Blog Travel

There are a lot of things to do in Mammoth Lakes in the summer like hiking, biking, visiting old mining ghost towns, and more.  One other thing to do in Mammoth Lakes is to simply explore the scenery.  Mammoth Lakes is an incredibly photogenic destination, especially in the summer when the air is warm, the lakes are liquid, and the leaves are green or just starting to turn autumn colors.  When we weren’t enjoying outdoor activities, we were looking for the best photography spots in and around Mammoth Lakes.  Here are some stops to add to your self-guided photography tour of Mammoth Lakes. Mono Lake at Night We hadn’t planned our trip to Mammoth Lakes around night photography, so we were a little disappointed when we realized the weekend we had chosen would have a bright moon.  However, while we had very little Milky Way sighting, we did have a moon that lit up the views and made for some amazing pictures, especially at Mono Lake.  We were able...

Bishop’s logo is “small town with a big backyard.”  The town itself is only 1.1 square miles.  But outside of that small town are endless possibilities for outdoor recreation.  Enjoying Bishop’s backyard doesn’t just have to mean getting an adrenaline rush.  Bishop has all sorts of ways to experience the outdoors, whether it be rock climbing, bouldering, hiking, bird watching, scouting for wildlife, or simply pulling over to the side of the road to drink in the beautiful vistas. Hike or Climb Pine Creek Crags Close to Round Valley is a hidden gem of Bishop, Pine Creek Crags.  Pine Creek Crags is a slot canyon off of Pine Creek Road that is popular with rock climbers.  But you don’t have to be a rock climber to enjoy the short and scenic hike up and into Pine Creek Canyon.  The trailhead to Pine Creek Crags is almost eight miles from Highway 395 on the right side of the road.  You’ll see the slot canyon from the road and tw...

The Salton Sea is one of those decaying places photographers love to visit.  Nature is reclaiming neighborhoods that have long been abandoned, though some holdouts continue to call the Salton Sea home.  The Salton Sea stinks like sulfur and rotting flesh.  The barnacle shoreline is covered in petrified fish that died gasping for breath.  Streets that appear on the map suddenly end in dirt and sand.  Neighborhoods are ghost towns, full of gutted homes with graffitied walls and decomposing furniture. We both used to visit the Salton Sea as kids.  Rome used to go fishing for tilapia.  I’d tag along with my mom and her friend who loved bird watching at the Salton Sea.  You can check off hundreds of bird species from your bird watching checklist at the Salton Sea.  What we didn’t visit as kids were the Salton Sea ghost towns.  Our trip to the Salton Sea was prompted by my desire to practice some night photography and capture...