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Morning after a rainy night at Bodie
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"I went to the desert
In search of the rain,
Bore my skin to the sky
And was cloud-kissed again."
I've been trying to honor the conviction I had at the beginning of the pandemic when I realized that I don't spend nearly enough of my time visiting friends and places that I love. This weekend was the second of two trips to the Eastern Sierra and, as an overnighter instead of a long day-trip, it was absolutely superb. For one, it rained both days, on and off, and I got to indulge in the pleasures of fat, cold drops splattering on my skin, and the scents of phlox, sage, and rabbitbrush drying in the aftermath of precipitation. It was positively lovely.
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The pink heads, white bodies, and black rumps of avocets in summer!
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On the first day, my friend Betty and I wandered down to Mono Lake and Lee Vining, walking the boardwalk along the north shore from the county park, and spying (for the first time I can remember) my favorite shorebird from the end of the platform: the American Avocet! I absolutely love these birds, and was so stoked to recognize them, even without a spyglass. And not only were there the handful in this picture, but there appeared to be an entire flock of perhaps 100 of these amazing birds standing just offshore. It was a propitious omen, indeed. :)
The next day we went up to Saddlebag Lake, took the ferry across, and hiked the "Twenty Lakes Basin" loop. Turns out there's more than 20 lakes there. Following, in no particular order, are several of the photographs I took along the way. Many of these I captured with the intention of using them for watercolor painting inspiration down the road. A reminder that clicking on the photos will open them bigger so you can see them better.
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A veritable sea of monkey flowers!
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The top end of Lundy Canyon - someday I hope to connect these two hikes!
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A particularly beautiful rock in the trail!
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Betty on the move
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The purple new cone growth of a Lodgepole Pine, living up to its Latin name at this elevation, which implicates not its straight poles, but its contortions under the strain of the weather at this elevation.
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I was particularly marveling at the zigzag striations in the left part of this mountain when I took this pic.
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A lake full of seasonal islands. I can just picture a fantasy world here, with houses of people living on the islands and boats gliding between...
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Until next time!
