Eastside

A couple of weeks ago Tioga Pass finally opened. That being the pass that goes through Yosemite and brings you out to the Eastern Sierra near Mono Lake. The whole elevation thing really slows down the melting process and there was still a decent amount of snow around despite it being late May which is why the pass only just opened.



We made a mass exodus from Groveland at the earliest possible moment to take advantage of the opening and ended up with quite the little caravan. Despite the forcast for rain and the ominous clouds that persisted during the drive through the park we forged on. The East side is theoretically in the rain shadow so we hoped we would be in the clear once we made it over the pass. That, however, was not so much the case...


We didn't really have a problem with the rain until we made to the East side. Go figure.

The first stop upon crossing the pass was The Mobil. Far more than just a gas station, the Mobil has a pretty fantastic deli, a trapeez and concerts in the summer. It's a pretty big deal.

After refueling and adding a few more cars to the caravan we headed for the visitors center at Mono Lake. Everyone needs some informational placards in their life, right? Then it was off to the tufas, the crazy limestone stuctures that are found all around the lake. Not only are they fairly bizarre looking but uncannily fun to talk about. Tufa, tufa, tufa!

Notice the sky gets progressively darker. Turns out a big ol' rain storm was on it's way across the lake, so naturally we all stood around and watched it as it rolled in.

The impending rain...and not just a small shower. It set in for the long haul, which made the thought of camping less than desirable so we headed south on 395 in the hopes of escaping the rain.

We ended up camping near Mammoth Lakes which was relatively rain-free and the following day was gorgeous. So, there you have it...the mountains from the East.