Devil's Postpile

Devil’s Postpile sits along the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. It is a small national monument, as they go, with just 800 acres set aside to preserve a columnar basalt formation that was begun about 82,000 years ago. It all started with a volcanic event. This particular lava flow was ideally suited for columnar formation as it was thick, had a consistent mineral composition and cooled slowly and evenly. As the lava cooled, it contracted and split into symmetrical, vertical, hexagonal columns.

Somewhere between 12,000 and 20,000 years ago, a glacier flowed down what is now called the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River. It rode over the fractured lava formation and carved away one side of the postpone, revealing columns 60 feet high.

Over time, erosion and earthquakes broke off some of the columns that now lie fragmented below the postpile.

Here the columns become horizontal! This is seen on the backside of the pile and on the way to the top.

There are no guardrails up here! Kids running around made me nervous as it was a looooong way down to a pile of rocks.

Part of the 0.8 mile loop hike around the postpile.

The meadow where the San Joaquin River runs. Not much water there now but I suspect it is much more interesting in the spring.

The road into this National Monument is very narrow and windy, sometimes down to just one lane. During the heavy tourist season, people wanting to visit the Devil’s Postpile must take a shuttle from the ski area of Mammoth Lakes. In the fall, cars are allowed to drive in . . . but it can be a bit scary! This site is close to Rainbow Falls but we were not prepared to hike the relatively short distance to the falls, our feelings made better by the Ranger telling us there was not much water coming down!

Mammoth Lakes

Mammoth Lakes is actually the name of the town or village that sits at the bottom, or in the valley, below some awesome mountains. It is a popular year round recreational resort with excellent skiing in the winter and tons of trails to hike, lakes to fish and pull-outs for photographers to gaze in awe. Each of the lakes is quite different and we each had our favorites.

We drove to a lookout point where the Minarets could be seen across the valley. They are an impressive sight and often visible from Highway 395 as we drive bak and forth between photo-opportunities.

Nope. You are correct! This is not from Mammoth Lakes. Diane took this at a different date than the ones I posted of Convict Lake earlier. But, I do not want you to miss out on her excellent photography! She was using a new to her Nikon D810 with a new lens and she was quite the trooper figuring it all out and then captured the full magnificence of sunrise on this popular mountain. I just love her reflection.

Tioga Pass

Tioga Pass is the section of Highway 120 than takes one from the eastern side of the Sierra Nevadas on Highway 395 up and over to Yosemite on the western side of the mountain range. Tioga Pass is only open from late May through October, weather permitting. Tioga Pass is one of three roads that crosses the Sierra Nevadas, allowing access from eastern and western sides of the mountain range.  From Tioga Pass all the way to the south of Mt. Whitney, no other roads cross the High Sierra.

Tom and I drove up as far as the Yosemite Park entrance which was closed at the time.  Later we met up with a fellow Nikonnian and went as far as Olmsted Point but did not photograph Toloume Meadows. We later returned with Diane and captured even more of the magic of this Pass..  This is a collection of photographs from all three trips.

On our first trip, the lakes were still partially iced over.

This is a huge waterfall!  You can hear from miles away.

Taken at Olsted Point. The iconic granite Half Dome is visible in many areas of the park, but we pulled over here to get a different view.  To the left of Half Dome is the northwest face of Cloud's Rest at 9,926 feet above sea level. Its face drops nearly 5000 feet to lower Tenaya Creek.

One the most important features of this area of the Sierras is the great amount of granite.  You can see it in the very smooth, treeless, gray colored mountain faces.  Trees do their best to make use of small pockets of soil.

In the distance you can see Tenaya Lake.

Tenaya Lake from Olmsted Point.

Diane could imagine this being a board game for giants!

Tenaya Lake is easily accessible from the road.

Trees trying the thrive on a granite mountain.

At 8,600 feet Tuolumne Meadows is one of the largest high-elevation meadows in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.

Water sources for the meadow include two forks deep in Yosemite's wilderness—the Dana and the Lyell—and include three creeks—Budd, Delaney and Unicorn. The Tuolumne River runs through the middle of the meadows, for three miles, and is supplied by snowmelt and hill-slope aquifers. In spring as soon as the snow melts, it is not uncommon to see large areas of the meadows flooded and practically transformed into a lake. 

Most of the water that filters through Tuolumne Meadows is collected in the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and then becomes an important source of drinking water for San Francisco.

On our way to Olmsted Point, Diane spotted a small lake that had interesting rocks spread about. We looked for it on our way back down the hill.  She was correct.  It proved to be an interesting stop.

Well, we went up so we had to go down.  Great road trips, all three.