Parcher's Vacation....Day 1

Last week the four of us went up the the High Sierras for a family vacation. We left early Thursday 6/19 and came home late Sunday 6/22. We all had such a great time! I plan on doing a new post for each day of our vacation...so here's Day 1:

We all got up early on Thursday morning and were on the road by 5:15. We had spent the two days prior packing up the car, so we pretty much loaded-up the cooler and took off. We figured the kids would have slept in the car, but I think everyone was too excited for our 5 hour+ road trip.

Our first stop was Ridgecrest, a little town off the 395. We stopped to stretch our legs at the Albertson's and topped off the tank with cheaper gas before hitting the "higher" priced stations. Kendra and I even got Raspberry Iced Teas from Starbucks....thanks to my Gift Card. Tyler picked up an Amp, and Brian got more ice for the cooler. One of the other reasons for our stop was to pick-up sqeeze peanut butter....they didn't have it. I swear I had seen it about a month or so ago, but I guess no one carries it anymore. Back in the car...

Next stop Lone Pine....well actually the Mt. Witney Portal, about 13 miles west of Line Pine. I had read about it online, and thought it would be a really cool place for us all to see. After turning left from the 395, you head through the Alabama Hills towards Mt. Whitney.

I didn't know this before reading it online, but the Alabama Hills are home to MANY movie backdrops! There is even a map online that you can print out and see the actual places where movies were shot. Some of the actors who have filmed there are: Gene Autry, John Wayne, Ronald Regan, Humphrey Bogart, Mel Gibson, Russell Crowe (Gladiator)...to name a few... We thought that was pretty cool, but didn't do the map tour.

Once up at the portal, we were amazed at how pretty it was! We were just expecting to have a great view of Mt. Whitney...which you really don't at the portal, you are too close at that point to see the peak. It is mainly the trailhead for hikers who are doing Mt. Whitney. There is a store for last minute items, a pond stocked with trout, and a campground.


I do have to tell you the mosquitos up there are insane! After looking around the pond for just a few minutes, we were already getting attacked! We went back to the car to get the OFF, when we heard running water....I looked up to see this.....

Crazy, huh?...here's one a little closer:

Isn't it beautiful? We found out later, that this is considered a Cascade instead of a waterfall, since it cascades down the mountain....


As we were leaving the portal, we pulled over and took this picture of Mt. Whitney....Mt. Whitney is actually the shorter looking peak towards the right of the 'V' shape. It looks smaller because it's actually farther away...

We drove through Big Pine. Here's its name-sake pine tree...sorry for the bad pic, we were driving by....

We got to Bishop at about 11:30...not too bad for the amount of stops we made. We stopped by Mac's Sporting Goods where Brian found a Thomas Buoyant that he didn't have yet...I thought we had them all...lol. We went to Mc D's for lunch and then headed up the mountain towards Parcher's.

About 20 minutes later and after loosing all cell phone service (No service on the mountain what-so-ever to Kendra's dismay), we got to the Bishop Creek Canyon Fork. Parcher's Resort is on the South Fork.

We first headed up to Lake Sabrina (pronounced, Sa-br-i-na...not Sa-br-ee-na). Thought we would get in some fishing and kill some time before our 3:00 check-in.

Doesn't this look like a postcard?

Getting set-up...
Brian and I fishing. Look how clean and clear the water is....it's FREEZING cold, too!

After about 30 minutes or so...and MANY bird-nests (fishing line knots) from the wind, we decided to head over to Parcher's.

On the way, we stopped at the Lake Sabrina outflow....we saw some fish, but wanted to get to our new "home"...

Finally, we made it to Parcher's Resort at about 1:30...they let us check-in early. If you are ever planning a trip to the Sierras or Bishop area, stay here. The staff is awesome and the grounds are very well kept! Here's the "Main Office"...it's the Restaurant, Store, Gift Shop, and Check-in/out....

Got our Cabin key and headed up to check out Cabin #5.

It's a Hiker Cabin...when we were planning our trip, FNN scheduled a Team 57 event the same week...Ironic, huh?

Anyway, they didn't have any of the cabins we had originally chosen available, so we chose the Hiker cabin instead. It is a studio cabin with a kitchette (sink/fridge/stove), bathroom with shower, firepit with patio chairs, inside table & chairs, and two bunk beds...one of which is a full on the bottom bunk. It worked out great for the four of us....we liked it so much, we would stay in the same cabin again. Here's a couple inside pics....


As we were unpacking the van, we noticed a LARGE fly-like bug on the front balcony...

Brian grabbed the can of bug spray provided in the cabin and sprayed it. The bug then turned a little, as if it was looking at us, and peed...and then flew off! Kendra was tramatized...and we were all laughing so hard! We figured out later it was a Cicada...those very LOUD fly-like bugs.

After that whole ordeal...we finished setting up the cabin and then went to explore the resort. We ran into a couple of FNN-ers we knew and chit-chatted for a while. Since there was no FNN plans for the evening, we thought we would go see South Lake and do some fishing...and hopefully catching.

As we were parking the van at South Lake, we noticed some SNOW! We didn't think there would be any snow low enough for us to touch!

We hiked down to the shoreline...it is a little hike, and the shoreline is more rocks than shore... Brian got Kendra set-up with a Nightcrawler and threw it in to get the fishing started.

About 45 seconds later...Fish On!

Neither of the kids were into touching their catches, so here's Brian holding Kendra's frist fish since she was 5 years old!

A few minutes later, Tyler's turn....I was trying to get out of the picture, but obviously that didn't work...lol.

Next, I got one...

Here's Brian trying to stay warm. After the sun went behind the mountain, it got cold fast!

We had such a great time catch and releasing the trout. And the scenery was to die for....

Totals for the day:
Brian- 2
Emily- 1
Tyler- 4
Kendra- 2

We headed back to the cabin for showers and Chili Cheese Dogs...Mmm...food always tastes better in the mountains!