Lone Pine Trip: Part 2 - Devil's Postpile NM

Turns out my friends R and J are really outdoorsy and have made it a hobby since marrying to attempt to fill their joint National Parks Passport with cancellation stamps. I didn't know what a National Parks Passport ws either but it's basically a little book you pay $7.95 for and take with you to all the National Parks, Historical sites and Monuments you visit. At each park there is a "cancellation station" with a stamp that says the name of the park and the day you visited. You collect these in the book just like a regular passport. I think they'd make a cool gift, especially for families and kids as it gives them something to do together. You can order them online here.

Because they are into the passbooks they wanted to head up to Devil's Postpile National Monument just outside of Mammoth Lakes so I hitched a ride and bought a passbook upon entry into the park.

Here's a shot of the famous formation:It is a pretty cool thing to behold - basically 60 foot tall hexagonal columns of shiny lava that look like Superman's secret hideaway in the North Pole.

And here's what the park service has to say about Devil's Postpile and the geologic phenomenon it depicts:

Approximately 100,000 years ago, a lava flow erupted two miles upstream from the location of today's Monument. As it flowed down the Valley, it eventually ran into an obstruction which served as a dam to the lava's path. Pooling up to as deep as 400 feet behind the natural dam, the lava cooled. Conditions were such that the lava--that was incredibly uniform in its mineral composition--cooled at a very slow rate. As it cooled, it contracted and cracked, forming hexagonal columns. 80,000 years later, a glacier flowed through the same valley, overriding the formation and eventually revealing the sides and tops of the columns. Glacial polish can still be seen today at the top of the formation.

What is perhaps more cool is the view from the top:Those are the tops of the columns and are about a foot and a half across. It's like walking on fancy yet primitive tile and if you're at all into geology it's well worth the trip.

Also at the park is famous 101-foot Rainbow Falls, the tallest waterfall on the San Joaquin River:It's called Rainbow Falls because the splash from the waterfall usually creates a big rainbow at the bottom when the sun is shining. We arrived a bit late in the day and this was the best rainbow I could capture in the fading light:The 2.5 mile hike to and from the falls would have been a leisurely stroll through a sequoia forest just 14 years ago. Unfortunately, a pesky fire that burned 7,000 acres ravaged the place in the 1992 Rainbow Fire and this is how the trail looks today. Incidentally, that's the back of a Mammoth area ski resort up on the left top of the picture.

Also in the park are a bunch of wild mules. We saw them in a meadow:Accomplished animal expert that I am, I have never dealt with a mule, a cross between a male donkey and a female horse, and did not realize that the female mules, called mollies, can't breed because they only have 63 chromosomes and you need an even number of chromosomes to divide. Perhaps we could start a national plan to remove one chromosome from every stupid person so they can no longer breed? In the meantime I'll just try to stay away from asses.