The village of June Lake sits in the Inyo National Forest just west of US 395 in the eastern Sierras.
To get there you first pass June Lake itself.
The village sits between June Lake, with its beach,
and Gull Lake, with its mountain backdrop.
It’s just big enough for a general store, a brewery,
and a fire department.
Houses, many of which are vacation homes, are built where they fit among the hills…
and the rocks.
It also has a ski slope,
and as I found out walking Matey in the stroller today, bears.
The biggest building in town,
with a commanding view of the little main street,
is the Heidelberg Inn.
This hundred year old establishment is where Skip has a time share and where he stayed. It was once the playground of Hollywood’s famous and is known for the giant four sided fireplace in the lobby.
We are just down the street in our more modest accommodation at the little Golden Pine RV Park.
Last Sunday, not wanting to go into Yosemite on a weekend, we decided to explore around here. First we did a loop of Forest Service Roads in the Inyo National Forest east of Route 395.
In the 20 years Skip has been coming here he has never driven east on Route 120, so we were happy to take him. This is looking southwest towards the western Sierras.
We got pretty high, to where the rocks almost outnumbered the trees,
and came over the ridge for a view of the eastern Sierras. We thought that highest peak was Border Peak, on the border of Nevada.
Our road then went steeply down and exited through Taylor Canyon.
From there we went to the much more civilized town of Mammoth Lakes, where we stopped for lunch and to view the village center.
This is all much newer and more upscale than June Lake.
It is a very large and popular ski resort, with a main lift gondola leaving from the middle of the village square.
We drove up through a tunnel…
to see the lakes.
Like everywhere here there are vistas,
mountains and trails galore. In his many years coming to June Lake Skip has hiked a lot of them.
The highlight and end of our tour was the beautiful falls on Rush Creek.
How appropriate that you’re visiting June Lake in June! Great vistas and I love seeing the snow capped mtns! That MUST be a popular ski resort if the main lift gondola leaves from the middle of the village square! I wonder how much of the year they can ski there?
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