Mammoth 2012

We're back and we had a great time in Mammoth.  We had beautiful weather on Friday and Saturday.  Saturday morning, we (Jeff and I and Justin and Sarah) loaded up the four dogs and went up to the Saddlebag Lake area where we took the water taxi which leads to an area of many lakes where you can hike and the dogs can swim.  Cooper behaved this time and didn't jump off any cliffs although he did end up limping by the end of our trip.  Here's a photo of Jeff, Justin and me on the hike.  Buddy is just sneaking into the shot.

After we hiked for a couple of hours, we took the water taxi back and drove up to the high country area of Yosemite.  Here's a photo of Justin, Sarah and Justin's dog Sierra at Olmstead Point.  You can see Half Dome on the right and Cloud's rest on the left.  We have climbed to the top of both of those mountains.

  

After our visit to Yosemite, we stopped at the famous Whoa Nellie Deli for a pitcher of Mango margaritas.  On Sunday morning, we drove up to the Mammoth Lakes loop.  Here's a photo of the area just as you drive in.

As you can see, clouds were starting to form so we took a short 1 mile hike up to Heart Lake.  Below is a photo of the four dogs at Heart Lake.  Sarah's yellow lab is Buddy and he was the one who would reach the stick first.  Kanan is also a good swimmer but he usually defers to other dogs.  Cooper often waits until the stick is brought closer to the shore and then he's a glory hog who steals it and Sierra is a little afraid of the water so she usually tries to grab it once it's on dry land.

We picked up a picnic lunch and drove to Convict Lake to eat.  We decided to push on to the Rock Creek area for another longer hike.  As we drove, it began to rain.  Everyone was game to continue on with our hike plans so I put on a baseball cap and off we went.  During out hike, we were rained on, pummeled by hail and it even was lightning and thundering.  I was not too thrilled being on a trail in the mountains during a thunderstorm but we made it safely back to our cars.  Our plan to have a BBQ at George and Robin's campsite was scratched due to the weather so we ended up having Chinese takeout in our hotel and playing a game Justin brought.  You can see in this photo at Rock Creek a storm is a-brewing.  You can click on all the photos to enlarge.

Our first delivery of Farm Fresh to You (organic fruits and vegetables delivered to your home) should arrive by Wednesday morning so I'll let you know what we get and how we like it.