After breaking camp at Tuttle Creek,

Sunrise at Tuttle Creek

... we headed up to Horseshoe Meadows, where Kathy did a 5 mile hike at 10,000', her first at that altitude.

Looking down at Owens Lake from near top of switchbacks

Then we headed for Big Pine, where we stayed at the Big Pine Lodge.

Big Pine hotel room

Jef and Kathy left the hotel and hiked up Big Pine Creek -- North Fork about 5 miles with 2000' elevation gain. Hike was cut short by Kathy's aching knee.

Starting hike up Big Pine Creek

Crossing first bridge

Jef on bridge

Kathy at 2nd falls

Kathy walking thru aspen grove

We then drove to McGee Creek Campground near Mammoth where we set up camp.

McGee campsite

Broke camp at McGee Creek, stopped at visitor center in Mammoth, getting a local map and T-shirts. Drove out to edge of Devil's Postpile and hiked about 3 miles from the Minaret Viewpoint.

Kathy with Minarets in background

Fallen tree

Fallen tree -- edge on

Kathy with Minarets in background

Jef in front of Mammoth Mountain

Drove to June Lake and decided to stay at the Big Rock Resort, getting a room with a view of the lake. Room had marginal plumbing and a torturous bed (according to Kathy), but was otherwise fine. Cooked dinner outside the room and checked out the sauna and jacuzzi. We walked to town that night and saw a deer there.

Jef did laundry W of June Lake, then packed up and left to nearby trailhead to Fern Lake. Hiked up to lake -- Kathy threatened to abort the hike when it got pretty steep with some steep exposure. Total hike was about 5 miles and 1600' vertical. When we arrived at lake, a group was just leaving. We sat on the beach and had cheese and crackers. Another small group arrived just as we left, so we had the whole place to ourselves while there.

Kathy with cold feet

Jef with cold feet

Jef's view from the beach

Dollar Lake (near trailhead)

Then we drove south, gassing up in Bishop, and continuing to Lone Pine, where we camped at Diaz Lake.

Our Diaz Lake campsite

Using up McGee Creek firewood

We woke up to a mess at the picnic table: this being the first campsite where bears were not a problem, we had left our food bags on the picnic table; squirrels had rifled thru them and knocked them down on the ground; when we first looked on the scene, birds were pecking thru the debris.

Diaz Lake after sunrise

Attack of the ANIMALS!

Flying attackers

Ground-based attacker

After packing up, we had brunch at the Bonanza Mexican Restaurant in Lone Pine. Then we headed for Las Vegas. We purchased a season ticket to all fee-collecting National Parks, Forests, etc. in Death Valley. We had a mediocre lunch in Stovepipe Wells. Then we drove straight to Las Vegas, and checked into the Luxor -- spending about an hour checking in! We stayed on the 24th floor, overlooking the airport. We then took a taxi to the airport, and waited for Holley to arrive. We took a taxi back to the hotel and later went on a walk. We traversed Mandalay Bay and the Excaliber before Kathy put Jef and Holley on the NY-NY roller coaster. We then walked back to the hotel and retired for the night.