Road trip across America week 3!

Mammoth Lakes, one of the most incredible places in California, and dare I say, the entire west coast! This portion of the trip was a little different, I took the ole Winnebago Micro Minnie out for some fun, and although I dread the fuel economy and getting beat up by the wind, I was able to get some much needed rest after a long two weeks of traveling thanks to its many convenient amenities. 

Overall this trip has been incredible, but I never feel more at home than I do surrounded by mountains. And not just any mountains will do though, peaks in the 10,000 foot plus range are what I love most and there is no shortage of high altitude ridges for everyones viewing pleasure. But before we get to Mammoth I of course had to drive the 4 hours, in a head wind, with not quite enough power, at six dollars per gallon! I love my truck, I enjoy my camper, but good lord 6mpg is not fun! So I finally made it to my camp spot well off the beaten path 15ish miles from downtown Mammoth. I spent 3 days up there and I ate lunch at distant brewing everyday, their chicken caesar wraps are out of this world, killer pretzels, and of course delicious beers. 

Distant Brewing is tough to beat!

Beyond lunch in town everyday, I enjoyed some beautiful hikes that I haven’t been on before including the surprisingly fun Inyo craters trail. The trail is a very tame 1.6 miles and 350 feet of climbing, but I like to go a little bigger than that so I found a trail around both of the craters and ended with 5 miles and about 800 feet of climbing. This wasn’t a trail I had planned on hiking either, I pulled the camper to the trailhead while looking for a good camp spot and decided to give the hike a go to break up the day. 

The spot I settled on ended up being fantastic, it was easy for me to find but not on a main road, and not a single bit of road noise. I only saw 2 vehicles the whole time I was there. I was able to set up and get level easily with plenty of time to get dinner going and enjoy a night alone in nature. This leg of the trip was specifically for me to relax and rest up from the previous weeks travels, and so naturally I got on AllTrials and looked for some big hikes. Initially I wanted to hike Mammoth Mountain via the twin lakes trail, a difficult 5.7 miles with 2,372 feet of climbing. After waking up at 3am and giving my pack a last minute check, I changed my mind and settled on a long run out to Duck Lake via the Emerald lake trail but  started at the Crystal lake parking area so I ended with a little over 12 miles and about 2,100 feet of climbing. 

Mid-hike swim to cool off!

The third and final full day I actually rested, sort of. I grabbed the fly rod and set out to fish a few of the lakes close to parking areas. With a late start and high temps I hardly even got my line wet, just ended up making friends with people along the trail and watching River go crazy swimming and running around. All in all it was the only day of the trip I actually got some rest, and it was more needed than I knew! After some delicious shrimp tacos with homemade salsa, and a few hours sitting in nature taking in all the fresh air, I got the best nights sleep I’ve had in years. 

Tacos and whiskey, great combo!

The next morning I packed up camp and had everything ready to go home so I could take a little drive around in the morning before heading home. Riv and I explored the June lake loop, as is constantly the case here the loop road did not disappoint! There are four lakes along this 12 mile road and even with droughts severely endangering their existence, they sure were beautiful! I even found a random off road trail from June Lake back into Mammoth which rounded out a fantastic morning of exploration in the area. After lunch at Distant brewery and a visit to the always crowded Mammoth Brewing, I hitched up the RV and started making my way south. Two full tanks of fuel and a very windy drive later, I was parked at home and preparing to get back to work. I learned a lot on this road trip, the biggest take away is that I need a more convenient camping option. While I love my REI flash 2 backpacking tent, it’s slow to setup/breakdown, it’s not a great option in bad weather, and it offers zero security should anyone try to mess with it. The RV of course is very secure and handles bad weather extremely well, but it makes for a slow ride anywhere and the fuel makes it tough to take on longer trips. I need something that offers some security from people and the elements, is very fast to setup/breakdown, will last for a very long time, and doesn’t slow me down. And I think I found just the right thing!