Our activities over the day and the half we spent at the cabin were pretty simple. Libby and I took a walk with Grandpa up Mammoth Creek looking for American Dippers, admiring flowers and checking out old prospects. We didn't find any Dippers, but we saw some other neat birds, including a Kingfisher, a possible MacGillivray's Warbler and a male Lazuli Bunting - by far the highest I've ever seen one. The flower display was spectacular, with dozens of Tiger Lilies growing along the creek.
We made it all the way to a waterfall that cascades down some old broken rock, and we got to see some old mine shafts dug into the rock that Grandpa remembered visiting while they were in operation and he was a boy. I took some pictures on our walk, which you can see here: Pre-backpack Set.
Old Mammoth Consolidated Mine compressor on Red Mountainhttp://flickr.com/photos/rowleypics/2712530922/in/set-72157606427461016/
That night we sorted and packed all of our food, and the next day we went with Grandpa to gather wood, checked out some fumaroles bought some last minute supplies at the town's Rite Aid, and got our wilderness permit and bear cans from the Forest Service in town. I also picked up a neat book on the natural history of the Sierras that has distribution information on almost every type of critter that you can find in them there hills.
The rest of Monday we spent relaxing. I took a nap and read, and Libby took a nap and read. Oh, and I went to Emerald Lake early in the morning to look at birds. Lots of Wilson's Warblers, American Robins and Dark-eyed Juncos, but there were also a few Yellow-rumped Warblers, Orange-crowned Warblers, Thick-billed Fox Sparrows, and Pine Siskins around, too. Libby and I later found some Hairy Woodpeckers and a Williamson's Sapsucker just up the mine road in a stand of dead trees. The Sapsuckers that nested in front of the cabin for the last two years have unfortunately moved on.
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