Day 69: Benton Crossing, CA

Today’s quote of the day was from Liam, “Sometimes it is about the journey, not the destination.” Spoiler alert: today’s journey was bumpy but very, very fun.

We were up in time to see the full moon set over the mountains at the frosty temperature of -3 degrees Celsius. We headed off in our bathing suits and housecoats to soak and watch the sunrise at Crab Cooker Hot Springs. It was glorious; the cold air mixed with hot water was so good it pretty much defies description.

It is below zero! Brrr.

Here comes the sun!

So steamy.

After drying off back at the campground and devouring hot oatmeal for breakfast with fresh coffee from the camp store, we headed to Convict Lake to try our luck fishing for trout. We have never seen so much pressure on a lake on a Tuesday! The lake was rammed with fishermen (and women) fishing off shore, the bridge, boats, kayaks, and paddle boards! The lake had been stocked a few days prior so we could see trout swimming by and jumping but they were generally uninterested in biting the bait anyone was offering. We did have one chase a worm and bite, which Ian managed to reel in. Woot! Woot!

After hotdogs on the BBQ for lunch accompanied by three free root beer floats (since each boy found a special rock today), we headed on an off-roading adventure. We drove a narrow, single lane, rutted, uneven, steep, dirt road to visit the Crowley Lake columns. The drive was exciting (a bit nuts?!) to put it mildly. We used 4-wheel drive and bottomed out several times but thanks to Ian’s incredible driving abilities, we made it to the parking lot relatively unscathed.

Narrow and windy - here we come!

It is impossible to tell in the photo how steep this is with DEEP ruts.

Fat car squeeze! We just fit through.

The columns were pretty cool. They are essentially petrified steam vents that developed when snowmelt mixed with hot volcanic ash and then were uncovered as Crowley Lake water eroded away the surrounding sand. The lake level is high this time of year due to snowmelt so the columns were still partially submerged. This we expected. What surprised us was the thick carpet of algae covering the entire beach area adjacent to the columns. We thought that we might be able to swim on the beach but upon arriving, we realized that this would be absolutely disgusting (and probably unsanitary) and would not be happening. We saw what we could from the cliff and beach and headed back for the return drive on the crazy road.

We made it to the parking lot. Whew!

Down we go to the beach. See the algae? Ugh.

The algae carpet. It was thick. Ick.

Our last adventure of the day involved checking out the last few hot springs in the area. Table Tub Hot Springs was a smaller but deeper tub built into the side of a rocky outcrop. 

Shepherd Hot Springs was a small concrete tub that was occupied when we arrived, so we moved on. Finally, Hilltop Hot Springs was a winner. The water was really hot, the wind at the top of the hill was cool and refreshing, and we had amazing 360 degree mountain views.

Bacterial mats on the hot water. Note that this was NOT in the hot tub but on the landscape surrounding the tub. Pretty cool.

Dinner is BBQ chicken legs and corn-on-the-cob prepared by Liam and Seamus. They are getting fantastic at cooking on the BBQ! It has been a very full and very fun day - even if it was a tad bumpy.

Day 68: Mono Mills to Benton Crossing via Bodie, CA

Today’s adventure was exploring one of California’s best preserved Gold Rush Ghost Towns. We dropped off the trailer at the Mono Lake Visitors Centre and drove the long winding gravel road to Bodie, CA. On the way, we saw shepherds working their flocks on the mountain sides. That is a job I could get into!

The now abandoned mining town had its heyday in the late 1800s when its population swelled to 10,000 citizens. At the height of the boom in 1881, Bodie boasted 65 saloons, 18 lodging houses and hotels, 3 breweries, restaurants, a post office, bank, fire station, school, Chinatown, red light district, jail and much more. It sounded like a crazy place. There were 100 men for every woman and, more often than not, the first gun fight of the day occurred before breakfast. After two fires that burned huge sections of the town, the remaining structures represent about 5% of what Bodie was at its peak.

Upon our arrival, we got a history lesson about Bodie from an engaging park ranger who then took us on a guided tour of the stamping mill. The mill was originally one of nine mills (and now the only one left) where the quartz that was mined from one of the 300 mine tunnels underground into dust and where the gold and silver dust were then separated out using mercury and then cyanide. We self-guided around the remaining town structures and were able to peek in all the windows. We saw bars, a mercantile, the morgue (with caskets), and more. So many things were left inside the buildings - beds, books, dry goods, cooking utensils - it looked like people just got up one day and left, leaving so many of their belongings behind. The historical movie answered any remaining questions we had, including showing how harsh the winters were and the crazy deep snow they got here due to the above 8,000 ft elevation of the town. Also we saw in the film how the Main Street turned into a stinky bog in the spring when all the horse and donkey poop mixed with snowmelt and mud. Yuck!

Fire hall.

Gas station.

General store.

Gaming hall.

Bar.

Mailboxes at the Post Office.

Restaurant.

Hotel room.

School house.

Stamping mill.

Superintendent Hoover’s house.

Mercury tables.

Safe.

Jail house.

General store.

General store.

Methodist church.

It was a cool place to see and we really enjoyed our visit. After reuniting with our trailer, we checked into Brown’s Owens River Campground in Benton Crossing. This is an incredibly beautiful place with enormous, beautiful mountains in the distance. Our site backs directly on to a winding river. As the boys searched for painted rocks throughout the campground to earn them a free root beer float for each one found courtesy of the camp store (this was instantly their favourite campground ever) and I made a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, we watched a storm roll in.

Boys with their free treats.

Rain incoming!

After dinner it was time to explore our first hot spring. We selected Wild Willy’s Hot Spring as our first one to try and it was perfect. It was a series of natural pools at the end of a long boardwalk. We managed to score a deep pool at the top (which is where the hottest water is). Also, the sunset was on fire! We’re now warm and sleepy - off to bed.