Holding Pattern

I don’t have a whole lot to report but I do have some photos and a video or two that seemed worthy of posting.

Mountain climbing has been on hold, waiting for the snow pack in the Sierra Nevada to melt down some and for the weather pattern to improve and stabilize before I'll be comfortable attempting the 14ers here.

So I have bided my time trying to stay fit and acclimated by hiking the open trails at lower elevations (8,000 to 12,000 feet) and doing a little sightseeing.

I’m moving the trailer to a new RV park in Bishop tomorrow and Betsy will arrive here next week.

Because of the slow pace on the 14ers we may extend our stay in California to the end of July before moving to Colorado.

The RV park here in Lone Pine occasionally offers some great views of things in the sky...

...and, occasionally, some not-so-great views of things flapping in the breeze.

I've stopped to smell the flowers a few times...

...and to look at the trees. Big trees. Really big trees. This is a Giant Sequoia that was planted nearly a century ago in front of the Inyo County Courthouse in Independence.

The sequoias are typically found on the wetter, west side of the Sierra but they seem to be doing pretty well over here on the dry east side too.

Looking north up the Owens Valley, between the Sierra Nevada range (left) and the Inyo Mountain range (right).

This is a view of the Sierra from Bishop.

This is a view of the Sierra from Lone Pine.

The historic Mt. Whitney Fish Hatchery played a key role in saving the Golden Trout - the California State Fish - from extinction.

The Alabama Hills just outside of Lone Pine have been used as a backdrop in hundreds of movies and television shows.

I expected to see this at the Mule Days Celebration in Bishop on Memorial Day weekend.

But I was not expecting this!

One of the features of Mule Days is the 20-mule team, a replica of the famous vehicles used to transport tons of borax out of Death Valley. If you are interested here's a short video (click here) of the team and another of the handlers turning them in the arena (click here to view the second video).

Looking west toward the 14er Mt. Willamson from the Symmes Plateau.

Temple Crag on the North Fork of Big Pine Creek.

The creatively-named Fourth Lake on the North Fork of Big Pine Creek.

Look at me: I'm hiking the Pacific Crest Trail! (To be more accurate, it was about 4.5 miles of the PCT)

This guy is a real PCT hiker, from Illinois. He took a break from the trail to attend Mule Days in Bishop (and resupply)!?

Cottonwood Pass SW of Lone Pine.

My drive to and from the RV park where I'm staying to the Cottonwood trailheads is less than 20 miles but gains (or loses, depending on your perspective) more than a mile of elevation.

Looking down on the well-named High Lake from New Army Pass at 12,000-feet-plus.

I may have had it backwards but it sure looked to me like the other bird buzzed the bald eagle, rather than vice-versa?