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A Summit and a Soak
Long time readers here know exactly what the Lady always wants for her birthday – a mountain summit. As the weather cools in Fall and the calendar heads toward winter, we occasionally check for cancellations at Benton Hot Springs, just to see if something fits our schedule. A few days before the Lady’s birthday we checked and scored two open nights at tub 8, for Wednesday and Thursday.
The Lady’s birthday was Monday. It rained hard here all day Sunday. Monday promised clearing weather. The forecast delivered and we set off with the birthday girl in the copilot seat.
We had unfinished business up on Glass Mountain Ridge, east of Mono Lake. We’ve made two searches for a rock art site, said to be close to a spring area, without success. We’d give it another try. We do not give up easily. After a long rough drive in, we parked and got ready to hike. Storm clouds were building.
The Lady led the way.
All the distant groves of aspen were stripped of leaves – the ghost groves of Fall.
After crossing the saddle, we dropped down to the spring area.
We worked our way to the edge with a wonderful view into the Long Valley Caldera and the home of the Upper Owens River. The Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) was in bloom.
We spent a long time in the off and on rain searching every rock outcrop for petroglyphs without success. The Lady was sure, since it was her birthday, the rock art gods would deliver. Sadly, they did not. Now I better deliver with a mountain summit.
In the late afternoon we returned to the truck and drove to one of our favorite dispersed campsites that we call granite camp. It froze hard overnight. With the recent rain, frost covered most everything. We were up before dawn. A low light long exposure –
The skies brightened with color.
And we walked in the cold with our mugs of hot coffee.
From watching the weather forecast, this was the best day to go high. After a drive on backroads covered with shards of obsidian – the area is noted for this – we parked at the unmarked trailhead. The birthday girl was ready and raring to go.
There is a use trail to the summit of Glass Mountain. It is a little over 2.5 miles and 2000 feet of vertical, a hop, skip, and a jump. It is very steep in places and there are several slopes covered with obsidian. A slip or a fall will give you a case of rock rash you’ll never forget.
Our direction of travel was up.
On this north facing slope in the stunted white bark pines there were patches of snow from snowfall earlier this month. They were now hard ice making for a few short treacherous sections.
The grade lessened as we neared the saddle before the summit.
The views were outstanding as we approached the top. East with the White Mountains -
Southwest across the Long Valley Caldera and the high Sierra Nevada beyond -
An hour and a half from the truck we were on the summit of Glass Mountain, 11,128 feet elevation.
View west with Banner, Ritter, and the Minarets just left of center -
North with the north summit of Glass Mountain and Mono Lake beyond -
View to the northeast across Adobe Valley and into Nevada -
The Lady had her mountain summit for her birthday.
She loves summit registers.
The weather was excellent on the top with little wind. We retraced our route back down to the truck.
We made camp Tuesday night in the Benton Hills, another favorite spot. We were, again, completely alone with no one else in the area. We had an early dinner so we could take in the evening light and moon rise.
What a glorious evening it was!
We were up before dawn the next morning. The sky grew rosy as sunrise approached.
The sunrise was spectacular.
We were low on gas and the Lady wanted to buy socks at Eastside Sports. We headed for Bishop but were stopped by one remaining aspen grove with color.
With socks in hand and the gas tank on the truck filled, the Lady wanted to find the few remaining rock art sites in the Volcanic Tablelands still on our “to find” list. The wind was picking up, the weather was changing. The Sierra Wave was high overhead.
Site #1 was one boulder with petroglyphs.
Site #2 was a group of 5 to 6 boulders and the most extensive rock art we visited this day.
Site #3 was a single boulder with rock art and with shelters nearby.
Site #4 was a stacked rock area with shelters and petroglyphs.
With good success finding sites in the Volcanic Tablelands, it was time to head to Benton. We invited Barking and Ma Spider to join us for the two nights. They were waiting at check in when we arrived. We got settled in and it was time to soak in the restorative healing hot spring waters.
The clouds built over the White Mountains as evening came. The moon rose. It was magical.
The Lady – remember she was the birthday girl – wished to hike up the canyon past the hot spring source for our non-soaking activity for the next day. The Spiders joined us.
This canyon was hit hard by several storms last season. It was hit even harder by the remnants of Hurricane Hillary this past June. We heard stories about the crew at Benton working hard through the night to save the source spring from the onslaught of water coming down canyon. This is new down cutting in the canyon from Hillary.
We found mortars and metates (grinding slicks).
We also found recent bear and mountain lion tracks. Here’s the bear tracks – hard to see – on hard ground.
As the canyon narrows the granite walls are incredibly picturesque
This canyon carried the Pleistocene outflow from Mono Lake. There are large potholes buried in the canyon, evidence of past high water flows.
The Lady - of course, she always does – wanted to climb out of the canyon and walk the ridge back. The Spiders said the hot tub was calling them. They walked back down the canyon. The Lady and I went up.
We dropped down to our little piece of paradise.
Barking Spider fired up his barbecue and grilled tasty red meat. The girls combined forces and produced an excellent salad. We had a mighty fine dinner. We ate early, this allowed us to walk in the evening light.
We drove home the next day and made it a leisurely drive. The Lady got her mountain summit for her birthday and soaked away all her cares. Me? For the first time in my life, I woke up in bed with a 67-year-old woman. That was right dandy! Happy birthday Julie!
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