DianaT - 4-14-2013 at 05:23 PM
The Eastern Sierra really needed more snow this year. The snow pack is way below normal which of course means there will be more and more battles
with the LADWP over water, but that is another story. But this week snow got in the way of one of our trips around the area.
One of the things we really want to get closer too is one of the glaciers that sit right above our town. So we are getting back into our old hiking
mode and shape--- poco a poco.
We went on a somewhat short, but somewhat steep hike this week above the town. I did not want to carry my camera, so John had fun using his camera to
take many pictures of the little old lady trudging up the hill!.
He did take one picture of the magnificent terrain that shows so clearly how glaciers carved up the Sierra Nevada in this most difficult light.
Weather was not the best for photo taking, but the scenery is just always breathtaking, as the hike literally is breathtaking. 
It is no wonder the back country above Big Pine is so popular for hikers
and climbers.
Another day this week, we thought we would do some work around this place, but oh, what the heck. Mid morning we took off to take the Benton Crossing
road around to Highway 120 on the south side of Mono. From there we wanted to take Forest Service Road 1S17 in a 24 mile loop that goes through
Crooked Meadows --- off we went.
This road starts in basin and range country, climbs through volcanic shaped terrain, and into a couple of different pine forests. I had wanted to
experiment with some more filters and ideas I had read about, but opps, my camera had no battery! The battery was back home. 
But we still took some pix with John's camera --- none of filters, etc. fit his
camera!
It is really difficult to capture the panoramic views that are everywhere.
A shot that shows part of the road --- a very good dirt road that is steep in some places.
And one that somewhat shows the layers of terrain. I just love traveling through such a variety and watch for all the transition spots.
The reason we only made about 1/2 of the loop and had to turn around. Opps
We had not seen another person on the road and not knowing the road or how deep the snow would become, we decided not to risk getting stuck in the
snow and mud. It is always good to have a couple of those young people around to jump in and help out the old folks.
And back at the bottom, suddenly a couple of the wild horses in that area appeared, and they disappeared quickly. We were thrilled to see these a
couple of these wonderful creatures.
For us, this is a continual vacation, and to those for whom we have promised our guest house, we will interrupt this vacation and get it fixed up!
[Edited on 4-21-2013 by DianaT]
