Crowley Lake Columns Mono County

July 27, 2022

I have driven 300 miles to Gary's cabin above Bishop so that we can do some outdoor stuff, despite record heat and the ongoing fire in Mariposa County, both of which could seriously cramp our style.  Today, it will be quite hot, but the air quality is excellent.

It is about a 40-mile drive back up US-395 to Crowley Lake.  The access road to our destination is excellent, except for one hill about a mile in that stymies most vehicles.  Albeit confident that my Outback could handle it, I still don't want to risk damaging what still is a nice car after four years.  We will opt for the 2-mile walk instead.

We'll start here

Mount Morgan, the "Eiger of the Sierra", dominates the skyline

Around the first turn is the dreaded road segment that stymies most visitors.  Youtube videos attest to the treachery of what does not look like a particularly challenging road segment.

Those moguls are huge

The marble Sevahah Cliffs (center skyline) have been featured in numerous movies and advertisements

My favorite example is the opening scenario of How the West Was Won, showing James Stewart kayaking across Convict Lake in front of those cliffs.  Not much later, our hero is kayaking down the Platte River in Nebraska, in the same boat!

It's a mundane slog down the roadway

That exquisitely shaped peak has no name

A few boaters are out early in the morning

The annual Eastern Sierra trout-fishing opener, Fishmas, takes place right here on the shores of Crowley Lake.

After successful negotiation of four road junctions with the help of advance study, our trek ends on a hilltop overlooking the lake.  A steep trail down to the beach is to follow.

There are the columns!

Oh, my!

The 170-foot downhill scamper actually is fun.  The areas of deep sand have been moistened by recent rains, making them easy to negotiate.

There are some caves off to the left

Aren't they cute?

A short ten minutes gets us down to the beach and over to the cliff.

The only flowers in the area are bunched up in a single shady spot among the columns.

Heliotrope

Researchers believe that the columns were created by a gigantic volcanic event some 760,000 years ago.  Crowley Lake was created in 1941; subsequent erosion of the eastern shoreline has exposed the columns, and the process continues.

The high-water mark is visible

It could be fun to visit here when some of the posts are partially underwater; that could make for some great photographs.

A unique and special place

There are more columns across the way

Two more visitors arrive

Columns extend northward for a long way, but the best-of-the-best features seem to be right here.  Neither of us is inclined to venture far around the corner.

Is that stuff kelp, in a high-elevation lake?  The water certainly is unappealing enough for it

These guys have yet to be 'revealed'

Well, one can do only so much with stone columns, and we have run out of those.

Starting back

A group of eight hikers greets us at the top

The car is over there, in the center of the photo

Silliness beside the road

Back at Mogul Hill, a white pickup is parked; its driver also appears to have declined the attempt.  The black SUV, however, proceeds forward without pause, with a crazed girl passenger hanging out a window.  She clearly knows that this is an attention-worthy event.  Click on the arrow to see her in action:

§: Well, that was a wonderfully different outing.  The desert heat and virtual absence of flowers were more than offset by the outstanding mountain scenery and the novelty of the destination itself.

One actually can access the final hilltop by way of a different road, but the four total miles of walking are easy enough.

• Trailhead: 1 mile from the Crowley Lake Dam on a good dirt road
• Distance: 2 miles
• Elevation loss: 300'
• Hikers: 13
• Rating: 7

Scenery
Difficulty
Personality
Flowers

Read what the scientists say about the columns here:  [Mystery of Crowley Lake Columns Solved]

After the hike, Gary and I took a big detour so as to visit a petroglyph site — which we did in 95-degree heat; but that's another story.

There were other attractions along the way as well, such as this roadside arch, the location of which I had misplaced from a prior visit:

I'll call it Owens-Benton Arch, after the nearby road junction

Gary got some nice drone footage of this preserve a couple of weeks ago, but it is nearly dried up today:

⇔

There is a nice relection in Black Lake
Those patterns appear to be natural phenomena

Finally, the evening finished up in style:

Sunset on Mount Tom, from the cabin porch