Bishop, California

May 21, 2023

It was somewhat bittersweet leaving our scenic campground in Lone Pine, but when we drove into our new campground near Bishop, we found it to be just as scenic.

Behind our campsite was a dirt road calling out to be explored, so after setting up and having some lunch, we headed out on our bikes. The road gradually degenerated into little more than a wash, so we turned around and rode some of the local roads for a while. We ended up riding about 8.5 miles in total.

The road behind our campsite started off ok, but then got really sketchy after a while

The road leading away from the campground, overlooking the Volcanic Tablelands

This tree was very fragrant!

Most scenic cow pasture ever

The next day we went into Bishop to check out the Laws Museum, get lunch at the famous Erik Schat's Bakery, fill a propane tank, and go grocery shopping. We also stopped by the visitor center to find out what hiking areas were open. Turns out, most of the roads into the mountains to the best trailheads were still closed due to snow or flood damage (no big surprise there, on account of the very snowy winter). The volunteer gave us a few suggestions, and we got some good maps and such.

The museum was the highlight of the day (followed by the very good sandwich and pot pie we had at Schat's). The town of Laws formed in the 1880s, surrounding the railroad depot which mostly serviced the many mines in the area. The railroad, in operation until the early 1960s, also provided transportation to the local population until the establishment of roads throughout the area. Now the town pretty much consists of this museum, comprised of many historic buildings and artifacts--most of which were moved here from other locations.

Luckily we had our shoes with us this day 😉

It's not everyday that you see an antique hearse

It's amazing that people actually rode these bikes (called penny farthings). Fun fact: There were no brakes, so slowing down was not always an option.

The hair curlers kind of look like a torture device 😉 

Julie is happy to have been born in modern times with modern medicine...

...and modern dentistry

Don't know what these flowering trees were, but they sure were pretty!

The station agent's house

Lots of old appliances

A human-powered locomotive turntable

One of the building housed several wagons

A really old camper

An entire building was dedicated to the 20-mule teams that transported many tons of borax. A group of local craftsmen recreated this mule wagon to be as authentic as possible.

On Wednesday, we took a drive around the area near our campground, stopping frequently to explore wherever it looked interesting.

We happened upon an old tungsten mine

The mine shaft was only accessible for a few feet

Abandoned mining equipment

Thursday, we headed north along 395 and to higher elevations. Our first stop was Convict Lake. Most of the trail circling the lake was clear of snow, except for a spot a little more than halfway around the lake.

The lake had a split personality. The north and west ends had an alpine appearance, whereas the south and east ends were scrubby desert-like. The picture-taking was clearly biased toward the alpine views. 

There was no getting around the deep snow here. Any attempt to walk through the slippery snowbank risked an express ride into the icy lake. We turned around and went back the way we came.

Julie braving the snow to take the above picture of the snowy impasse around the rest of the lake.

After a picnic lunch along the lakeshore, we drove further north (and higher up) to the town of Mammoth Lakes. Our next camping destination was supposed to be at a campground there, but we received notice a few days ago that our reservation was cancelled due to snow. We decided to take a ride there to check out the epic snow.

That's pretty epic--and a bunch of snow had already melted!

So this is why they closed the campground (The campground is directly behind Rick)

The main ski lodge is expected to stay open until August this year

Will that ever melt?

We watched the skiers for a while

Counter-intuitively, the town's name was not inspired by the extinct animal. That didn't stop them from putting up a statue of a wooly mammoth, though.

That is Lake Mary. We'll have to come back some day when it's not frozen.

Can't imagine how much snow there was before a bunch of it melted!

Driving back "home" to lower (and snow-free) elevations

The rest of our time was spent mostly around camp. We attempted to ride our bikes along another dirt road off the far end of our campground, but it got to be too rocky after a while and we turned around (only 4 miles total).

The road got even more rocky after this

Some other random pictures from around camp...

Julie enjoying her office with a view

Looking down at the campground. You can just barely see Highway 395 in the distance.

The last few days brought storms in the late afternoon (mostly in the distance). It made for some spectacular sunsets.

Close encounters???

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