Page 141 - 2018 Travel Guide to California

BACKPACKING THE HIGH COUNTRY
in Yosemite National Park, opposite;
skiing at Mammoth, below; Yosemite
Valley panorama, center; Bodie Ghost
Town church, bottom.
Heritage & Culture
Native Americans, pioneer emigrants and
gold miners all left their marks on the High
Sierra—often literally. At Grinding Rock
State Historic Park near the town of Twain
Harte, Miwok Indians once ground acorns
on an outcrop of marbleized limestone. The
1,185 mortar holes they left behind consti-
tute the largest such collection in North
America. In the Hope Valley, just south of
Lake Tahoe, you can still see ruts in the
rocks left by the covered wagons of settlers
on the Emigrant Trail. The shafts of
thousands of abandoned mines pockmark
the High Sierra. One of the best places to see
one is the Great Sierra Mine, a short but
steep hike from Tioga Pass in Yosemite.
You’ll find the remains of old miners’
cabins, but exercise care around the shafts,
several of which remain open and
unfenced.
Family Fun
If the kids aren’t yet ready for full-on cam-
ping, Lake Tahoe has two old-timey resorts
with knotty-pine cabins scattered in the
trees near the lakeshore, bike and paddle-
boat rentals and ice cream parlors. Camp
Richardson is on the west shore, near
Tahoe City; Zephyr Cove is on the south
shore, just over the border in Nevada.
camprichardson.com zephyrcove.com
INSIDER’S
»
TIP
For an intimate and unusual
exploration of MONO LAKE, rent
kayaks to paddle around the
weirdly picturesque TUFA
TOWERS and other landmarks.
calderakayak.com
2018 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A 139