We drove down from Lee Vining through the June Lake and Mammoth Lakes area to visit the Devils Postpile National Monument. The day turned out beautifully. The weather was wonderful. Sunny, yet slightly cool, with an occasional breeze.

We drove south on 395 to 158, the June Lake Loop Road. There are some interesting looking canyons along here, and each seems to have a trail that leads up into it. Most have glacial lakes. On the west side of the road are the mountains, and along the east side of the road are a string of fairly large lakes. As well as campgrounds, resorts, marinas, and in the town of June Lake, many businesses and a ski resort.

We passed along Grant Lake, Silver Lake, Gull Lake and finally June Lake. It's a very interesting and pretty area.

From there we drove south on 395 to the turn off for the Mammoth Lakes Scenic Loop. The portion of this drive, before its junction with the Minaret Summit Road, is mostly through pine stands and very little other scenery is visible. But it's a pretty drive.

We turned west on the Minaret Summit Road and drove to the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area where we had to take a shuttle bus to get to Devils Postpile. The shuttle cost each of us $5.00, but it was worth it to let someone else drive that tight, narrow, steep road into that canyon. The shuttle is required unless you drive in before 7:00 a.m. or are camping. The shuttle buses are old vintage 1950s or 1960s type buses. They make several stops along the way at various campgrounds and lakes.

We got off at stop 6, which is the main Devils Postpile area. There is a small cabin size Visitor Center and rest rooms. We hiked the trail to the "postpile" and took the upper route first, then went back along the front. Up on top you can see the hexagon pattern of the posts very well. It looks like glaciers smoothed off the tops to look like a nicely laid patio. Below, the pile looks like a cluster of gray columns mostly standing upright. There is a jumble of fallen pile debris at the base. The ranger there said that there was a martin in the area, but we didn't see it.

We took the trail south toward the Rainbow Falls area. The trail from the Visitor Center to the falls is 2.5 miles. This does not include the section we hiked above the pile, which may have been an additional .25 miles, nor the backtracking we did to see the face of the pile from below.

The trail to Rainbow Falls passes through a forested area. Unfortunately, there was a fire here about 10 years ago and much of the forest along the trail is burned out. There is some revegetation taking place, but it will be centuries before the forest fully recovers.

The trail is mostly packed soil to some areas where it is a bit sandy. But it is in good condition and I would rate it easy to slightly moderate. The trail crosses the John Muir and the Pacific Crest Trails along its way.

At the falls there are several overlooks. The water of the San Joaquin River pours 101 feet over the edge. We took the steps down to below the falls and were able to make our way to a little island in the middle of the river. We poked around and took some photos and then headed back up. There are exactly 100 steps from the bottom to the top (Anne counted them).

We then headed back to the Rainbow Falls Trailhead along the road. It is stop number 9 for the shuttle. It is a 1.5 mile hike through similar vegetation and terrain as the main trail, although it passes into a living forest after a short while. Along this route we met a doe and her two fawns. The young ones still had their spots. Mother seemed unconcerned, but the kids were a bit skittish and curious.

We didn't have to wait too long at the trailhead before the bus stopped to pick us up. It hauled us back to the Mammoth Mountain parking area. We talked with several people on the bus.