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The Buttermilks are are a popular bouldering area in the foothills east of Bishop. To my uninitiated eye the activity and culture that surround it are spell-binding to observe. Groups of boulderers wander through this labyrinth of giant rocks with mattresses on their backs. It is a sport that demands much strategizing and discussion and it must have a special appeal for the intellectually inclined athlete. At the base of one boulder was a family with three young children. They took turns climbing. When they were not climbing, they sat down under the rock, reading a book. A bouldering route is called a “problem”.

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From Wikipedia: “Benton is one of the oldest existing towns in Mono County. Benton was originally founded by the western Indians who came to make use of its hot springs. As the nearby towns of Bodie and Aurora grew in size and population, Benton soon became a check-point for travelers on the way south in 1852.

Gold was discovered in the hills of Benton in 1862, and its population quickly grew. After hitting the initial strike of gold, not much more was found, but Benton’s profits were soon primarily from silver. Unlike other mining towns, Benton was able to provide enough for the town to thrive and flourish for about fifty years. Although most of the main activity took place between 1862 and 1890, the town and its inhabitants have never completely died out.”

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Convict Lake is just a few miles east of Hwy 395. The creek that feeds this lake runs through a spectacular canyon on whose walls one can see the dramatic birth signs of these young mountains.

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Bishop is a great place to use as your base station for day hikes in the Sierras and the White Mountains on the other side of the valley. Alpine lakes and meadows, abandoned mines, ghost towns, bristle cone pines, it can all be found within an hour’s drive from Bishop. This panorama was taken at the end of April, when most trails were still snowed in.

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Much of the water that flows down from the Eastern Sierras has been siphoned off by Los Angeles County since the early 1900s. The water level at Mono lake was in steady decline, the Owens river reduced to a sad trickle, and Owens Lake dried up, blowing toxic dust in all directions and dangerously polluting the otherwise pristine air of the high desert surroundings. Continue reading ‘Tufa formations at south Mono Lake’

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Long Valley, east of Mammoth Mountain in the Eastern Sierras, is an active volcanic area with many great wilderness hot springs. Crowley, or Wild Willy’s Hot Spring is one of the best. According to my Audubon “Field Guide to North American Weather”, these wispy clouds are called “orographic lenticularis”.

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West of Lone Pine, along Whitney Portal Road are the Alabama Hills, a large field of weathered boulders and outcroppings. The hills appear in over 150 feature films and many tv series, such as Star Trek. Recent movies that include scenes in the Alabama Hills are Gladiator and Ironman. This is an interesting place to explore on foot, wandering through the intimate spaces formed by these rocks, with sudden glimpses of the sharp snow capped peaks of the Sierras nearby.

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Red Rock Canyon State Park is a place most people drive by on their way to some other destination further up Hwy 14 and Hwy 395. But it is well worth a stop-over and offers some spectacular vistas within short hiking distance from the highway. Go here for the complete Eastern Sierras Gallery.