Mammoth Lakes

We had a rest day to enjoy Mammoth Lakes planned out. This included all the luxuries of staying in a hotel for the night, going out to lunch and dinner, and just enjoying the scenery. We left Big Pine bright and early to try to make the most of the day. It was only about an hour drive up to Mammoth, so we were wanting to not waste too much of the day. We got into town about 10 a.m. 
The first stop was the visitor center where we got fairly poor advice. We were hoping to go to Devil's Postpile, but it was closed due to the road being washed out. They had me buy a map which I never used even though it was rather simple, just go to the end of the road. So we went to our hotel at the Sierra Lodge. It turned out to be a nice place and we were stoked that the guy at the desk let us have a room at 10 a.m. We asked for some advice on food and went out to a lunch place that was decent. Then it was up the road to our destination which was Horseshoe Lake. 

We decided to take the trail around the lake. It was less than two miles, which we figured that we could do on this rest day. There were a few people out and about on the shore of the lake, which strangely enough had a nice sandy beach due to the lack of vegetation from the local volcanism. We tried to walk on the sandy shore, but the trail was a much better option. It was one of those days out where it was warm, but not hot, so it made for comfortable weather. I was afraid it was going to be busy, but once we got a few hundred feet from the shore of the lake, it was fairly quiet the whole way. It may have been the snowy trail that detoured others, but it was easy for us and the kids to cross it. This was a relaxed hike with the highlight being just stopping by the lake to throw some rocks. 

We even enjoyed the pumice as we got to see the exciting event of watching rocks float. We finished the trail with a lot of time left in the day. Jacqueline was kind enough to drive me back up the road to run down the running trail back to the hotel while she took the kids to the Fun Shop. We had a nice dinner at a hole in the wall Mexican place that had a great atmosphere before turning in early to prepare for an early start. We had a big day coming up.