JUNE LAKE — Mono County is a place where everything old is new when you explore it for the first time.
Among the places:
*Bodie State Park, the largest ghost town in California where 110 structures are in arrested decay traces back to the start of a gold boom in 1876.
*Mono Lake, with its eerie limestone tufa towers raising above the remnants of a prehistoric lake formed 760,000 years ago.
*The Devils Postpile National Monument with its columnar basalt formed from lava flows 100,000 years ago.
*The Mono Craters, geological wonders that are young volcanoes that first erupted 40,000 years ago and last erupted 600 years ago.
Those four examples are just part of what awaits if you cross over the Sierra crest on Highway 120 via Tioga Pass at 9,945 feet to partake in the natural wonders of the Eastern Sierra and the western edge of the Great Basin.
And they are just some of the reasons I keep going back, year after year to Mono County.
My go to place to set up house for six days at a time each July for the past 10 years has been June Lake.
It’s a village in a glacier carved valley at 7,654 feet with four incredible lakes.
I can say without any doubt that the best six nights of sleep I have every year are during my stay in June Lake.
At the same time, the six days that go with the six nights are arguably the best six consecutive days I have each year.
I admit my idea of heaven is likely not anyone else’s idea.
I can’t get enough of hiking up and over passes rising up over 12,000 feet, laying in lush grass along a babbling ice-cold stream, or taking in the sun on a boulder on the edge of a lake so clear you can see every pebble on the bottom.
Granted, I can be somewhat of an elevation freak.
I also like to get in a bit of mileage. Maybe not 12 to 16 miles as I once did but at least a good 8 miles or so.
That may not strike one as a selling point for planning a trip to Mono County, but there’s a lot of places that you don’t have to spend the entire day to hike to and back in order to savor what captured John Muir’s soul as well as those of thousands of people every year.
There are a number of lakes you can literally drive up to that offer the entire Eastern Sierra smorgasbord of boating, fishing, relaxing, easy hikes, and simply kicking back and taking in the sweet scents.
Most come complete with resorts and campgrounds plus even horse stables — Virginia Lakes, Twin Lakes, Convict Lake, June Lake, Gem Lake, and Silver Lake to name a few.
That said, visiting Mono County there is one place you must go.
It’s on the way to two incredible passes — Mono Pass at 12,077 feet and Morgan Pass at 11,110 feet.
The place is called Little Lakes Valley.
It is a chain of high elevation lakes accessed by turning off at Tom’s Place on Highway and drive 15 miles to the end of Rock Creek Road.
It is there at 10,300 feet where the paved road ends in a parking lot at a place called Mosquito Flat.
Yes, there are mosquitoes.
That said, a little DEET is all you need to walk into heaven.
You might be tempted to not go farther than a couple hundred yards from the parking lot given there is a rushing creek nearby, the first lake is a short walk, and an inviting meadow as well as endless fishing spots calling out to anglers.
I’ve hiked into Little Lake Valley four times so far.
Three of them I ended up at either Mono Pass or Morgan Pass. Each is roughly four miles in with a climb of 2,000 or so feet.
While Mono Pass offers a stunning view of the Sierra backcountry, it doesn’t compare to what you can take in with a quarter mile to three miles of hiking with “climbs” that aren’t heart attacks in the making nor are they sustained.
There is a lot of basically somewhat flat stretches and easy grades.
I’ve seen people of all shapes, sizes, and ages on a well-established trail.
It lures hikers of all persuasions, fishermen, and backpackers. And more than a few take the opportunity to swim in the cool waters.
The lakes include Mack, Marsh, Heart, Box, Long, Gem, Ruby, and Chickenfoot.
There are also smaller lakes that seem more like ponds and a few more that dry up as summer hits.
Wildflowers are incredible in the spring and early summer.
The vibrant fall colors are only surpassed by Lundy Canyon, also in Mono County farther north and includes a way to hike into Yosemite National Park.
It is even do-able with significant snow on the ground in early spring where everything has a fresh, clean look.
Heading up the valley are easy stream crossings. Some are bridges, most are rocks strewn across the water.
It is high enough that during the heat wave the second week of July temperatures never inched much past 80.
Between the breeze fed by winds over the mountains and cloud cover it felt chilly at times.
As an added bonus, the valley is ringed with peaks created a photographic backdrop.
There’s only one other valley in the Eastern Sierra with so many accessible lakes and it’s on the way to Bishop Pass in Inyo County.
That said, it is cooler temperature wise to head to Little Lakes Valley plus it’s much closer to the 209.
There are also side hikes near Mosquito Flat that are a bit more challenging that will take you to places like Upper Hilton Lake that, in my opinion, is arguably one of the top three most stunning lakes in the eastern Sierra.
When you complete your excursion in Little Lakes Valley, you can help address that appetite you created by stopping by the Pie in the Sky Cafe at Rock Creek Resort for a slice of homemade pie.
Mono County is also home to Mammoth Lakes and all of the whistles and bells that comes with being a year round resort.
There are also a number of impressive campgrounds in heavy forested areas on the town’s edge that come with lakes and trailheads to reach more lakes.
Mammoth Lakes — as well as June Lake — both have ski resorts.
There are other attractions in Mono County that would easily fill this page listing.
But I’d be remiss not to mention Benton Hot Springs with a series of unique hot tubs fed by volcanic springs near Highway 120’s eastern terminus with Highway 6.
And if you want a walkable 14,000-foot mountain to conquer, Mono County is home to White Mountain, California’s third highest peak at 14,252 feet.
For more information on Mono County go to monocounty.org
