Day 4: Northern California Road Trip!
The next morning we woke up early, packed the car, and headed over Tioga Pass. We stopped for breakfast at Tenaya Lake. It was very chilly
After breakfast we continued on to Tuolumne Meadows. With the waking sun the meadows were shimmering as the fog burnt off!
Now it was time for us to bid Yosemite farewell as we inter Inyo National Forest for the last stretches of Tioga Pass. Upon exiting we stopped at Whoa Nellie Deli in Lee Vining for an amazing breakfast burrito!
Next up was a very quick visit to Mono Lake! Mono Lake is a saline soda lake that is terminal, meaning it does not flow anywhere else! The lack an out flow causes high levels of salts to accumulate and make its water alkaline. It famous for its tufa towers which are made of calcium carbonate. The towers forme by the interaction of fresh spring water rising from underwater and interacting with the salty lake water.
For such a short stop this lake gets a long intro because of how cool it was. Touching the water felt soapy and the water is twice the salinity of the ocean! Because of how salty it is brine shrimp make there home there and birds make there migration path this way. The lake ecosystem nearly collapsed due to water diversion. But conservation efforts have began to restore its water levels! So yes this lake was super cool!
We continued our journey north to Lassen Volcanic National Park! We entered through the south entrance and the weather began to spit rain and threaten us!
Right upon entering the south entrance you are greeted by the sulfur smell of the thermal features! Rolling fumaroles and bubbling mud pits cheered our entrance from our long driving day!
Now to reach our camp ground we had to drive through some high altitude sections of the park and ran into some unexpected snow. Thanks to the directions of the park rangers and our four wheel drive we safely navigated the area and got some fun photos at the peek!
Down the road a ways the weather cleared and we made it safely to our camp at Manzanita Lake Campground where we were very thankful for our heated cabin!
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