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TRIP
LEADER: Roger
Vargo
WHAT:
The films,
"Dante's Peak" and "Volcano", portray fictional
volcanic eruptions. The real forces of Mother Nature
are close at hand in the northern Owens Valley. The town of
Mammoth Lakes is perched at the edge of Long Valley, a
9-mile-wide and 19-mile-long collapsed volcanic crater that
erupted with a force estimated to have been 600 times grater
than the 1980 eruption at Mt. St. Helens. That massive
eruption released 150 cubic miles of searing hot
volcanic ash that spread across the countryside with the speed
of an avalanche. The eruption occurred 760-thousand years ago,
a very short time ago by the geologic time scale. Currents of
molten rock are still on the move four miles underground, as
numerous hot springs and steam vents attest.
The
Mono Lake Basin, to the north, is bordered by sleeping
volcanoes. Periods of glaciation, the last of which ended
10,000 years ago, carved the granites of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains overlooking the Owens Valley.
Enjoy
a relaxing weekend in the cool of early summer. We’ll spend
three days and two nights exploring and learning about natural
forces shaping the land. Our journey begins on the volcanic
tableland north of Bishop. We’ll travel across the volcanic
avalanche on the old stage and freight road from Bishop to
Benton and explore ancient Indian petroglyphs along the way.
(See "Footprints in Stone", May, 1998, and "The
Land of Volcanoes", April, 1998).
We’ll
cross over the Benton Range and stop for lunch at Hot Creek
(and an optional soak), an active geothermal area. Don’t
worry about modesty, bathing suits are required here. Going
from hot to cold, we’ll also visit the Earthquake Fault,
where pioneers found a natural refrigerator. Our bedroom for
the weekend will be the town of Mammoth Lakes.
Sunday’s
travels include a visit to the "Dead Sea of the
West", better known today as Mono Lake, where (weather
conditions permitting) we’ll trade our 4Xs for canoes and
follow guides from the Mono Lake Committee. Later, it’s off
to the pumice mines and Devil’s Punchbowl before returning
to our overnight digs at Mammoth Lakes.
An
optional shuttle bus/hiking excursion into Devil’s Postpile
National Monument is available Monday, snow and weather
conditions permitting.
Suitable
for stock vehicles in good mechanical condition (including
full size), The Land of Volcanoes tour combines
interpretive history with backroad 4-wheeling adventure. First
timers and family groups are welcome. Accommodations are
not included in the tour fee. You may choose to camp or
spend the nights under the roof of one of Mammoth Lakes many
hostelries. Tour starts in Bishop (driving up overnight is
recommended) and ends in Mammoth Lakes. We’ll visit lands
managed by the Bureau of Land Management and Inyo National
Forest.
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BACKCOUNTRY TOUR
DETAILS
