Round 2 Day 3.2 Hwy 395 to Lone Pine

As we continued South on Hwy 395 along the

eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mtns, it continued

to rain, rain, rain (but thankfully no snow).

No such luck, but that didn't keep us from looking.

There are many peaks over 14,000 feet visible along this section
of 395.  On the western side you would find Yosemite National
Park, plus Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

Most of these photos were taken with my i-phone 10S
while Don was driving.  

You may remember in a prior post where I had a
photo of Mono Lake from the air... now we are driving by
along it's western shore.

It is one of the oldest lakes in the western hemisphere.
An immense inland sea which contains about 280 million
toms of dissolved salts.  A 70 square-mile lake that
fills a natural 700 square-mile basin.  They have a
great visitor center which also provides many more photo opportunities.

Another worth while side trip is indicated by these
flags along the east side of the highway.  You'll be
traveling to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest
which is in the White Mountains at
between 9000' - 11,000" elevation.

Some of these living trees exceed 4000 years of age and
exhibit spectacular growth form of twisted and beautifully
colored wood as shown in this photo I took a few years ago.
Some are thought to be the longest living things on earth!!!

A few miles north of Lone Pine is the  Mt Whitney
Fish Hatchery located in Independence CA.

Built out of 3500 tons of granite with 2-3 foot walls,
not cut to size but collected and sorted to fit!

It was built to match the mountains and last forever.

The grounds are stunning to say the least...

Also in Independence, Don had time to solve
a virtual geocache!!!

And of course no trip to Lone Pine would be
complete without a picture of Mt Whitney 14,505' 
(the tallest peak in the lower 48) basking
in the morning sun, (which I took in 2016), since
the nasty rainy weather today obliterated it's magnificence!!!