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The Lady had
our coffee ready before dawn. I had the camera on the tripod to try some long
exposures as I wondered how the pastel colors would come out with the early predawn light.
We returned
to camp for breakfast and put the chairs on the north side of the wash in the
sun. The sun warmed us nicely, although, if my memory serves me well, I believe
the low was only 44°. The Teds were a bit down with colds coming on. The Lady
and I returned to the basin for further exploration. This amazing landscape
demanded it.
We found Ted
chatting with a lone photographer as we were returning. Ted joined us as we
climbed up through an area of spires.
I have a suspicion
these outcroppings may be petrified wood.
These spires
may be pyroclastic flow topped with harder material. Remember, I'm barely an amateur.
The colors and
types of the small stones covering the ground could have kept us occupied for
hours.
What a special
morning this was!
In several
areas in the basin there were thin harder vertical layers weathering away.
We used up
much of the morning with our rambling before we made our way back to
camp.
We dropped
the camper tops and drove to find a road that might provide a view from the
rim. We found what we were looking for. The Lady, of course, went scrambling
for a high point with a view.
As the Teds
and I were watching the Lady scramble about, we discovered an incredible
surprise....................
"What
do you think Ted? A possible breeding pair?" I asked.
"Don't
move!" Ted whispered, "Let's not disturb them. This is too
special."
We retreated
as quietly as we could.
Now you can
understand why I am providing no exact locations. Perhaps we will return someday
and find happy little Plineys rolling around.
"What's
the gestation period?" I asked Ted.
"Depends
on the yeast. It's all about the yeast," he answered.
Ted seemed
almost overpowered with emotion; a strong paternal feeling perhaps.
We wanted to
get closer to home to shorten Monday's drive. The Teds also wanted to return
via 120 to 395. We relaxed for a while at Benton Hot Springs.
There are
many interesting farming and ranching antiques.
The old main
station still stands but is closed.
A safe sat
with the door partially open.
"I
think we have the start of a good population of Pliney here in the Great
Basin," Ted said. "I'm harvesting this one!"
Satisfied and winding down a wonderful weekend trip, we relaxed and took in the
surroundings.
We explored
areas north of 120 between Benton and Mono Lake for future camping spots.
We had an close encounter with a feral horse.
For our last
night out we returned to a campsite the Teds have used in the past on the south
side of Mono Lake. This was an evening of color.
Ted
celebrated the end of the weekend with a traditional campfire. Well not quite
traditional since he used good leave no trace practices and did not build an
unsightly fire ring.
The fire was
extinguished and completely buried and the area leveled. There was no trace.
Ted gets it done right.
A strange
thing happened on Monday morning. The lady wiggled to life around 5 am, her usual
time, and clicked the thermostat and furnace to life. 23° was the overnight low. We both fell back into a deep sleep and came to at
6:30 am. That was sleeping in for us and we hope not a sign of getting older.
We were pretty shocked, but it was pretty damn cozy.
The Lady and I wandered down to the lake
edge, not an easy walk with all the brush dodging. The Teds had a longer drive
home so they started on their way.
Although it looked much closer, it was a
little over an hour down to the old (pre LA diversion) shoreline.
We came upon a wondrous area of sand tufa.
The air was calm with very little wind, a
nice surprise.
The tufa towers pictured above had springs
at their base.
These towers of limestone
developed underwater as underground springs bubbled up to the surface leaving calcium
carbonate deposited as the towers grew.
Mono Lake is only around 3.5 hours from home
so we lingered and enjoyed the warmth of the sun.
I hope we know how lucky we are. I believe
we do. It is a treasure to be able to explore spectacular territory for the first
time, and in relative solitude. It was a pleasure to share the weekend with the
Teds and we thank them for their friendship and hospitality and company. Another great trip!
No Pliney the Elders were harmed in any way
during this adventure.
