Sharp changes in altitude can give you a bloody nose. This is a new fact I have learned after our descent from Yosemite to the town of Bishop.
We had a brief stop at Mono Lake which I think supplies LA or Las Vegas with water. But I'm not sure which city and I may be making the whole thing up. Anyway, it has a crater from a dormant volcano that we had a short walk around for views over the mineral (especially borax - although, I could be making that up too) filled lake. The crater is full of obsidian and pumice. According to the son of the father/son duo walking by, they are the same rock except the pumice has cooled quickly and is therefore full of air bubbles and much lighter than the slower cooling obsidian. It is here that I did my strong woman act by lifting a large pumice rock over my head and impressing the father of the duo (until his son spoiled my fun...)
Our camp for the night was in Bishop. I was merely admiring the sunset and drying the dishes when I got a blood nose. It stayed bleeding for bleeding hours - while someone else dried the dishes for me (thanks Stef), while we piled into the van and drove to a backroad off a backroad to natural hot springs, and while I sat on a rock while everyone enjoyed their beers in the lovely warm waters (feeling sorry for me yet???)
It was well dark by the time it finally stopped and I was able to also enjoy the springs. Another Intrepid tour group had arrived. Luckily we'd already scared off the locals and an inter-Intrepid tour group water fight ensued. I'm pretty sure that we won - but virtue of greater size to their greater numbers. Both groups were Vegas bound and so we arranged for a re-match in the Bellagio fountain the following night. The yellow-bellied cowards never turned up...
We had a brief stop at Mono Lake which I think supplies LA or Las Vegas with water. But I'm not sure which city and I may be making the whole thing up. Anyway, it has a crater from a dormant volcano that we had a short walk around for views over the mineral (especially borax - although, I could be making that up too) filled lake. The crater is full of obsidian and pumice. According to the son of the father/son duo walking by, they are the same rock except the pumice has cooled quickly and is therefore full of air bubbles and much lighter than the slower cooling obsidian. It is here that I did my strong woman act by lifting a large pumice rock over my head and impressing the father of the duo (until his son spoiled my fun...)
Our camp for the night was in Bishop. I was merely admiring the sunset and drying the dishes when I got a blood nose. It stayed bleeding for bleeding hours - while someone else dried the dishes for me (thanks Stef), while we piled into the van and drove to a backroad off a backroad to natural hot springs, and while I sat on a rock while everyone enjoyed their beers in the lovely warm waters (feeling sorry for me yet???)
It was well dark by the time it finally stopped and I was able to also enjoy the springs. Another Intrepid tour group had arrived. Luckily we'd already scared off the locals and an inter-Intrepid tour group water fight ensued. I'm pretty sure that we won - but virtue of greater size to their greater numbers. Both groups were Vegas bound and so we arranged for a re-match in the Bellagio fountain the following night. The yellow-bellied cowards never turned up...
You should have been wearing your red boots when you picked up that oh so heavy rock and then the son AND father would have believed that they were looking at Wonder Woman - for real!
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