Devil's Postpile National Monument

During our Eastern Sierras trip, we went to Devil's Postpile National Monument.  Devils Postpile used to be part of Yosemite National Park but in 1905, a gold discovery in nearby Mammoth Lakes caused a boundary change. The name "Devil's Postpile" refers to a dark cliff of columnar basalt.  This example is the second best example in the world - the best example is in Northern Ireland.
 
We took a bus into the park which is required because of the very narrow road down into the valley.  The bus required that the dogs wear a muzzle on the bus -- which was hilarious.  It only took Daisy about 5 minutes to get hers off.  On the way home, we sat in the back of the bus and took off their muzzles for the ride - they were so tired they were not going to attack anyone! 

We hiked about 9 miles to see two waterfalls and the postpile.  It was a warm day and the dogs got really tired. Ahi got so tired in the middle of the hike that she laid down on Gracie's sweatshirt under a tree after 6 miles and had a rest. At the end of the hike we went to Red's Meadow, which is a stop over on the Pacific Crest Trail for backpackers.  It was really fun to watch the backpackers come in from the trail and talk to other backpackers from the trail.  One of my goals for my sabbatical was to get my feet on the Pacific Crest Trail and I met that goal on this trip.  I hope to backpack the PCT later in my sabbatical.

The park experienced a severe wind storm in November 2011 - there were winds from 110 to 180 mph for 12 hours.  We saw tons of trees that just toppled over.

This is a piece of the postpile that fell

The Postpile

We took a shuttle bus into the park

The shuttle required that the dogs wear miuzzles

Rainbow Falls

On the Pacific Crest Trail

Minaret Falls

Waiting for the bus at Mammoth

San Joaquin River - flows all the way to SF Bay

Pacific Crest Trail

Rainbow Falls

At Red's Meadow

Results from wind storm

Had to take a nap in the middle of the hike

On the way home - such a good girl!