Exploring the Mono Lake Basin

We have been spending more and more of our time down some random dirt road, and I have to say it suits us just fine. Just a little bit of research on the maps gives us all sorts of ideas on roads that might lead us somewhere cool, and the overnight adventure in the Mono Lake area proved to be just that.

Sure, we have both been here before, numerous times and even recently, but Mono Lake was a good stop over for us this night. However, instead of going to the same old locations where we have stayed in the past, we moved on to try unknown areas and roads. Kerri has gotten quite good at finding them on her mapping software on the phone, so much so that I do not even add my input to her ideas anymore. I just roll out in the direction she tells me and whamo! we find a kickass place every time.

So we ended up spending a night a few miles down a dirt road in the shadow of an ancient volcanic cinder cone with a view of Mono Lake. The dogs got to run around, Kerri and I got to hike around and explore before settling in for a mean game of Yahtzee over cocktails (it’s a thing with us), and all with complete and total solitude.

The following morning, on our way out of the area, we came across a historic ranch that caught our attention for a bit. We walked around and read the signage that the BLM offices provided to educate ourselves on the area. It was hard not to day dream of being the family that lives out here all by ourselves, working the ranch and being happy. Sometimes I feel I was born in the wrong century.