After over a year of travel, we have learned that we are not at our most productive when in the bed of a truck. We have excellent brainstorming sessions around campfires. We enjoy lively debates on ad placements while hiking. But when the time comes to sit down and code, it helps to be indoors. We aren't that picky: a public library or coffee shop will do. But, generally, we need to take a break from traveling to get a few weeks in of good, honest coding.
Hindu Temple nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains, California
Some mornings we don't have time to attempt waffles over the campfire. On days like that, we try Mountain House Scrambled Eggs and regret it, dearly.
After days of camping and a pungent reminder of the warm showers we had been missing, we decided to wrap up this leg of the journey with a night's stay in a hotel. Given our trajectory, we figured Lake Tahoe was the logical stop. I was determined to not step outside of the hotel from check in to check out. It would be a lazy evening of food, wine, and meditating on our adventures thus far. Happily, we were upgraded to a room on the 12th floor. From it, we could see the lake and the mountains on the California side.
Bodie is the gold standard of ghost towns. Where other ghost towns have ten or so old buildings in varying degrees of disrepair or renovation, Bodie may only have 10% of its original structures but that still accounts for 110 structures preserved in a state of arrested decay. There is a stamp mill with it's original machinery literally falling through the floor, off kilter structures, and occasional doorways that lead to...nowhere.
It's hard to believe that just a few days ago we were sweating it out in Death Valley. Now, we are perched above June Lake, with a view that takes reservations to procure, and a smug sense of satisfaction. The only down side with the picturesque Oh! Ridge Campground, though, is the wind. It sweeps over the lake and hits us with a ferocity that I though was reserved for a response to the dozens. I haven't said anything mean about June Lake's mama, but the wind is certainly fierce.
The Bishop Tuff is one of the more unique volcanic formations in the world. It was formed over 700,000 years ago when an explosion settled tons of ash over Owens Valley and then covered the ash with molten lava. The heat from the lava converted the ash into rock. While the Tuff stretches between both Mono and Inyo counties, the point of greatest interest is where the Tuff comes up against Lake Crowley. Here, continuous wear from the lake's tides has cut away at the weaker ash-stone to form columns, pillars, and even caves.
After our hike, we were exhausted. Fortunately, I had already done the preparation work for tonight's dinner that morning. Now, with my dogs barking and my calves screaming, it was time to set up the fire and sit down to chop apples for another round of experiments in campfire cooking.
"Almost there" can be a promise or a threat. A lot of the deciding factor can come down to if the speaker actually knows if they are "almost there" or not. We didn't know if we were "almost there" when hiking the Big Pine Creek north fork trail. We had a few pictures of trail maps and no scale bar. So we knew there would be some switch backs, a couple waterfalls, and a couple bridges on our way to the glacier fed lakes of the Muir Wilderness Area, but we thought that four water bottles would be enough.
I've never reserved a camp site in advance before, but I am a convert now. After our agonizing experience searching for a camping site near Arches at 5PM, I went ahead and booked our campsites for this trip. Tonight, we lounge in the most remote site within Big Pine Creek Campground—flanked by the titular big pines and less than ten feet from the creek. It is private and enjoys the delightful comfort of white noise from the creek.