RE: Eastern Sierras

[thegrays]

 
Wow!  We just got back from a wonderful trip on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevadas.  We left the Bay Area and crossed over the crest of the Range at Ebbetts Pass and went through spectacular scenery to get to Grover Hot Springs State Park.  The sites were pretty nice and most on the back loop were spaced out nicely.  They have a natural hot springs-fed pool that is fun for everyone and lots of beautiful hiking.
 We drove down the eastern side on US 395 south toward Mono Lake and made a day stop in Bodie State Historic Park. This is a must-do for anyone.  The road in is 13 miles off the highway and the last 3  are unpaved but packed gravel (We pulled the pop-up along with no problem).  We checked out this incredible park which is a true Califonia gold-mining ghost town.... or as the rangers say, a " town in a state of arrested decay" .  It looks like the miners just left.  Our young children could easily walk around the town and it looks like an old movie set but it s real!  Highly reccommended...
 We continued further south toward the Mammoth Lakes area and down to a campground called Red s Meadow (less than a mile from Devil s Postpile National Monument).  There are about 6 campgrounds on this road into the mountnains and they all were nice.  Red s Meadow was great because it s at the end of the road so there is no through traffic and you can easily hike to a few nearby lakes for fishing or down to the Red s Meadow pack station area (small store and cafe too).  A nice feature of this area is a free shuttle for all campers that allows you to visit the different campgrounds, the SanJoaquin River, two lakes, Devil s Postpile (truly spectacular geological formation), and even up to Mammoth Mountain ski area where the gondolas run during the summer.
 This trip was a great week long trip but could easily be extended.  Very nice for families too because of all the things to see and do and hikes that were not too difficult or too long (we hike with a 2-year-old and a 6-year-old).   We highly reccommend this trip to anyone.
  Remember, no hook-ups though! []

[SactoCampers]

 thegrays
Sounds like a great trip!
 
 The eastern Sierras are beautiful and I ve always wanted to go to Grover Hot Springs. Have always wanted to go to Bodie, too....but can t convince the DW. It s a long drive and our vacation time is limited.
 
 BTW, I grew up in Pleasanton......

[thegrays]

 SactoCampers
Neat!  We really like living here...
 BTW you should definitely do the Grover Hot Springs trip.  The campground is very nice and you can make reservations through ReserveAmerica.  The hot springs pool is worth a look... less than 1/2 mile from the campground through a pretty meadow and you can sit in a large swimming pool that is filled using the hot springs... it s about 102 degrees.  Next to it is a regular swimming pool to cool off in... all of this in the middle of a huge alpine meadow surrounded by giant granite walls on 3 sides!
 It was a fairly easy trip over from the Bay Area and though the pass has some impressive drop-offs, as long as you aren t in a hurry, it s no problem (about 4 hours).
 
 Also, we stayed above 6500 ft the entire trip!  Bodie is at around 8500... very high, dry, sage-covered desert area.
 
 Happy Campin !