Dale Matson
Click On Photograph To Enlarge
I am about to publish another Kindle Book with about 90 photographs of the Sierra Nevada. Here is the introduction.
It is about 150 Miles from the town
of Olancha in the South to Lee Vining in the North. All of the Sierra Nevada
14ers and White Mountain (3rd highest mountain in California) are
located along this corridor. Most of these mountains can be seen from Highway
395.
In Lone Pine, one can take the
Whitney Portal Road to Whitney Portal (8,000’) or depart the Whitney Portal
Road for Cottonwood Lakes for a nice day hike or more with a trailhead about
10,000’. The largest elevation difference in the continental U.S. is from the
town of Lone Pine to the top of Mount Whitney.
You can take the road to Onion
Valley out of Independence and hike to Kearsarge Pass past several lakes. It is
a bit of a climb about 10 miles round trip. East of Independence is the most
popular of the mountain passes to get to the west side of the Sierra, Kearsarge
Pass. I have also been over two of the “Nasty Passes”, Baxter Pass and Taboose
Pass. My best advice would be don’t do either of those two passes. The Japanese
who were interred at Manzanar during World War II, near Independence CA could
see Mt. Williamson, the 2nd highest mountain in CA.
Perhaps one of the best vistas is
to drive up toward the Bristlecone Pines (out of Big Pine) east of 395, There
is a viewing area where you can look west and see much of the Sierra Nevada.
Another good spot on a clear day is the top of White Mountain Peak where you
will be looking down on most of the
Sierra. You can actually drive as far as Barcroft research station which is
about 12,000’. You might see some bighorn sheep also as you climb to the
building at the top of the mountain.
Another viewing area is to take the
Mammoth Mountain Gondola to the top of the mountain (11,050’) where you can see
much of the Mammoth Basin with many lakes, south to Crowley Lake and North to
Mono Lake.
If you want to spend a day hiking,
I would highly recommend the Rock Creek Trail. Turn east at “Tom’s Place” south
of Mammoth Lakes and drive to the end of the road. The trailhead is high but
the trail is relatively flat and passes several beautiful alpine lakes.
There is another road to explore
west out of Big Pine. Glacier Lodge Road is a beautiful climb with magnificent
views. If you go west out of Big Pine, you can get to some of the oldest trees
in the world, the Bristlecone Pines.
It is possible in the spring to see
the endangered Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep along Tully Creek, Black Canyon,
Baxter Canyon, Pine Creek road north of Bishop, the Wheeler Ridge group. They
come over to the east side of the Sierra to escape the snow in the winter and
there is good food for them also. I have included photos from the Mt. Langley
group and Baxter Canyon group. There are only about 500 sheep spread along the
Sierra in small groups from Olancha Peak to Yosemite in the north. I have
included examples also of the Desert Bighorn east of Bishop and on the shoulder
of White Mountain Peak.
Why am I doing this as a Kindle
Book? A paperback does not do justice to the beauty of these places. This is
the 21st century “Coffee Table Book”.
If
you want even more beauty, backpack into the eastern Sierra. I hope you enjoy
the journey and it whets your appetite for a visit to one of the most beautiful
places on earth.
Here it is:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081LT5XBW/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=dale+matson&qid=1573990558&sr=8-1
