I got an early start and enjoyed a nice brisk drive from Reno to Mammoth Lakes. As we have been having superb weather for the past several days, I had the top down on the jeep. I always enjoy traveling this way when possible. It seems to give me more of a sense of oneness with the world around me than staring at it through the windshield, as described in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". Once I had arrived in town, I stopped at the ranger station to purchase a National Parks Annual Pass. Cass and I have several trips planned over the summer and just seemed like a cost effective way to pay the entrance fees.
The drive into the monument itself is harrowing, as much of it is along a steep one-lane road, descending down into a narrow valley. A few patches of snow still cover the hillsides, even with temperatures reaching around 90 in this area for the last week; today being the warmest. Continuing on to the trailhead, I note a huge number of visitors in the parking lot today. I guess the ranger was right when she described today as National Get Outdoors Day. After a quick check of my gear, I headed out to the first of the two natural wonders planned for this trip, Devil's Postpile. A short quarter-mile trail and I was upon it.
While I have visited the similar Columns of the Giants site, this really is a much better example of columnar basalt formations. Much of the formation is perfectly vertical, with one end having been twisted by geologic forces sometime in the past. As I read, a large percentage of the columns at this site are hexagonal, and seeing the debris that has fallen from the columns above makes one almost believe they were manmade. The formations are so nearly perfect geometrically. Long hexagonal columns lay littered along the ground, some as much as 12 feet long. Truly a marvel of the natural world that the chemical and geologic process at work there could create such a thing.
After taking several pictures, I decide to follow the loop trail up the steep incline to the top of the formation. Once they, I am amazed at how much the top of the columns resemble landscaping work for people's patios. Perfect or near perfect stone work acts as a cover to the ground on the top of this place.
Moving onward, I decide to head for Rainbow Falls, a short two-miles south of the post pile. Though in this heat and with very little shade available to me along the trail, this will end up being a fairly tough two miles, especially on the way back when the sun is beating directly down on me. Along the way, I encounter terrific views of the San Joaquin River below, of forest decimated by wildfire, and of the intersection with the John Muir trail, which I hope to hike someday soon.
As I approach near to the falls, I can hear the thundering sound of water falling over the eroded cliff. And then, I turn a corner to be greeted by a constructed look-out area just above the falls. In contrast to Burney Falls, which I visited just a couple of weeks ago, this is a perfect single drop fall, wide in expanse and powerful in force. I estimate the fall is about one hundred feet tall and is bound on either side by sheer cliffs. Also worth noting, an extremely visible rainbow makes its appearance just south of the falls. I guess we know how it got its name.
Continuing on around and down an extremely steep set of stairs, I make my way down to the base of the falls to be greeted by children playing in the mist generated by the water's collision. After having visited Burney last weekend and with Yosemite and Yellowstone in our plans for the summer, I guess this will be known for us as the year of the waterfalls.
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