In 1871, twenty nine prisoners escaped from the Nevada State Prison in Carson City. Six of them crossed the mountains and tried to hide in this part of Mono County. A posse of men from the towns of Benton and Aurora tried to apprehend them. A fierce gun battle followed, and Robert Morrison, one of the deputies, was killed. The felons escaped to nearby Long Valley where three of them were caught and hanged. The tallest peak in the area was named Mount Morrison in honor of the slain deputy, and the lake became known ever since that time as Convict Lake.
This small lake, fed by melting snow from the mountains in the nearby John Muir Wilderness, has always been good for fishing. A fishing camp with rustic cabins was established here in the 1920’s, and now, under the control of the National Forest Service, it is known as the Convict Lake Resort. In its early days I am sure it was the scene of many of what my sister refers to as “ATF” weekends –- that’s short for “Alcohol, Tobacco, and Fishing.” Now with a fancy restaurant on the premises and some more civilized accommodations, it attracts couples and families year-round. This was the cabin next to ours. I could not find an angle which showed the mountain quite so well for our cabin, but it looked just about the same.
We took the dogs for a stroll around the lake in the morning. The weather was clear and beautiful, and the pups had a great time.
Edie loves lake water, and she did not mind a bit that it was as cold as could be.
Eli, who always loves to chase tennis balls, discovered that pine cones were a reasonably good substitute. In fact, his enthusiasm for pine cones almost matched a first grade teacher armed with a can of gold spray paint!
John and I were content to watch them from the shore. We weren’t getting into that freezing water!
We did get them to pose for a group portrait, though you have no idea how many times we had to shoot this picture.
When the snow has melted, it is pretty easy to hike all the way around the lake. But the snow was still pretty deep on the steep western side of the lake, so we returned the way we came. We had lunch on our porch, and, since it is vacation, promptly took a nap.
In the afternoon, we set out to explore Long Valley and maybe to find an empty hot spring. Like Yellowstone National Park, the southern part of Mono County is one enormous volcano caldera. About 700,000 years ago geologists believe that enormous eruptions from this super volcano created the current landscape.
There is still a pool of magma just below the surface here, and combined with the snow melt from the nearby mountains, it creates hot springs around the valley. A few of these springs, like this one, are dangerously hot with temperatures twice that of boiling water!
When we were here before, we chanced upon one of the cooler hot springs and spent a pleasant afternoon in the sulfurous waters. We were not that lucky this time as all the springs seemed occupied by others. So, being dedicated teachers, we went back to the cabin to grade papers and work on lesson plans. Maybe another time….
I cooked dinner, and we watched Working Girl on one of the satellite movie channels. I hadn’t seen this film since it came out in 1988, and although it is amusing to look at the big hair and big shoulder pads of the period, it is not a cinematic masterpiece.
Tomorrow, on to Lake Tahoe.
