The weekend finally arrived and me and my trusty yellow lab Dexter set off on U.S. 395, which is a beautiful drive in itself. The ongoing drought was very evident on the way down as the rivers and lakes I passed were so low and sad looking.
We stopped in Lee Vining, CA, to top off the tank so that we could explore the Benton area without worrying too much about having to find a gas station. Just south of Lee Vining, we turned eastward on California State Road 120, which was a winding ribbon of asphalt that dipped up and down as it followed the high desert terrain. Nowadays, most roads cut through the landscape like a big ugly scar and are just plain vulgar. Not the 120. It just flows like a mellow roller coaster and added to the enjoyment of the trip.
We pulled in to Benton around 3:00 PM and checked in with the super friendly staff at the office and then made our way to our campsite.
How cool is this? Each site had it's own private hot spring tub and mine even had a hot ditch running through it.
The campsite was spotlessly clean and surrounded by Aspen and Cottonwood trees. The tub had even been filled prior to my arrival.
13,143' Boundary Peak (the highest point in Nevada) and he entire White Mountains, served as a beautiful backdrop to the Benton area.
All set up and ready for a soak.
Dexter and I hiked around to a few of the other vacant campsites to scout them out for future visits.
Some of the tubs were quite large and I was told that one of them would even hold up to 18 people.
This was the site next to mine.
I originally thought that these tubs were old wine vats, but the manager explained to me that they were part of a 20+ mile redwood pipeline that brought water into the Bishop, CA, area, where it was then sent south to Los Angeles. This pipeline was cut into sections and either sold or given away. I couldn't help but wonder how many millions of board feet of old growth redwood was used for the pipeline; it almost seemed like a waste.
Benton had a beautiful meadow with plenty of space for tents and games of Frisbee, etc.
There was also the typical collection of old buildings and cars...
The old Benton Jail.
The old cars were in the process of dissolving back into the earth...
The road entering the campground and hot spring area.
After hiking around town, Dex and I returned to camp, where I grilled and shared a nice porterhouse steak with him. After dinner, I relaxed in the setting sun and read a chapter from my favorite book "The Monkey Wrench Gang," by Edward Abbey.
Now that the sun was below the horizon, I slinked into the tub for the first time. The water was actually a little too warm, but I learned to regulate it by adding some cooler water and turning off the hot valve completely. By the next day, I was an expert in regulating the temperature of the tub.
I soaked for about and hour and a half the first night before retiring to the camper for the evening. I put one of my favorite old movies ("Bad Day at Blackrock") in the DVD player and enjoyed it while Dexter gnawed on a cowhide.
The next morning, I made a nice breakfast of fried potatoes, eggs and sausage and washed it down with a pot of camp coffee. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, so another soak was in order. I soaked for about an hour before packing my rig up and exploring the area.
I wanted to see the petroglyph sites that were close by and the camp office even provided me with a free map of how to get to them. I would soon find out that it's always a good idea to bring your own paper maps and NOT to rely on the GPS entirely. I was also grateful that some WTW'ers had also given me some valuable information on the petroglyphs, which proved invaluable later that day.
I drove south on Yellow Jacket Road and took wrong turn after wrong turn and wrong fork after wrong fork, but I finally knew I was on the right path when I entered what I believe is called the narrows of Chidago Canyon. These "narrows" were stunning and a trip to drive through.
After spilling out of the narrows, I came to Fish Slough Rd., where I turned to the south and immediately found the petroglyph site.
It's worth mentioning that I typed "petroglyph" into the GPS and there was no match, but as I approached the site, the GPS showed "Hieroglyphics Road." It's just another reason to have your own real maps!
The site is regulated and cared for by the BLM and from what I saw, it was very well taken care of. I saw no evidence of vandalism or misuse, although there was some ever present litter stewn about.
The White Mountains continued to serve as a beautiful backdrop for this entire trip.
We explored the entire area and saw the etchings scattered all over the place. I'm sure we still managed to miss some even though we hiked around for over an hour.
After eating lunch, re-hydrating and resting a bit, we headed further south and found a second petroglyph site.
I've never seen a rock with so many etchings as this one.
Dex and I were both hot and sweaty during our trek and it was only early spring. I can only imagine how hot it gets here in the summer.
We then made our way back to Benton and the comfort of camp. By the time we arrived back, it was dinner time, so after setting up the camper, I grilled Dex and I some hot dogs and I enjoyed a cold beer that was just pulled out of that icy water that a cooler gets on the second day out.
The late afternoon breeze was really kicking up, so I crawled up into the bed and knocked out another couple of chapters of the Monkey Wrench Gang. I must have drifted off a bit because when I woke up, it was early evening and the wind was now howling.
Wind or not, I WAS going to take another evening soak. When I got out of the camper, I realized that the wind sounded much worse than it actually was, but I knew it was blowing in the approaching storm that had been forecast earlier.
The tub water was perfect as I slid into it and the sky was incredible. The western sky was clear and filled with stars, while the eastern sky was cloudy. At one point, the division in the sky between clouds and clear formed an almost perfect Yin Yang pattern. Had I not been so comfortable in the tub, I would have retrieved my camera and captured the image, but in the end, I gave in to the weakness of the warm water.
As the night got later, a full moon rose in the east and luckily it was not blocked by the clouds. It was so beautiful that it was almost surreal. I stayed in the tub for almost 2 1/2 hours that night and could have stayed in even longer, but I didn't want to fall asleep in the tub and that was a very real possibility.
I packed it in, poured myself three fingers of scotch and watched "The Grapes of Wrath" before calling it a night.
I took one final soak the next morning before packing up and heading back home.
I stopped by the old Mono Mills site on the way home (on CA 120) and found it to be very interesting. This mill supplied most of the tremendous amount of lumber required to operate the town and mines of Bodie, CA. It's amazing to see what people were capable of doing in the 1800's with only horses, oxen, steam trains, etc.
By now, the wind was blowing at over 50 mph and it was a COLD wind. On the western horizon, you could see the storm that the wind was blowing in.
I had planned on spending an hour or so exploring the tufa on the southern shore of Mono Lake, but the wind, cold and the dust was just too intense. Mono Lake was a sea of white caps and the air was filled with white dust, so I'll have to hit this site on the next trip through.
I had to make one final stop for lunch in Lee Vining. Nicely's is a diner the way a diner should be run. It was spotlessly clean, service was good and the food was fantastic. It's a "must stop" on my way through this area. I promised myself that next time I'm going to get their homemade cinnamon roll!
TRIP SUMMARY: I had a blast and I plan to make this trip at least once a year. The peace of a solo trip is nice, but this would be a great place to camp with friends and family. Everyone at the camp from the guests to the staff were all very nice, respectful people. The place has a calm, almost Zen like atmosphere, which I believe everyone needs from time to time.
