had a queen bed, a heater that we were thankful for, outlets to charge our devices, and plenty of light.
We were too tired for a shower that evening, but we both enjoyed one the next morning. They were primitive to be sure, but clean with plenty of hot water. In our cozy little tipi we found good sleep, and with that, it was another day behind us of seeing more of our America the Beautiful.
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Thanks!
