Considered one of the worlds larger calderas, it makes for great hots springs and fantastic topography.
Mammoth Mountain California is a vacation destination for many folks and has been for my family since the late 1950's. My parents were avid fishermen and they have been traveling to this cluster of alpine lakes for a long while, always with my brother and myself in-tow. Course unless we just wanted to play with sticks and rocks we would learn to fish as well. Although sticks and rocks won out frequently when the bite was slow.
One of the hot bite formulas was a salmon egg with Velveeta cheese packed around it, my mom caught some nice trout over the years on what she called the pizza mix.
Fast forward 60+ years and OMG this place has changed from the quaint little fishing/skiing town to this roaring tourist destination. Watching it grow was distressing, the campground we always stayed at near the outskirts of town, where you could just drive in a get a space, but these days only by reservations, is now right at the edge of town, at one time there was a McDonalds across the street from the campground, but is now a Starbucks, Oi!!!! The condominiums abound! Real estate is off the cuff expensive. The Old Mammoth rd. has been paved for many years, yet thankfully still boasts several plaques dedicated to the gold rush era.
One geologic feature that really amazes me is the hot spring down at Hot Creek and how it has changed so much...the river that flanked this spot went from a great swimming hole (where I learned to swim), to a dangerous hot pool you cannot enter anymore. I have photos every time we went, and slowly over time the grassy lawn area we would sit upon turned into a scalding hot blue pool. It was a pretty popular area in the summer as well as for the skiers in the winter.
It is a geologic active spot and at one time I was afraid to visit when the 'magma' was rumored to be a mile deep, but if this caldera was to blow probably better to be at ground zero because the area surrounding for hundreds of miles would be unlivable.
I watched the trees over time die up at Horseshoe Lake due to escaping carbon dioxide gasses https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mammoth- ... h-mountain.
Yet the place is pure magic. Perhaps everyone else senses that too. To me it's like coming home, maybe one of the most visited places outside of the Kern River that we have ever traveled to. The dirt, the stones, the trees, the sound of the wind through the trees, the fragrance of the trees, sounds of the babbling creeks and the reflection of fluffy clouds on the lakes, the Ravens cackling from on high up in the trees or the chipmunks trying to steal a morsel or the Stellar Jay https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/stellers-jay making a fuss is pure bliss. Even the bears that would stomp through the camp or try to chase you from your stringers of fish were pretty exhilarating. Connecting to the energy of the land here is easy, like it wants you to become partners with her here, she wants to let you recharge and gain your energy back. The connection to all the elements here is prominent. Air, clean clear crisp. Water, deep cold alpine. Earth, porous solid shiny. Fire, close hidden steaming. Spirit, the animals, the plants, speaking their messages to those who would listen.
Today I have gratitude for this place that continues to feed the soul.
It's also fun to pick out the people coming back from Burning man down the Hwy 395, their playa covered cars are unmistakable! We usually make this trip just after Labor-day, and Burning Man commences on Labor Day.
Mammoth, you are my friend.
BB, Firebird
