Eastern Sierra Trip 2006


PAGE 3 Our vacation in 2006 was spent exploring along the eastern Sierra and around Death Valley. This travelogue shows many photos taken from that trip. All photos were taken with a Canon G5, and can be viewed as larger images by clicking on the small photos.
The guard house at the entrance to Manzanar has an Asian flavor--not surprising when you consider that the structure was built by the internees of local stone.
		The old auditorium from the camp, the only original structure other than the guard houses, has been completely restored and now houses an excellent interpretive display.
Walking the grounds, we found them to be covered with these yellow flowers.
		Many of the internees tried to make the best of their surroundings. Several beautiful gardens were constructed around the camp, many with fountains and other running water. One of the water garden remnants is shown here.
Several of the internees died while in captivity, and a cemetery was created for them at the base of the mountains. The pillar reads, on the side shown, "August, 1943". 15 people are buried here.
		We left Manzanar to continue our trip. This image shows the camp (auditorium to the right) against the Sierras and some rain.
Across the highway from Manzanar are the remains of an airport. This airport was built in 1943 as an Army Air Corps base, then became Inyo County Airport after the war. It was ostensibly abandoned in 1956, but the concrete is still in great shape for 50 years of neglect. The airport had no connection with the camp.
		We drove to Independence and stopped for the evening. Independence is a nice small town next to the Sierras. Its biggest claim to fame is that Charles Manson spent time in jail here after his arrest in Death Valley. At our hotel, a beautiful sunset appeared.
We stayed at a small motel called Ray's Den, which was really quite nice. The proprietor was a nice young woman, and the rooms were extremely clean. Love the old-fashion neon sign.
		The next morning, we continued north. The weather was quite clear in the morning, and I obtained this shot from the highway of the Sierras with the moon hanging over them.
The Los Angeles Aqueduct runs along much of the highway south of Mono Lake. The story behind the aqueduct has been told many times in many different books.
		We stopped briefly at June Lake to check it out. The lake and its surroundings are beautiful, but there were a lot of tourists in the town, so we quickly moved on.
We arrived at Mono Lake. The area around the lake is very interesting geologically. South of the lake are the Mono Craters, a young chain associated with the Long Valley caldera, but a separate feature. This view is of the craters from the west.
		We decided to setup camp at Lee Vining Creek, just up Highway 120 a bit towards Yosemite. We got a beautiful spot right on the creek.
The creek was quite shallow and very clear. This fish (rainbow trout?) was hanging around the log you can see in the previous photo.
		Our camp site on the creek was one of the nicer experiences of the trip. The roar of the rushing water was great to fall asleep to.
The next day, we decided to hike into the fissures on Black Point at the north edge of Mono Lake. After getting directions to exactly where they were, we parked and hiked in. These tiny flowers were found on the way.
		The fissures are quite interesting, and you come to them from above. The plateau above is apparently quite flat, but a careful step is needed, as the fissures are twenty feet deep and more.
Hiking in to the fissures was interesting. Although the day was pretty warm, in the fissure it was quite cool, like being in a cave. Odd pockets lined the walls--were these gas bubbles or something else?
		Early in the morning, I arose before sunrise to watch it appear on the peaks to the west. I hiked out of the campground to a low ridge, surprising a deer in the process. I wasn't disappointed by the view.

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