On a drive up to Mono Lake, this morning began in Lone Pine, and we took a little time to shoot the Eastern Sierra Nevada and Mount Whitney. The first two images below are of Whitney, and Lone Pine Peak is the third image.
North we headed on 395 towards Mono Lake, but I wanted explore the area between Toms Place and the Chalfont Valley first. I looked at a map and found a road called “Chidago Canyon Road.” It was a nice and easy high-country drive eastward on unpaved roads to a little pass, and then, wa-la, we were on Chidago Canyon Road. The road again was very easy for my 2WD Xterra. The scenery in the immediate vicinity of the road was ho-hum until we entered a spectacular and narrow (though shallow) canyon of orange-red rocks. The light for photography was rather harsh at midday, but this little canyon was a very nice surprise! There is a petroglyph area on the eastern end of the road that we did not visit. I was not aware of it!
We were dumped out on U.S. 6, between Bishop and Benton, with the fabulous White Mountains looming just to our east. The highest peak in this range is — you guessed it — White Mountain. Maybe it was white on the other side. White Mountain tops out at 14,252 feet, and Wikipedia says that it is “the fourteenth most topographically prominent peak in the contiguous United States.” Maybe it is easier just to say that it is the 14th highest.
I had never visited Benton, except for a very quick drive-by in 2018. We stopped for lunch, and there wasn’t much to see in this small town. Benton Hot Springs was more photogenic (below). It was worth an hour or so of our time.
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