Eastern Sierras: Rock Creek and Mammoth Lakes Scenic Loop

Day three of our summer vacation this past August took us to one of our fav locations in the Eastern Sierras: Rock Creek. The Eastern Sierra is generally one of the less travelled areas in CA (compared to Yosemite or Sequoia National Parks), but not on this trip. We unfortunately took our sweet time getting out of the gate that morning from Bishop and didn't get up to the road end at Mosquito Flat trailhead until 10am. Too late...parking lot was completely full, and we were sandwiched between a bunch of cars trying to do the same thing we were attempting to do (i.e. park). So, we headed back down Rock Creek Rd., and eventually found a parking spot about a half mile down. I was winded from the elevation, so we decided to just lunch and hang around the immediate area rather than hike back up the road to the trailhead. Despite the traffic issues, we enjoyed our time along Rock Creek and saw more than enough wildflowers to make it so very worth the while.

8/16/11 Rock Creek Road.

Rock Creek Road.

Squaw Currant (Ribes cereum). South Fork of Rock Creek (day use area across road from Palisade Campground). 

Antelope Bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata). South Fork of Rock Creek (day use area across road from Palisade Campground).

Phlox species. South Fork of Rock Creek (day use area across road from Palisade Campground).

Phlox species, about 1 mile before Mosquito Flat trailhead off of Rock Creek Rd.

8/16/11 Spreading Dogbane (Apocynum anrosaemifolium). South Fork of Rock Creek (day use area across road from Palisade Campground).

South Fork of Rock Creek (day use area across road from Palisade Campground). Last time we brought Hana out here was in July of 2005 when she was 9 months old. 

8/16/11 South Fork of Rock Creek (day use area across road from Palisade Campground).

Hana, staring at her own reflection. South Fork of Rock Creek (day use area across road from Palisade Campground).

Sulphur Buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum). South Fork of Rock Creek (day use area across road from Palisade Campground).

False Solomon's Seal (Smilacina stellata). Day use area across road from Palisade Campground.

Linear-leaf Paintbrush (Castilleja linearifolia). Day use area across road from Palisade Campground.

Stansbury's Phox (Phlox stansburyi). Day use area across road from Palisade Campground.

Mountain Pennyroyal (Monardella glauca). Rock Creek Rd.

Mountain Pennyroyal (Monardella glauca). Rock Creek Rd.

Idaho Blue-Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium idahoense). Roadside seep off of Rock Creek Road.

Idaho Blue-Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium idahoense). Roadside seep off of Rock Creek Road.

Grass of Parnassus (Parnassia californica). Roadside seep off of Rock Creek Road between Rock Creek Resort and Pine Camp.

Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium). Rock Creek Rd.

Rock Creek Road.

Meadow Penstemon (Penstemon rydbergii). Rock Creek Road, between Rock Creek Resort and Pine Camp.

Scarlet Gilia (Ipomopsis aggregata). Rock Creek Road, between Rock Creek Resort and Pine Camp.

Bridge's Penstemon (Penstemon rostriflorus). Rock Creek Road.

Nude Buckwheat (Eriogonum nudum). Rock Creek Road.

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium). Rock Creek Road.

Paintbrush (Castilleja sp.). Rock Creek Road.

Sierra Angelica (Angelica lineariloba). Rock Creek Road.

Rock Creek.

Giant Red/Streamside Paintbrush (Castilleja miniata). Rock Creek.

Swamp Onion (Allium validum). Rock Creek.

Sticky Cinquefoil (Potentilla glandulosa). Rock Creek.

Western Wallflower (Erysimum capitatum). Rock Creek.

Mountain Pride Penstemon (Penstemon newberryi). Rock Creek.

Pussy Toes (Antennaria media). Rock Creek. 

Rock Creek.

Rock Creek.

Female Boisduval's Blue? (Plebejus icarioides). Female can be all brown above or with varying amounts of blue. Rock Creek.

Female Boisduval's Blue? (Plebejus icarioides).

Leichtlin's Mariposa Lily (Calochortus leichtlinii). Rock Creek.

Leichtlin's Mariposa Lily (Calochortus leichtlinii). Rock Creek.

Western Blue Flag (Iris missouriensis). Rock Creek.

Western Blue Flag (Iris missouriensis). Rock Creek.

Western Columbine (Aquilegia formosa). Rock Creek.

Timberline Phacelia (Phacelia hastata). Rock Creek.

Rock Creek Lake.

Sierra Rein Orchid (Platanthera leucostachys). Roadside seep off of Rock Creek Road.

Kelley's Tiger Lily (Lilium kelleyanum). Roadside seep off of Rock Creek Rd.

Kelley's Tiger Lily (Lilium kelleyanum). Roadside seep off of Rock Creek Rd.

Sierra Gentian (Gentianopsis holopetala). Roadside seep off of Rock Creek Road.

Sierra Gentian (Gentianopsis holopetala).

Sierra Gentian (Gentianopsis holopetala).

Lupines & Paintbrushes in full bloom on a roadside seep off of Rock Creek Rd.

Sierra Juniper (Juniperus occidentalis). Rock Creek Road.

Prickly Poppy (Argemone munita). Lower elevation of Rock Creek Rd.

Bark of Jeffrey Pine. Lower elevation of Rock Creek Rd. enroute to junction with Hwy 395. It really does smell like vanilla and/or butterscotch!

Looks like a burn area, with lots of prickly poppies in bloom. Lower elevation of Rock Creek Rd.

The ubiquitous Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) growing at the base of a Jeffrey Pine. Lower elevation of Rock Creek Rd.

Hana & Gil checking under the canopy of a Jeffrey Pine. Rock Creek Rd.

View of Crowley Lake from Hwy 395N enroute to Mammoth Lakes. 

Junction of Hwy. 395 and 203 to Mammoth Lakes.

One-Seeded Pussypaws (Calyptridium monospermum). Mammoth Lakes Scenic Loop. 

After our sojourn to Rock Creek, we checked into the Sierra Nevada Lodge on Old Mammoth Rd. in Mammoth Lakes. It's got quite a history, especially with Hollywood of yore. Anyhoo, the rates are reasonable, the comforter is down (very comfy), and pets are allowed. Awesome! 

Gil & Hana, all tuckered out after the day's outings. 

You're on Candid Motion Detector Camera...

So back in October we set up the motion detector camera in the back patio to hopefully get a shot of whatever critter was going to town every  night underneath the Butterfly Bush, littering the vicinity with twigs, cuttings from the scented geraniums, and (of all things) very large scat that looked suspiciously like dog poop (where'd it come from? Hana's dog run?!). Anyhoo, we're inclined to believe that these late-night machinations are the works of a very large rat. The resultant photographic evidence strongly suggests the possibility of rodent culpability. But it also sheds light on the fact that a plethora of critters are and have been traipsing through our back patio. Here's the pantheon:

Now, that looks like a rat, hightailing it around the pillar.

WTF is that? That thing to the left with roundish ears and whiskers looks too big to be rat, unless the urban legends are not freakin' legends...

Bunny!

California Thrasher (Toxostoma redivivum) 

California Towhee (Melozone crissalis).

Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus). Ok, so what could be more awesome than a roadrunner running through your back patio? Just sayin.'

California Fuchsias - Red Hot Hotties in the Fall Garden

No better harbinger of fall than the brilliant crimson flowers of Cal Fuchsias. These fantabulous natives were in peak bloom on our grounds in September. The hummingbirds were dive-bombing like there was no tomorrow...

9/5/11 Zauschneria (or Epilobium) californica 'UC Hybrid.'

9/5/11 Zauschneria (Epilobium) californica 'Ghostly Red.'

9/5/11 Catalina Island California Fuchsia (Zauschneria/Epilobium californica). A very tall (4-5'), upright Cal Fuchsia that is stunning in the landscape with it's greyish foliage and scarlet fall blooms. This one is 3 years old growing next to a 'Dr. Hurd' Manzanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita).

9/5/11 Catalina Island California Fuchsia (Zauschneria/Epilobium californica).

9/5/11 'Uvas Canyon' California Fuchsia (Zauschneria/Epilobium californica).

9/5/11 Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus) in full bloom, Konocti Manzanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita ssp. elegans), St. Catherine's Lace (Eriogonum giganteum), Woolly Blue Curls (Trichostema lanatum), and 'Route 66 California Fuchsia.

9/5/11 'Route 66' California Fuchsia (a Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden intro).

Now on to other fall beauties:

10/14/11 'Eve Case' Coffeeberry (Rhamnus californica).

10/14/11 'Aguirre' Turpentine Brush (Haplopappus laricifolia) and Deer Grass (Muhlenbergia rigens).

10/14/11 Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis). This one likes lots of water (so it's in my mountain meadow planter) & is very attractive to the hummers. 

10/14/11 'Sunset' Monkeyflower.

10/14/11 Island Bristleweed (Hazardia detonsa). Native to the Channel Islands.

10/14/11 Scarlet Monkeyflower (Mimulus cardinalis).