After the happiest moment of my life to date; getting engaged in Yosemite National Park it was time to get back in to our rental car and head to our next destination; Mammoth Lakes.
The pass we needed to get from Yosemite to Mammoth Lakes was still closed due to snow (so hard to imagine on a day where temperatures were in the mid-twenties), we only found this out at the last minute so after a bit of advice from a friendly park ranger we set about on a bit of a detour.

We set out with plenty of fuel in the tank, but it soon became clear we’d need to fill up. No worries we think, there’s a gas station before we hit the Sonoma Pass…except when we get to the town where the gas station was meant to be located, there was nothing. Just an empty shell of a gas station and the burnt out remains of an area completely destroyed by last years forest fires.
Still, not panicked we reasoned there would be another on the way and we technically still had enough fuel in the tank. We hit the pass, climbed and climbed and climbed (10,500 feet elevation at it’s peak) and watch the fuel dial plummet.

By the time we had made our descent the tank was empty and sat-nav showed 40 miles to the next gas station. We hoped our car had a good reserve tank as we had no phone signal and there was barely anyone on the road- and a serious lack of houses/general civilisation. That gas station was closed, and at that point we went from celebrating our engagement to sheer panic. Luckily our car had a seemingly bottomless reserve and we made the next 30 miles to an open gas station- an hour further from our destination and back in Nevada. That sense of relief was insane. It was 10pm by this time, we grabbed coffee, figured we’d find something to eat when we got to Mammoth Lakes and got back to it.

At midnight we rocked up to our hotel, obviously check-in was closed but the owner had left the key out for us, alongside a triple underlined warning about bears…we had a very cautious trip back to the car for our belongings!
We pretty much crashed straight in to bed after that drama, fuelled on some car snacks we had salvaged and a strange sense of delirium.

We woke up the next day full of renewed engagement excitement and finally got to tell our family and friends. We had a spot of breakfast at the hotel before heading off, keen to make the best of our one full day at Mammoth Lakes, starting with a hike around Convict Lake.

There are no words to explain how stunning Mammoth Lakes was. Surrounded by snow capped mountains even in June, during the colder months this is a popular ski resort, and during the summer a place of outstanding natural beauty and opportunities to be at one with nature.
It’s somewhere I am desperate to go back to, for at least a full week just to see and experience more of it, you can even get a flight there, with a quick airport transfer to your destination.

Hungry again after our walk we headed to local supermarket Vons for some fuel. I’m still in awe of American Supermarkets- I actually got some of the best sushi of my life in Vons, freshly prepared in front of me.

We spent the afternoon driving around and checking out more of Mammoth Lakes but we barely made a dent. Our plans of a second hike were scuppered when, as the only ones on the trail, we saw evidence of recent bear activity- we’d had enough drama!

Determined to break our run of fast food/chain restaurants we decided to splash out on a special dinner at a local restaurant called The Mogul. Here we had some of the best food of our holiday and I’m sad I didn’t think to take a photo but if you do happen to find yourselves in Mammoth Lakes I highly recommend the Ahi Tuna!
We then headed back to the hotel to celebrate with champagne in plastic cups that we’d purchased in Vons (the hotel bar closed really early) and settled down for another early start, and a reluctant departure from such an amazing place.
Our holiday was rapidly approaching it’s end but we had one final destination to reach.