Evie and Sharon arrived before me and were all set up; with mine our rigs were lined up like the three bears.
At the top of our list was a visit to the Bristle Cone Pines. We listened to an excellent talk by the Ranger and walked the Discovery Trail. Next time we will do the 4 mile loop to see the really old trees. This one was probably only in the 2 -3,000 year range!
We did learn from the Ranger that some of the wood on the ground was close to 11,000 years old.
The Bristlecone Forest is located 24 miles east on highway 168 from Big Pine. On the way back to Bishop we stopped at the bottom of the grade to wade in the Owens River.
Another day we headed west into the mountains. It was happy serendipity to discover Lake Sabrina. A friendly woman took our picture on the dam for you all.
The highest mountains still have snow. We had a cup of coffee with these beautiful views.
There are three large lakes along Bishop Creek in this basin. Sharon drove her intrepid Jeep up a very steep and narrow road to North lake. It's a bit smaller than Sabrina and surrounded by these mountains of the most amazing colors.
We stopped several times along Bishop Creek to check out campgrounds, enjoy the crystal clear water and wildflowers. Evie waved at me through a grove of Aspen trees.
Days exploring the mountains called for a soak in the hot springs. Keough's Hot Springs was build in 1918. The water comes out of the springs at 110 degrees so is cooled by the spray of water at the end of the pool.
Thursday morning we were all a bit sad to be breaking camp, but a final treat was waiting just south of Big Pine....a herd of elk....
It was pure pleasure meeting Evie and Sharon, here's looking forward to next year!
