Today, we're leaving Yosemite National Park after staying there for two days. In the morning, we set off for Lee Vining, a town to the east of Yosemite National Park. The next big stop is Death Valley, so a stop in Lee Vining means we don't have to do too much driving in one day.
On the way to Lee Vining, we made several stops at different viewpoints. But first, we met a young bear after a few minutes in the car. We got a good shot of him (well, not really, as you can't really get out of the car with a bear around).
On the road, we also stopped at a lake, Tenaya Lake, where we spend a few minutes admiring the blue water and taking a few photos.
We set off again, and made another stop about ten minutes later, again at a lake. However, this lake is a little more special, as there's a bit of snow around it. In fact, we've risen in altitude to around 3,000 meters, and so the climate has changed, allowing the eternal snows to resist, even in summer. I didn't really expect to find snow here, I admit, but anyway, we continue on our way.
We arrive at Lee VIning, and after lunch, we set off for the village of Bodie. This village is unusual: it's a ghost village. Initially developed when gold was discovered here, the village began to decline in the early 20th century, surely when all the gold was mined.
There are quite a few tourists there, but that's to be expected. That didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves and taking some great photos. The village is quite impressive, and above all very well preserved. It's incredibly immersive, and feels like the Wild West of the 1900s. There's also a museum with some well-preserved objects, such as an old piano and horse-drawn carriages. You can still see the remains of the mining infrastructure and get up close and personal with a guide.
Back in 2023 after a two-hour visit, we leave the village and return to Lee Vining to collect the keys to our accommodation. We then go out to try and catch the sunset, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen, and the weather's not great either, with light rain and strong winds.
At the same time, we receive an e-mail from the accommodation we've booked in Death Valley warning us that there will be extreme weather conditions from tomorrow to August 22 (at the time of writing, it's August 18), so all the infrastructure in Death Valley will be closed and it's strongly recommended to change route. In fact, Hurricane Hilary will pass right by here, and is likely to generate huge floods in Death Valley.
I have no idea what we're going to do; we're going to wait until tomorrow to make a decision and review our itinerary. We're a bit scared, though, because our plane is supposed to leave Vegas on August 22, but the hurricane will be there that day.