My favorite hiking trail in the ES

[Spirit Tree]

Sorry picture is out of whack but message is clear..

[sun_boarder]

is there a site where i can find what trails there are around mammoth lakes? and just maybe the status of the trail (open/close/etc)

[Sierra Lady]

Yes. Inyo National Forest

To check on the status of the trails, call the Mammoth Lakes California Welcome Center at 760-924-5500 (press "0" when you hear the voice mail for a staff member). They're open daily from 8-5. Or stop in on your way into town on the right before the first traffic light.

[cjk]

the trail to shadow lake ain't too shabby

[cjk]

the trail over bishop pass is rather spectacular, hard to beat dusy basin

[maxpower88]

I haven’t posted in one of these threads since 1972, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to pimp out my favorite trail of all.

[Paradise Guy]

the trail over bishop pass is rather spectacular, hard to beat dusy basin

Dang...

[cjk]

don't miss paiute pass into humphreys basin

[Homesick]

Love 'em all, but the one I kept going back to, again and again, is the "back way" up to Sherwin Lakes. Not the main trail from the marked trailhead that goes all the way up to Valentine, but the old trail out of the motocross. Joe and Bonnie Zwart, two old-time Mammoth stalwarts, told us about that trail. Not many people use it for whatever reason, so it's never very busy even during peak season. It's mostly in the shade, not exposed on the manzanita hill like the main trail. And it doesn't take you to the front "beach" where everybody and their brother pitches a tent right in the middle of the trail, but takes you around the back side of the lake where there's nobody.

[windyscotty]

I used to do the same thing as you are talking about both going up and coming back from the Sherwin/Valentine area. That place is incredible where the big Junipers are growing in the sandy flats. That ice blue colored spring is really neat, too.

I used to work with Joe at the Water District in the 70s. What a character and great guy he was. That was back in the Reardon days when they were really wheeling and dealing in Mammoth. We were always farting around and having a pretty good time. Joe used to love to go up and battle with the people stealing water out of Bodle Ditch.

The day we replaced the old intake pipe at Twin Lakes, Joe caught these huge browns and had them in a bucket. That became dinner for ten.

Thanks for reminding me of some of the great old Mammoth people that we dearly loved and still remember.

[cjk]

I worked with Joe & Bonnie on the mountain, great folks.
Joe was quite a character, Bonnie always had a smile at the Cast Off.

While I didn't go that way often, the trail up to Minaret Lake provided an interesting journey into the vertical world of those crazy spires.

[oldhiker]

My favorite trails will remain private so that the few people that know about them can continue to enjoy them. thanks to the rest of you for sharing and I will share the main trails as I get on them this summer.

WS - I believe that the people stealing water from the Bodle Ditch were entitled as they later won the lawsuit against the Water District for trying to close it off. My dad was very involved in the water district as he was their primary engineer and he wasn't happy that they lost the suit - but the water had been diverted so many years prior that the court thought it would cause more harm to stop the diversion. Lots of interesting and not necessarily fair water issues in the Eastern Sierra. I personally was glad the Bodle Ditch was kept running. My dad thought it was needed for the town's water supply and worried that the wells the District was drilling instead could cause more harm because the underground water in the Mammoth area may be affected by old lava tubes or other geologic structures.

[windyscotty]

Great information about the towns water supply history.

Your dad was smart, and he was right about leaving Bodle Ditch alone. Remember how we used to use every inch of the water to irrigate the government pasture on the corner? It was a real wildflower show, and the stock loved it out there, too.

I spent some great mornings every summer walking that ditch and spreading the water.

Then, all of the sudden, it was diverted into Lake Mary and was terminated. Ranger Dean McAllister sold us down the ditch. They liked to say that because the miners built the ditch, it wasn't natural, and therefore not necessary. The truth is the town needed the extra water for its expansion program.

Bodle Ditch had been there so long that it had become part of the ecosystem. I was sad to see it go, because it was a wonderful part of history.

Thanks for these memories of Joe, the Water District and the town.

[cjk]

one of my least favorite aspects of popular trails
the other mule days

[oldhiker]

^^ whew - that's a dusty stretch of trail. Gotta learn to stand upwind of those critters - and - just because there's a pile of @#$%#$ in the trail, you don't have to step in it (my favorite words of wisdom - and I do step around as much of it as possible in life's pursuits - although I've had to shovel a fair bit too).

Love your photos