Wednesday 25 July 2018

We decide to continue our schedule of early rising. Breakfast is quick and easy: we find a whole grain muffin for O, a cinnamon bun for me and a good source of coffee. The air in Lee Vining is much clearer in the morning. We can actually see Mono Lake. After breakfast we drive up Tioga Road to Tuolumne Campground. The views of the eastern Sierra are clear. At the entrance to Tuolumne the ranger chooses a choice site for us. The narrow drive to site B10 is just wide enough to maneuver Vincent in. We are mostly shaded and the trees are almost perfectly aligned for our tarp hang. When camp is suitably arranged we wander over to check out the small grocery store here. It is well-stocked except for a paucity of fruit. As consolation there is a good selection of whole grain bread and beer.

Next we drive back down to Lee Vining. In addition to getting our laundry done, we have decided to sign up for a free evening tour of the tuffa at Mono Lake tomorrow evening. We also schedule a canoe tour Sunday morning at 8 am. We note there are also several free early morning birding tours to choose from. We may do one of these later in the week as well. It is very nice to have two weeks here. We can take our time exploring. The ranger at Tuolumne had been hopeful that the smokiness would improve by the end of our stay.

Our third goal is to find a wi-fi source for uploading blog later in the week. It turns out the Mono Lake Committee has free wi-fi. Time now to return up Tioga Road. We stop along the way for some smoky views and to briefly visit the Tuolumne Visitor Center. Then back to camp to relax for the evening and choose tomorrow’s hike. We will take it easy to see how my still sore leg holds up.