26.9. - 29.09.2021 Mammoth Lakes and Yosemite Park

Calendar

26.9.2021
Drive from San Francisco through Yosemite to Mammoth Lakes

27.9.2021
Tour around the various lakes (especially Lake Mono)

28.9.2021
Yosemite National Park

29.9.2021
Continuation to Las Vegas

Highlights

After about two weeks in the metropolises of LA and Frisco, it is a blessing to spend a few days in nature. However, in Mammoth Lakes, it is quite cool and windy due to its high altitude (about 2500 meters).

By the way, we met the first Swiss person on our trip in Mammoth Lakes. A Grenchen native who emigrated 30 years ago and ended up in this region because of climbing, earning a living in a restaurant.

On September 28th, before our trip to Yosemite, we wanted to have breakfast in Mammoth Lakes and looked for a café near the hotel. After a short drive on the highway, we found one, but the cafés were on the left side of the road. I ignored the double solid line and stopped in front of the first café (of course, we were facing the wrong way). Since the first café was still closed, I cautiously drove on the parking lots on the left side. Shortly after, we heard the familiar sound of police sirens from American series behind us and in the rearview mirror, we could only see red and blue lights. We were not allowed to get out, probably our Camaro was being checked. Then the officer came to us and explained that we were not allowed to drive on the left side. Convinced, we explained our unfamiliarity with the area, and apparently, the officer found Swiss people very likable (maybe it was also because of my gray hair). In any case, it remained a friendly admonition and the officer then blocked the highway so that we could find our way 'back on track'.

The day in Yosemite was intense. However, the park is geared towards campers and hardly has any restaurants or shopping opportunities. Here, we could finally admire the giant sequoia trees that we had been looking forward to since San Francisco (Muir Park).

The drive from Mammoth Lake to Las Vegas was a unique experience, our route went through Death Valley. It is worth taking the side road to Badwater in Furnace Creek instead of using the highway. This route passes, among other things, Artist's Palette (uniquely scenic) as well as the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere (minus 86 meters, in Badwater).

We arrived in Las Vegas at 6:00 PM after a very impressive day.

It is also worth mentioning that American credit cards appear to be used without a PIN. This is probably faster for debiting and the signature is regularly hand-painted on a tablet. The often very impatient service staff tries to bypass the required PIN entry when dealing with Swiss credit cards by simply skipping this step. However, this is not possible and after the third attempt, the card is blocked. This has now happened to me twice. Fortunately, the card can be unlocked again at an ATM of a major bank after entering the correct code. However, the card can only be unblocked on the day following the blocking. This can be very annoying at times.