Last Full Day in the Park (part 1)

For our Tuesday in the park, we discussed going back up the mountain to the Mt. Wheeler campground and hiking the Alpine Lakes Loop. But in all honesty, I dreaded the drive up the mountain again (too many idiots on the road), plus I noticed I was getting headaches whenever we got up to 10,000 feet elevation. So I suggested Tom might want to do the Alpine Lakes Loop while I hung out at the lower level to catch up on my bird-watching. Plus, I thought it might be nice for Tom to have a good, strenuous hike without me slowing him down, and I really didn't mind not having to drive up that twisty steep road!

So Tom dropped me off at the Visitor Center, then disappeared up the side road as I planned my day. I decided to start with the easy but interesting Mountain View Nature Trail that circled up and around the Visitor Center. It's only a third of a mile, and deemed easy, but it was actually fun. It began with a tour of the small historic Rhodes Cabin originally built to house tourists in 1928. Then it followed a twisty rocky path through all kinds of terrain, with occasional markers explaining the kind of tree or plant you were looking at. Along the way, there were small surprises, such as the wild flowers in full bloom or the lizard enjoying the sunlight.
 
After completing the walk at a leisurely pace (with lots of bird-watching and a couple of new birds for my list), I stopped in the Visitor Center cafe for a nice lunch of chili with a very cold Coke, and then did a little souvenir shopping. Then, I decided to check out the park's Astronomy Amphitheater (which we had visited the day before), notably because it seemed to be an area popular with birds.

The other nice aspect of the Amphitheater was the view, again looking out on the Great Basin. I never seemed to get tired of this panorama.

Of course, whenever I looked over my shoulder, I would see the looming mountains. On a second trip through the Nature Trail, I noticed a sign I hadn't paid attention to earlier. All along, I had been assuming the huge mountain (above) that I kept seeing was Mt. Wheeler. Well, I assumed wrong. It was Doso Doyabi according to the sign, obscuring the view of Wheeler Peak from this angle.

Since it was getting really hot in the late afternoon, I decided to rest again on the front porch of the Visitor Center. Shortly thereafter, I was relieved to see Tom and our black rental Jeep driving up to the parking lot.
Last Full Day in the Park (part 2)