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Little Lakes Valley, Bristlecone Pine Forest, Mono Lake, Bodie Ghost Town 6-07 This area on the Eastern side of the Sierra Nevada's is blessed with great beauty and also some records for places in the lower 48. All of these are within 150 miles of the Bristlecone Pine Forest. Bristlecone Pine forest- Oldest tress, 4900 years old, / Mono Lake - Oldest lake,700,00 years old, / Bodie Ghost Town, record setting continuous low temp. 167 days, / Mt Whitney - Highest Mountain in the lower 48, / Badwater, Death Valley , lowest place at 282ft. below sea level / Death Valley, Highest recorded temp. There are more, but you get the idea.
Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. Leaving the town of Bishop Ca. its about an hour drive up the ranger station at the Schulman grove, elevation 10,000ft. We only stayed long enough to check out the info. signs and then we headed up the dirt road for a bumpy 12 miles drive. Arriving at the dirt parking lot of the Patriarch Grove, it was easy to tell we had gained a lot more elevation and truck was feeling a little anemic in power. Of course at 11,200ft elevation, the truck and both of us were noticing the lack of oxygen. This forest is unique to the White Mountains of California and some 20 Bristlecone Pines are at least 4,000 years old, with the oldest being around 4700 years old.
After leaving the Patriarch Grove we drove further up the dirt road above the treeline to a saddle in the road. Checking with the ranger later, they said this area was about at 12,000 ft. I had no idea there were any roads in this country that you could drive up this high. However the ranger said the road was chained shortly beyond where we stopped, but it did continue on up to a research station that was at 14,000 ft. Wow, that's almost Mt Whitney high. Even at 12,000 ft. it was a very surreal experience. For being very still, quiet, cold and barren, it was also very impressive. This was definitely one of the high points of the trip, --- go figure!!!
Mono Lake, Calif. I had a few of my corvettes driven up to the area so I could take a cool photo with Yosemite in the background. And since I was in the area, I figured I might as well get this repo house secured. Ok, back to reality. The rest are from the shore of Mono lake.
Bodie State Historic Park, California Only about five percent of the buildings from the 1880s still remain today. The town of Bodie boasted a population of 10,000 back in 1879 making it one of the larger cities in the country at the time with no less than 65 saloons. Gun fights and killings were almost a daily occurrence. This was the Wild West you've heard about. With the elevation being over 8300ft, this town stills holds records for its harsh weather. This was our third trip to Bodie and the light was good for photography, finally. Most of these photos are almost straight from the camera with very little post processing. Only 3 of them were taken with the multiple exposure HDR process.
Little Lakes Valley, CA. Little Lakes Valley is situated on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains and one of the few places where you can drive up to a trailhead which starts at an elevation of 10,000 feet. Its a gorgeous place to visit with the hiking trail being easy, as long as the altitude doesn't get to you.
All photographs are the property of Bobbio Photography and may not be used or copied without prior permission. If you would like to purchase a print or a license to use a photo on your website or other media, please send me an Email. Thanks Frank Bobbio
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