Day 4 - Mono Lake + Mammoth Lakes

The next destination after Lake Tahoe is the Mono Lake, another lake in California believed to have formed at least 760,000 years ago!! Mono Lake is a terminal lake in a watershed fed from melting runoff with no outlet. Dissolved salts in the runoff thus remain in the lake and raise the pH and salt concentration of the lake.

On the way, I captured a lot of cows eating grass and resting on a field.

Some shots captured on our way:

Another lake but not Mono Lake.

A traffice police car!! SLOW DOWN...

Streams

This is the Mono Lake!! Quite a big lake but still smaller than Lake Tahoe.. Haa….

Watch the videos to see the view of Mono Lake

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6630583379399553721

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8480489098433884898

Well… After this, our final destination for the day is Mammoth Lakes. A-Ha… I know your first reaction is lake again??!! No no…. Mammoth Lakes is not a lake. It is a town whereby we will be resting for 1 night. Relax…. I’m also enough of lakes for the day. Hmm…. Didn’t really take many photos in Mammoth Lakes because there’s nothing much to see (it was already 830pm when we reached there). Nevertheless, took some photos of mountains on our way there. What was so interesting about the mountains you must be wondering. Haa… There were various types of mountains with different rock formation seen along our way, from Lake Tahoe to Mono Lake and to Mammoth Lakes. Take a look... Interesting!!

See the white patches on these mountains...

At first we thought it was snow!! So fascinated to see snow during summer. But later on realized it was NOT snow. The white patches are granite!! Haiz… I kept thinking of things which are not very possible (first was the “castle” on Fannette Island, now is the snow). No choice lah… Mountain tortoise is like that. Whahaha….

Well… Our dinner was very simple – Subway!! Because most shops were closed by the time we reached Mammoth Lakes. So just have whatever that was available. Today was quite a long day so after dinner, it was time for us to rest at Motel 6. Tomorrow will even be more tiring - Tour Yosemite National Park, so must really have a good rest. See you in Yosemite adventures!

Day 4 - Lake Tahoe Part 2

Today, we are going to explore the wonders of South Lake Tahoe. Early in the morning, it was such a nice feeling to breathe in fresh air at the lake and look into the crystal clear blue water. And..... also take photos by the lake. =P


Somebody is fishing...


Flying above the lake

Sailing


Speed boating


We also went to Cave Rock - The remnant of an ancient volcano, which is home to the spirits of the Washoe people, whose ancestral land encompassed the Lake Tahoe Basin.



There is a tunnel in Cave Rock which allows vehicles to drive through. Watch the video as we drove across it...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2265903717262664134

More photos taken while exploring South Lake Tahoe

After exploring, it's time we set off to our cruise venue at Zephyr Cove. This is the cruise venue!!!

A sailing ship…

That’s our cruise ship M.S. Dixie II!!

Parachuting!!! This is one of the activities in Lake Tahoe whereby your parachute will be attached to a boat and the boat will go around the lake, occasionally lifting you up into the air and putting you on the lake surface. Quite exciting….

Does this looks like the speedboat is peeing?? =P

Sceneries of South Lake Tahoe while the cruise ship is going round the lake… The duration of the cruise is 2 hours. If you ever go to Lake Tahoe, trust me you will like it….

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=275686382419840826

On the ship!!!

Our ship is entering into the Emerald Bay. Watch the video to see the ship entering the narrow entrance into the bay.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3228844116209649708

Inside Emerald Bay!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=371171825440761887

This is the close-up of the Fannette Island in Emerald Bay. From far, it seems that there is a castle on the top. At that instance, I thought it was a house for somebody.

But at a closer distance, that’s not a castle. It’s just a brick structure. If someone had really lived in that “castle”, it will really be very very amazing!!!!

Although that “castle” is not house to anybody, there is 1 tourist attraction known as Vikingsholm Castle which is a unique mansion - one of the finest examples of Scandinavian architecture in the Western Hemisphere built in 1928-29. This 38-rooms mansion was completed in just 1 summer using old-fashioned techniques of hand-hewing huge timbers, forging hinges and latches. Some sections of the home contain no nails, pegs or spikes. Amazing!!

After going round the Emerald Bay, it’s time for the cruise ship to return to the cruise venue. Look at the contrast of depth between Emerald Bay and the lake..

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2767476932327769563

On the way back, the sceneries were the same along the route it came. Started to get bored so just stood there and enjoy the breeze.

Back at the cruise venue, it’s time for us to move on to our next destinations. My next post will show you where are the next destinations, so look forward to it. =)