June Lake
June Lake is a small mountain town in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains, and I first heard of it when planning a trip to Yosemite. June Lake is on the east of the National Park, and seemed a nice place to stay while exploring Yosemite. The trip, however, never materialized, as the winter snows closed down the highways running through the park. That was in 2019. Then 2020 came in with it’s global pandemic, and all travels were halted. By Labor Day weekend (which is in September in the US, unlike other countries), we were still in the middle of the pandemic, but things were beginning to slowly creep back towards normal. So my wife and I started to re-plan the trip to Yosemite. Unfortunately, we found that entrance tickets to the park were all sold out. The park also has a policy in place that turns away day visitors, so there was no way to enter the park without a booked ticket. The proximity of Yosemite to both LA and San Francisco mean that everyone plans a trip there on Labor Day! As an alternative, we decided to still go to June Lake and visit the Mono Lake and hot springs in the area. The June Lake area itself has four lakes formed by glacial action — June, Silver, Gull and the largest, Grant Lake.
On Saturday of the Labor Day weekend we set off from San Jose, driving eastwards. We could not use Highway 120, as that traverses Yosemite, and we didn’t have a pass. So we drove along Highway 108, which is north of 120, and bypasses Yosemite. Highway 108 turned out to be quite a scenic drive, crossing charming historical towns, and followed the Stanislaus river.
We grabbed a quick lunch at Sonora, and continued on the way. The highway followed the course of the Stanislaus river — now a mountain stream — until it started a steep climb over the Sierra Nevada range.
The highest peak in the Sierra Nevada is about 15,000 feet tall. Our route took us to an elevation of about 9,700 feet to Sonora Pass — the second highest past in the Sierras. I usually am able to comprehend elevations better if I compare to known Himalayan towns and peaks. We grew up in India with a bias that the Himalayas are the tallest ranges in the world, hence, all other mountain ranges cannot be as high. However, it is worth considering that Shimla, and Manali are both lower than Sonora pass (Shimla is about 7,500 feet, and Manali is 6,700 feet). In fact, Sonora pass is just about 2,000 feet lower than Leh (11,500 feet).
Since it was still summer, there was no snow, but it was clear that these roads would easily get snowed in in winters. As we now descended to the eastern slopes of the mountain range, we were getting close the junction with Highway 395. Close to this junction is the Mono Lake, which is a large lake (sometimes called an “inland sea”). We also noticed the sky turn a peculiar shade now, and there seemed to be a haze. While we didn’t know it then, this was due to the “Creek Fire”, and the smoky haziness stayed throughout the weekend.
We decided to head to Mono Lake before June Lake. Mono Lake is similar to the Dead Sea in Jordan and Pangong Tso in Ladakh, in the sense that it is a highly salty body of water. Since all the rivers in this region drain into this lake, and there is no outlet to the sea, the salt content builds up. Additionally, Mono Lake is also highly alkaline. The interaction of the alkaline lake, and freshwater springs have formed calcium carbonate structures called “tufas”. These “tufas” stand out like small islands and pillars on the lake.
After exploring the tufas along the south shore, we continued on 395 South towards June Lake. Our hotel was a short drive away, and we reached at about 5PM. We had booked the “Double Eagle Spa & Resort” for our weekend. The reason why we decided to book this was because we had cancelled on this hotel last winter. The staff was very understanding when we had to cancel, so we thought they deserved our business this time. We were not disappointed, the resort was just what is needed after months of shelter-in-place. The resort had cottages, well spaced out over the grounds, and the rooms were spotlessly clean, and cozy.
The location of the resort was the icing on the cake. It’s surrounded by the mountains on three sides, and a forest on the fourth side. A small creek runs through the premises, and there was also a small pond near our cottage. There are benches to sit on near the creek and the pond, and it would have become our “zen” place for the weekend, had it not been the smoky haziness due to the Creek Fire nearby.
Although the hotel had a restaurant, it being a Saturday, it was completely booked for the evening. We decided to head into the town of June Lake for dinner. Our first choice was the Tiger Bar & Cafe, and we were not disappointed. The food was good, and the staff was super-nice. The owner clearly loves tigers, as the walls inside are decorated with pictures and drawings of tigers. I would recommend the tiger burger (made with a beef patty … no tigers were hurt in making this burger) along with their speciality “homemade” chips.
Early next morning, I set out solo to catch the sunrise on June Lake. The missus decided to stay in, as the smoke and haze was bothering her. I headed to June Lake, which is a short drive away from the hotel. It was early, so the lake shore was deserted, and the parking lot had just one other car. The lake was peaceful, with just the ducks and sea gulls swimming around. However, there was no way to see the sun rise, as the sun was blocked due to the haze!
An orange’ish glow hinted at where the sun was rising behind the smoke and haze. I then drove up the hill to the June Lake overlook area and there I first saw the “Legend of the June Lake Slot Machies”. The bed of June Lake may, or may not, have hastily dumped slot machines.
From here, on an impulse took a shortcut dirt track. The trail was unmarked, but it seemed like something my 4WD Forester could handle. The trail actually got narrower, with deep ruts and rocks as I drove, but the Forester handled it quite well. The bonus was that I finally saw the sun!
From here, I ended the morning by exploring a hiking trail near our hotel. The trail led to “Fern Lake” and “Yost Creek” and is a steep climb. The views of the valley along this trail would have been amazing on a clear day, however, today the smoke and haze was playing spoilsport. I went about halfway along this trail until I decided to turn back due to the smoke.
Back at the hotel, I got some coffee and sat on one of the benches near the pond. Soon, two ducks swam across and waddled towards me. I named them Waddle-dee and Waddle-dum, and fed them bits of a cookie I had with me. I didn’t know this, but apparently ducks love Lenny & Larry’s Complete Cookies!
We then headed to the restaurant for breakfast. The waitress there was also from the Bay Area, and had recently moved to June Lake. She started chatting with us and told us about the Benton Hot Springs nearby. Since a visit to a hot spring was on our itinerary, we decided to visit that later in the day. But first on the list, after breakfast, was exploring the other three lakes in the region. We started with the smaller one — Gull Lake. As we neared a stop sign with the lake parking to our left. As I looked left and right to make the turn, I saw a bear at the end of the road on the right. It was investigating a trash can, trying to break into it. My wife quickly took some pictures, but alas, on the mobile phone camera the bear shows up as a black blur. I started driving slowly towards the bear, but it ran off into the woods.
This was the first time we saw a bear in the wild, but I’m sure they are pretty common in the Sierras. In fact, the hotel we were staying in also had a sign warning us to not keep any food in parked cars because of the bears.
With the excitement of the bear sighting worn down, we headed back to Gull Lake. The lake is beautiful, but once again, the smoke from the Creek Fire played spoilsport.
Next up was Silver Lake and Grant Lake. While Silver Lake was similar to June and Gull, Grant Lake was much larger. The access road to Grant Lake is a dirt track, so a SUV or truck is recommended. Despite the smoke from the fire, there were a bunch of families camping and kayaking in the water. A group of kids were also swimming in the shallows.
With all four lakes checked off the list, we decided the spend the evening at the hot springs recommended by our waitress in the morning. Benton Hot Springs is a historical town which is about 45 minute drive from June Lake. As we turned off Highway 395 to Benton Crossing Road, we were driving along miles and miles of desolate landscape with hardly any other cars in sight.
At times we wondered if there could be hot springs in this area, as it looked very remote and dry, with no sign of any civilization. Finally after crossing this desolate stretch, the historical town of Benton comes up.
The town was established in 1852, and was a mining town. Hordes of 49'ers and miners (people who flocked to California in 1849 when gold was discovered a year earlier) probably stopped here and soaked in the mineral-rich hot springs. The town today has an inn, hotel, jailhouse and a defunct general store and gas station. It’s pretty much your quintessential Wild West town.
To get our hot tub, we went to the Inn to check if any was available. The Inn had a sign asking us to use the walkie-talkie at the gate to communicate, and not walk in (COVID-19 restrictions). Over the walkie-talkie, the lady at the reception almost turned us away. She said we could not use the tubs without a reservation. Finally, after a bit of pleading, the lady agreed that we could use it as long as we pay the full overnight-camping charge. With the payment done we headed to the hot tubs, which is a short drive along a dirt road near the Inn.
The hot tubs themselves are filled with hot water from the creek that runs through the area. Each site has a hot tub, a picnic table and camping ground. Each site is conveniently far apart and hidden from view to provide privacy. So you are completely isolated and at one with nature while you soak in the tub.
The water in the tubs is surprisingly hot, although it is directed piped from the creek. I would have expected it to be just warm, but it is really hot. The creek is heated by the geo-thermal spring, and the water in the creek is also hot. Soaking in this tub was definitely one of the highs of this vacation. While we could have spent the whole night here, we were not prepared to camp, so we headed back late in the evening.
The next day, we woke up to find clear sunny skies. The smoke and haze that had been our unwelcome companion over the weekend, had finally cleared. But it was Monday, and time to head back! Oh well — c’est la vie!
