Leaving the hot springs in Saline Valley mid-morning, we spent several hours getting back up out of Whipoorwill canyon and back to Big Pine. We headed up Highway 395 and stopped in Bishop to visit the Mountain Light Studios where Galen Rowell's photography work is permanently housed. If you find yourself in Bishop, spend an hour or several there if you love the mountains and nature in detail.
For that matter, if you like outdoor real-life adventure, read the book "The Big Open". Before Rowell and his wife Barbara died in a plane crash, Rowell, Rick Ridgeway, Jimmy Chin and Conrad Anker trekked 275 miles across Tibet's Chang Tang plateau in search of the elusive birthing grounds of the Chiru, an endangered species also known as Tibetan Antelope. It was quite the environmental adventure by very experienced mountaineers... for fun, some of these guys climb mountains in Antarctica.
Up towards Reno we turned off and took the Monitor Pass mountain route towards South Lake Tahoe. With the sun getting low, it made more sense to find some camping in the forests than pressing on to actually get all the way there.
One of the towns on the road was Markleeville, which had a turnoff to Grover Hot Springs State Park, so we drove there to spend the night.
The campground has beautiful sites set amongst the pines along small hills and meadows. There was plenty of space so we pitched our tent and had a very nice salmon dinner and smores for dessert. There was time to wash it all down with beer from the cooler before a good night's sleep...
In the morning we visited the hot springs and the pool fed by them. Instead of chlorine, whci has no color, the pool is made healthy by using bromine instead. Bromine adds an unusual color to the water without chlorine's strong smell. The soaking pool and the swimming pool right next to it would sure be popular on vacation days even in cool weather. There's a lot of history in this area of the mountains, and the pioneers made good use of the spring water.
The next morning we stopped in Merkleeville for coffee and morning baked goodies. Parking outside a nicely kept home with a sculpted menu sigh on the lawn, we got talking to Sheley Moody outside her home. She loves the natural lifestyle there and is very glad to have given up the big city for such a great place.
A few steps away is Ali's coffee shop which has just started up. Ali was very busy with morning customers but we got some takeout coffee and pastries for the road. Good luck getting settled in with the new business!.
30 miles further is South Lake Tahoe. The water is something else, and the scenery is distinctly different from the desert mountain landscapes of the last couple of days.
Need a Tahoe bus? Take a tart.
(Tahoe Area Rapid Transit)
Compared to New York though, this guy's in the Outback.
Every year the swallows build their nests along the outside rafters of the swimming pool change rooms. This one keeps an eye on us as we snap a picture. They swoop and do fly-bys constantly.
