The morning greets us with a crystal clear day.
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| Early morning view from Stone's Throw |
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The local critters are out looking for breakfast. Holly throws out a nut mix for the
chipmunks and they come running. Two different species of chipmunks share the habitat close to the cabin, one is much larger than the other. Matt, the neighbor across the street, comes over to discuss issues for an upcoming home owners meeting. His dog Joey follows him. Matt shows us how Joey loves chasing shadows. Of course we all have to try it and giggle as Joey never seems to tire of running after hand shadows on the driveway.
After breakfast we wander up to the
Twin Lakes Resort to pick up a few items at the general store. The July 4th holiday draws their biggest crowds and the campground is full to overflowing. Other than camping the most popular activities are fishing, boating, and hiking.
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| Fishing |
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| Boats at marina |
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Since none of us are into fishing, we elect to go hiking. Holly drives us to
Lundy Canyon which is known for it's wildflowers, beaver dams, and waterfalls (what's there not to like?). This canyon was once the site of a thriving gold mining community, but disaster struck when a massive landslide all but wiped out the town. The survivors took what they could salvage and moved the community to safer ground. Eventually the precious metals played out leaving the canyon to Mother Nature.
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| Hwy 395 headed south |
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| Road into Lundy Canyon |
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| Wildflowers along the road |
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The wildflowers do not disappoint. They are everywhere.
We should hire Mother Nature to landscape our own garden.
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| Naturally formed dry creek bed with wildflowers - perfect for our yard |
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We park at the
Lundy Canyon Trail head and start towards the beaver dams. Stumps of beaver felled trees can be found as we near the dams. Holly points out the "Oh Sh--!" tree named for what the poor beaver must have been thinking after gnawing down a sizable trunk only to have the log fall into other trees rendering it useless for dam building.
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| Holly at trail head |
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| Beavers have been busy |
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| The "Oh Sh--!" tree |
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The first cabin in the Eagle's Nest area was built by a forest ranger in the 1920's. His granddaughter and her family are now still using this cabin and she likes to tell the following story. Before her grandfather built his cabin, the towns dotting the eastern slope discovered their water quality had diminished after the beavers had been trapped out. Slowly the townspeople realized beaver dams help filter their water. Consequently, the US Forest Service went on a program to reintroduce beavers back into the canyons. So the grandfather as a young forest ranger was tasked with carrying live beavers in his backpack to repopulate the canyons. His granddaughter likes to joke that her grandfather really knew how to treat a beaver right.
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| Large beaver dam on Mill Creek |
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The area is so magical we are snapping photos left and right before heading on up the trail.
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| Holly snaps pics of the beaver dams |
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| Peter rests before resuming the hike |
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| Lundy Canyon Trail |
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| Green slime in a shallow pool |
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| Rushing water of Mill Creek |
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| Holly poises by a waterfall |
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| Top of Lundy Falls |
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After reaching the top of the falls, we turn back.
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| Peter admires the view down canyon |
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| Snoozing after hike |
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| One last look at a beaver pond and lodge |
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Coming out of the canyon, Holly points out an Indian head painted on a large rock. "Indian Joe" is said to bestow good luck to those who kiss him. I give him a big kiss more as a thank you for such a beautiful canyon. Back in the car we slow down going through
Lundy Lake Resort. It's such a beautiful spot, we put it in our memory banks to return in the fall some year.
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| Peter looks on as I kiss Indian Joe |
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| Lundy Resort |
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| Lundy Lake |
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As a treat after the hike, we head for
Jolly Kone in Bridgeport for ice cream.
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| Approaching Mono Lake |
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| Jolly Kone |
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The July 4th crowds haven't fully hit town yet, so we take the opportunity to wander around while munching our ice cream cones. In front of
Ken's Sporting Goods is a large blue freezer with the big fish caught so far this season. Of course, the really BIG fish end up mounted and hung from Ken's ceiling for all to see.
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| Blue freezer |
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| big fish this season |
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| Mounted really BIG fish |
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Bridgeport is now fully decked out for the July 4th holiday.
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| Hey lady you might want to move |
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| Street vendor |
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| Yogi the Bear and Bambi in a bucket are for sale |
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The late afternoon sun is starting to grow shadows as we head back to the cabin and call it a day well spent.
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| Sawtooth Ridge |
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