Morning hike in Frisco, then a beautiful drive over the Continental Divide via Loveland Pass. I know I'm overusing the superlatives in this blog, but we really are seeing so many spectacular places!
Got to our friends Jim and Sandy with time for dinner and a nice neighborhood walk. Since the altitude is "only" 5,430 ft., no panting was required!
Started with a nice local history museum in Driggs. Mostly about pioneers and ranching, somehow it was nice to see some well-worn and obvious much-loved saddles. Also a list of how many lashes kids got for various misbehaviors as well as rules for the teachers. Of course, women lost their job if they married. (For those missing rock pictures, it's there--the water is flowing over volcanic tuff.) Then went to both Lower and Upper Mesa Falls. The lower falls were beautiful, but the upper falls truly spectacular. Dinner was delicious: elk ravioli in a wild mushroom sauce.
First stop today was Bodie State State Historic Site--a goldrush era town that was ~8000 in it's heyday. The town is being preserved in a state of "arrested decay", meaning they're not restoring things but rather trying to preserve them as they were when the last residents left. Didn't see any ghosts but definitely interesting. Next stop was the Alabama Hills, near Lone Pine. Spectacular rock formations! We took a short hike through some of the rocks, to the Mobius Arch. Then on to Ridgecrest for the night.
Spent the morning catching up on important things like laundry. Then drove to the Amerind museum. Really nice museum--spectacular jewelry, baskets and pottery. Unfortunately, no photos allowed in the museum, but the view from where we had our picnic lunch was great.
So nice to see you guys and show you around the mountains as part of your great big journey home! :)
ReplyDelete