It's About the (RV) Journey....: A Day in the Neighborhood...................

Some days we try to take it a little easy....and if we can find something to do in the neighborhood, we do it. Lee Vining is no exception. The Lee Vining Creek Trail is within walking distance of our campground, so after spraying ourselves with all kinds of chemicals (bug spray and sunblock), we headed out on this 1.5 mile one way scenic hike to the Mono Lake Visitor Center.

protecting myself from those wicked little biting bugs

new aftershave?

picking up the trail in the center of town

drops down steeply too the trees below

where it is nice and shaded!

ok....this way

giant pinecones!

the trees are really big here

nice walk in the shade for a change

the creek runs alongside the trail

back out in the desert

The hike meandered along the creek, and the sound of rushing water was very refreshing on this warm day! We took our time and "smelled the roses".....not really....but we did admire all the flowers. The high desert really is quite beautiful!

so many pretty flowers!

pops of color right alongside the trail

the raging river

more pretty flowers

and more!

The trail was a one-track, and it did get quite narrow in spots...especially on the side of the hills. For the most part, I swallowed my fears. I soooooo wish I wasn't afraid of heights. Either that, or I wish I didn't like hiking!

heading back up

the creek was flowing pretty fast

so refreshing

the trail meandered up, then down, then up.....fitbit said 35 flights!

the water is really powerful

and so refreshing - heading to Mono Lake

more up....on that narrow little trail....just sayin'!

The water was really flowing! Its a tributary that feeds right into Mono Lake. You can follow the "green" to see just where the creek is and just where it feeds in. The rest of the area is high desert. We had some pretty nice views of the lake on this hike too!

more views of the flowing creek

desert + elevation = the need for lots of water!

gorgeous views of the lake from here

see where the river flows into the lake? (follow the lime green trees!)

we need to get up there...by the sign post

Once we got to the Visitor Center, we were surprised to see it was closed! Arg! Its seems at this time of year, its only open Thurs-Sun and it was Wednesday. We did notice some swallows nesting at the Visitor Center. Lots of activity going on with that!

From the Visitor Center, there is a hike down to the "Old Marina". We started down the steep trail, and managed to get lost. The trail did not seem to be well marked at all. Being that it was getting to be mid-day and pretty warm, we decided to head back up, walk back home and get our car. On the way walking back, wouldn't you know we found a nicely marked trailhead for that hike?! We walked back to the campground for the car anyway. We had already done the 250 feet "elevation change" there, and didn't want to do it again...hahahha. It was getting way too hot for some of us!

nesting at the Visitor Center

we are heading down to those tufa - its the Old Marina area

note the "no hat".....its HOT!

beautiful views from this trail

nice

heading back up after getting lost in the desert valley for a while

After a little break in the camper, we headed back out in the car to visit the "Old Marina" and also the County Park, which was a little farther down the road. The "Old Marina" area has a nice boardwalk that leads down to the tufas, but we were a little distracted when we spotted some deer peeking out from an oasis in the field. They had their eyes on us, but after a bit, they didn't seem to be bothered by us. We watched as they all went out to feed in the fields near the tufas.

the "Old Marina" area (we drove here)

just beautiful

heading for the boardwalk

see ..... there's the Visitor Center....we got lost somewhere in this desert valley

hard to get lost on the boardwalk

oh hello

gorgeous

that looks like a young one

I never saw a deer sit like a dog-he stayed like that for a few minutes watching the other little one go further into the field

heading into the other field

a great day at the "Old Marina"

strange seeing deer so close to the tufas and the saline-y lake

more wildlife spotting

Back in the car, we headed to the County Park about another mile away or so. We were so surprised with all the green grass! I guess we haven't really seen that in quite a while. We've been surrounded by desert or snow lately!

so green!

heading down the boardwalk

There are tufas here in this area as well, and its a birder's paradise. Visitors are encouraged to stay on the wooden boardwalk so as not to disturb or ruin the tufas. They are extremely fragile. At one point, we could actually hear the spring...it sounded like a water fountain coming out of a tufa! (Remember, that is how tufas are formed. From springs!)

cool

this looks like a giant mushroom

we could hear the springs

tons of birds in this area of the lake!

There were a ton of birds here. I'm too impatient to be a birder, but we have fun observing. Its amazing the things you spot the longer you just look. Patience! We spotted an osprey here too, out on one of the tufas. We had the place to ourselves for a few minutes, and really enjoyed the sounds of silence, except for the chirping of millions of birds! (Not sure how many...hahahah...but it was pretty loud!)