Going to Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort.

Drove about 9 and half hours from 7:00 in the morning. No stops for breakfast nor lunch; only driving, eating, drinking, singing... After driving a couple of hours, I finally got what I wanted: a cup of coffee. I could not find any cafe or gas station that has coffee so far. This stretch of highway is far more lonely than Hwy 50.

The Extraterrestrial highway: it is funny to drive this highway. I saw a solid line in the middle of the grass field. That must be the boundary of the military zone. I wonder where Susie spend her time when she was after the Area 51. Other than the entrance road sign, this highway is nothing but *typical* Nevada highway. Gradual but a lot of up and downs, dry roundish mountain ranges, in between the ranges, the green field with some wild flowers. Some ranges still had snow.

Town of Tonopath is at the junction of Hwy93, Hwy95, and Hwy 6, and it is in the middle of nowhere. But the town is a lot larger than I thought. It has some mining going on. And many houses were barracks made of tin-wall. Are they the houses for the miners? They must have a tough life here, I imagine. In the gas station, all of the customers were tourist. A group of young people (college students?) were having a great time. I felt something strange to see the contrast.

As I got closer to the California border, I though a mountain range covered with snow. I thought it was Sierra-Nevada, but it was probably White Range. The Boundary Peak reminded me of Great Basin NP; a peak that is covered with snow. CA120 was fun to drive (only if I were not tired...) A lot of turns, interesting looking red rocks (similar to Alabama Hills near Lone Pine), pine tree forest, view of Mono Lake and Sierra Nevada. But one more fun was bumps. A 4 miles section was really badly constructed, my car was jumping up and down. I could feel the G-force! I saw several motor cycles attacking corners. Boy the Sierra Nevada is impressive. It was very windy today; there were too much haze to have a good look at the mountains. Still the sheer wall and snow covered granite peaks is my favorite scenery. FInally arrived in Mammoth Lakes around 3:30pm.

Skiing and Snowboarding at Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort.

Frankly speaking, it probably was the worst snow I've ever skiied. There were only little snow left on the slope. What left on the slope had turned into pretty much like an ice. They said it was the worst season this year. The ski resort usually has even more snow in the August. But I could not complain for this was the only ski resort that were open around here. A lot of skiers and snowboarders trying to enjoy the last moment of the season. Too bad there were only blue slopes; no snow on the green ones. For first time snowboarders like me, it was a tough place. Icy snow made it even worth. A fall meant shock to the body. After several hard falls, I ended up dislocating my right shoulder. Ouch! It hurt. Hmm, my right arm was pointing in a wrong direction. I moved my arm around. And then, "pop!"; it went back in. The pain disappeared. So, I snowboard down the slope to the ski patrol. I did not have the guts to continue snowboard any more though.

Going Home and Yosemite National Park. Left Mammoth Lake about 8:00 and arrived at Yosemite National Park around 10:30am. Well, As usual, stopped by Tenaya Lake and the famous viewpoint behind the Yosemite Valley to take some photos.

Everyone of us has been to the Yosemite National Park many times. But no one had been here enough. In the Yosemite Valley, we stopped at almost every viewpoint: Bridalveil Fall, El Capitan, Merced River, etc. We were most impressed with the Yosemite Fall; no one had seen the fall with so much water. We walked to the Mirror Lake; again we were amazed to see so much water in the lake. After all, no one had visited Yosemite in the spring. There is always something to discover.