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We decided on a relative rest day today. The weather forecast called for thunderstorms starting around 4pm, anyway. So we didn't want a long hike. Instead, we drove over to Fish Slough Road and checked out the petroglyphs. This involves a long drive on an unpaved gravel road. However, the road is in relatively good condition and most cars shouldn't have a problem (though it can be bumpy in a few places). The first parking lot is Fish Slough Petroglyphs, but it didn't have much of interest, so we continued on without even taking any pictures. The next stop is Chidago Canyon Petroglyphs. A pickup truck passed us and arrived just ahead of us. It was the only other car we saw on the road. This site is a bit more interesting with a fence holding visitors back from the large rocks with clearly visible petroglyphs. Unfortunately at this point a brief rain shower came our way. The forecast had called for thunderstorms at 4pm, so I was a bit surprised to see rain so early, but thankfully it was brief. We just waited in the car for a couple minutes. The other visitors checked out the site briefly, then turned around and headed back south for some reason.
Chidago Canyon Petroglyphs
Chidago Canyon Petroglyphs
Chidago Canyon Petroglyphs
Chidago Canyon Petroglyphs
We continued north to the Red Canyon site, which is far and away the best of the three. You can walk freely through the site. There are many more carvings on the back side, so don't just stop after looking at the front. We explored a little further still, but only found some nice views and not as many petroglyphs at the far rocks. Still, there was plenty of carvings on the other rocks. We also saw a colorful lizard on the way back.
Red Canyon Petroglyphs
Red Canyon Petroglyphs
Red Canyon Petroglyphs
Storm over White Mountains to the east
Red Canyon Petroglyphs
Red Canyon Petroglyphs and White Mountains
Red Canyon Petroglyphs
White Mountains
Checking out the Red Canyon Petroglyphs
Some type of lizard I've never seen before
Red Canyon Petroglyphs and White mountains
We got back in the car and continued on the road. We mistakenly stayed on Fish Slough Road past an intersection with Chidago Canyon Road, but soon came to a “road closed” sign. We turned around and turned onto Chidago Canyon Road toward Highway 6. Soon enough we were back on the pavement. If time is short or you don't want to drive on so much gravel, I'd recommend just starting at the north end and visiting only the Red Canyon site. You wouldn't be missing much by skipping the other two.
From here, we continued on Highway 6 and then turned left onto Highway 120. This is a pretty drive with some interesting geography. Not much traffic, either. After about 40 miles or so we reached the South Tufa trailhead at Mono Lake.
Then we did the
South Tufa hike.
After the hike, we took 395 south back toward our rental house. Around 4pm, as if on cue, the skies opened up and there was a brief torrential rainfall. And then it was gone. There was rain off and on after that.
We were supposed to stay another night, doing a long day hike on Monday. However, I checked the forecast and it called for thunderstorms for most of the day. So we decided to cut our trip one day short and head back Monday morning. Hopefully early enough to beat most of the rain.
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