Our first trip to Mammoth for the summer: five days of mountain biking, hiking, wandering, exploring and eating at Tom’s Place. Officially, the Mammoth Mountain Bike Park was open, but in reality, the top 2/3 of the mountain was still covered with snow – the only rideable trails were the bottom bunny trails. This forced us into riding lower-elevation trails which were also free to ride – all good (and warmer).
Driving up the Lubken Canyon Road toward the Horseshoe Meadow Road. Yes, it’s spectacular scenery, but I’d rather be in Wisconsin.The road to Horseshoe Meadows climbs more than 6,000′ in around 15 miles, topping out at just shy of 10,000′. The photo is looking north, up Owens Valley, toward the town of Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills. The Inyo Mountains are on the right.Looking for marmots in Horsehoe Meadows. The Meadows were a proposed location for a Disney ski area, but when the Wilderness Act came into existence in 1964, and the resort concept was abandoned.Alabama Hills in the foreground.The Minarets are the series of jagged peaks, located in the Ritter Range of the Sierra Nevadas.While Mammoth Mountain was technically open for mountain biking, the bottom/bunny trails were the only open trails, which forced us to ride Lower Rock Creek and other lower-elevation rides. A good thing.Crossing into the John Muir Wilderness on the McGee Pass Trail.Looking across Crowley Lake at Glass Mountain on the left, and Banner Ridge.Laurel Mountain.Please, no trundling on the New Zealand Mud Snail.Escaping the cold and snow on the Lower Rock Creek Trail, just before the first road crossing.Lunch at the top of Sand Canyon, at 10,000′. After lunch, Carol rode down Sand Canyon – in 10 miles, she lost 4,000′ elevation. Yep, that’s steep.I support “no posing,” but “no trundling“? Who among us hasn’t trundled?The LADWP efficiently sucks water out of the Owens River Gorge destined for pools and car washes in Southern California.The Owens River near Benton Crossing.
