Mr & Mrs Scrivs On Tour: A days of great highs and lows

8000ft down to sea level and 66F to 118F!
Following on from where we last left off.

After our long day's drive we arrived at the June Lake Villager a motel in the winter ski resort and summer fishing and mountaineering resort of June Lake.

The hotel is quite basic but they are doing a lot of work on it. The bed was really comfort and it boasted the best shower of the holiday so far.

Another bonus is that it was just around the corner from the June Lake Brewing Company. So, after unpacking our bags we made our way into the bar and purchased a beer flight of:

Silver Lake Saisson
Sasquachita XPA
Deer Beer Brown Ale
Rock n' Dirt Milk Stout

We both agreed that the Silver Lake Saisson was our favourite so had a pint of that. When I say pint I mean a real 20oz pint too, not these lightweight 16oz pints!

It must be the altitude - June Lake is at 8000ft - because after another pint I was feeling s bit giddy so we retired to the Sierra Inn Restaurant where we both had veggie burger and a great unlimited salad for less than $30.00 including a tip.

I had a pretty shoddy nights sleep, probably the booze and awoke sweating quite early but did manage to drop off eventually.

I loaded the washing machine with our laundry and then picked up a couple of cappuccinos from a lovely little coffee shop which I took back to the room and we enjoyed with half s bears claw that we had picked up from Vons.

After the washing was done and dried we loaded up the car and set off, pausing to take a few shots of the beautiful June Lake.

We soon picked up Hwy 395 and were heading south pausing at Mammoth Lake where we drove up to the pickup point for the Devils Post Pile monument, however finding that the trip would be two hours we decided that we had not the time.

Descending back down past the ski lifts we noticed signs for the Earthquake Fissure so stopped here for a few minutes.

We continued on Hwy 395 a stunning road that descends the valley with the Sierras on our right and the Onyo range on left.

Reaching Big Pine we filled up with gas (see getting like a local) and a huge bucket of Diet Coke and were on our way again. We had been on the road for over three hours so pulled in to the town of Lone Pine where we took some shots of the stunning Mount Whitney - Americas highest peak - and had a dinner of burritos and fries at the Bonanza Family Resturaunt.

Leaving Lone Pine we picked up the road for Death Valley.

We stopped for a short while at Padre Crowley point and then descended on to Panamint Flats where we saw a coyote.

However we were still not in Death Valley proper. Having dropped down to 2000ft for Panamint Flats we now climbed back up to nearly 5000ft on Towne Pass before descending back to sea level.

Just before we reached our destinations or the evening at Stovepipe Well we turned off on to the dirt trap signposted Mosaic Canyon.

At Mosaic Canyon I ascended the dry watercourse through many different rock formations.