The Icy Plunge - Dave Dives into a Snowy Lake

In Bishop is has been hot, dry and windy. We escaped the heat again by driving up to Mammoth Lakes. This time we were blessed to have company. We drove up with a couple from San Diego - Rebecca and Scott. They had pulled into the campsite next to ours the night before and their vanagon needed work. They have friends in Mammoth who were willing to loan them a car while their van was worked on. It was perfect that they needed a ride there and we were headed there. Scott is a geologist and Rebbecca an interior designer - like Kim McEvoy! They are also nature-lovers and interested in sustainable living so we had rich conversation on the way up.

After we dropped them off we headed to Lake George for some day hiking. What we found was that the trails were still covered in snow as was part of the lake. We wandered around the lake shore wondering what to do. Other hikers were wandering too. Confused by the fact that hiking was not possible in late June. We did some handstands on a small dock that jutted into the icy lake. Then Dave said to me, "I think I'll take the plunge." What? He went to put his suit on and I talked to a couple by the lake shore. When he arrived back with suit on and towel in hand, our new friends Kent and Annie looked on with surprise. In this video clip you see Dave's very quick entrance and exit from the Icy Lake.

After the plunge we headed down the mountain to find accessible hiking.  We were directed to Sherwin Lakes Trail.  We had a picnic near the creek at the trail head then headed up the mountain.  We walked up a switch back trail through sequoias, blue spruce, pine trees and aspens.  Dave carried me on his shoulders for a few hundred yards as part of his training.  I felt like a giant.  After 90 minutes of sweaty uphill hiking we arrived at a gorgeous mountain lake.  I splashed my feet in the cold water and Dave drank from the lake's overflow.  We met a couple hiking down with fishing poles.   They got no bites but the beauty of the lake made the trip worth it. 

Being the insatiable climber he is, Dave crawled up a dead tree sticking out of the lake edge and pointed like a harbinger to the peaks beyond.  That night we returned to Bishop, took a mediocre yoga class, and returned to a hot and windy campsite with noisy ATV riders next door.  Things were getting unpleasant at Millpond Camp ground...

The next day, Dave went climbing from noon to seven pm and Jen rented a blessed hotel room.  That night when Dave returned to the campsite, the wind had knocked over our table and the neighbors were already starting up with their loudness.  Dave bravely packed up camp alone and joined me in the hotel.   We slept like the dead in our king sized bed.

This morning we are at our favorite Black Sheep Cafe planning our exit strategy.  We will head to Flagstaff AZ where there is Anusara Yoga, organic food, rock climbing and evolved human beings!  We are considering staying with people who open their extra rooms to travelers from a web site called couch-surfing.org.  We are finding that paying $20 a night to camp plus the money for hot showers and laundry is adding up to about the same as subletting a furnished room and bathroom in town.  Like our favorite comedian Jim Gaffigan says, "Paying to sleep outside?... That's gotta be insulting to the homeless."

Now we are wondering if it was silly to spend so much money on camping gear.  We could be driving a fuel efficient hybrid with a bike rack and staying in a comfortable sublets on this road trip.  Ah well... live and learn.

We plan to furnish our apartment in Bed, OR with the camping furniture we bought!  The tent will set up in the living room as a meditation den.  ;-)