Closer To The Sun – Mammoth Lakes, CA
We awake to the sound of a woodpecker hammering in the distance and the soft rush of wind rippling through the pine trees. The sun is just barely cresting the tops of the forest, and the first warmth of its rays is teasing after a night of solid chill. There are only 2 other rigs in the entire area, making it feel like we’re practically solo. Doggie and us take a walk along the stream, following its curves until the vista opens up to the jagged, white-tipped peaks of Mammoth. We stop and take a moment to breathe in the dry air and savor the view.
Damn, it’s gorgeous here!
Free Camping, Hot Springs & Brews
We are on the Eastern side of Sierra Nevada Mountains, and although we’re playing Russian Roulette with the weather we couldn’t help but stop here. This late in the season it is blissfully quiet, even at the popular free ATV campground just north of town (fear not, a review is coming), and it is a pretty amazing place.
The pine trees here are so thick and tall that we practice our very own form of beastly “stealth camping” = the art of placing a beast within even greater natural beastliness (ingeniously stealthy is it not?). To the West the mountains dwarf us even further, towering 11,053 ft (3,369 m) high in a series of staggeringly jagged peaks, and beneath them a stark, dry high desert valley floor stretches out to the edge of the horizon in the East.
This contrasting geology dates back to a series of eruptions that ended 57,000 years ago, and the remenants of that fiery time still live on with black obsidian craters, spectacular lava formations, and hidden hot springs. We discovered the latter last year (which, by the by, is the post that has the one and only truly naked picture in my entire blog ::), and we loved them so much we had to bring our buddies to see the springs our very first evening here.
As soon as we had set-up in camp, Chris & Cherie put together a picnic basket of cheese, crackers and beer, and we motored over to Wild Willy’s where we joined 6 or so other (mostly local) cars for a sunset dip. The springs here are free and clothing optional, although most folks do suit up and this year (given the “crowds”), we decided to keep it PG ourselves. As luck would have it we even met one of the brewers at Mammoth Brewing Co who gave us the impetus to go there the very next day for a flight of their fine, local brews. Free camping, hot springs and brews….doesn’t get much better than that, does it?
And Stronger Sun?
The other thing I love about the mountains is the way altitude and chill changes your experience. Not only does everything cook slower, but your solar experience is different too. Anyone who’s ever hiked in the mountains knows that the sun feels stronger up high, and many folks assume it’s because you’re closer to the sun. In actual fact the piddly 7,500 feet or so elevation we’re at is less than a flea of a speck closer to the bright orb that warms our planet from over 96 million miles away. It’s not the height, but the atmosphere that makes the difference. Light gets scattered & absorbed as it moves through the atmosphere meaning less solar flux as you get closer to sea level. So, as you go higher you get more sun, solely because there is less atmosphere.
Being the geeks that we are this little tidbit intrigued us and we got to wondering if our solar panels actually generate more here in Mammoth. A little Google magic reveals a simplified equation that shows ~8% more flux at ~7,500 feet than at sea level, all things other equivalent. Add to that a slight increase in efficiency as our panels get colder, as well as low humidity levels (also an improvement to flux) and we do end up getting a little boost from the sun*. All in all, good enough to explain the slighter better input we’ve been seeing here. Pretty cool, eh?
Of course any improvement we get in solar is completely negated at night by the loss of capacity in our lead-acid batteries. So, as tempting as it might be to stay at altitude purely for the solar flux, our battery losses pretty much wipe them out. Fun stuff to keep us geeks occupied in the boonies, but likely completely useless info for the rest of the populous 🙂
*Note/ If you then go ahead and tilt your panels, you get a much more significant solar boost -> something I’ve written about in previous blog posts.
Moving On….
While we’ve been basking in a mini heat-wave, colder temps (and even a hint of a snow-storm) lie lurking around the corner which means we need to be moving on down out of the peaks to lower elevations. So earlier today we raised our jacks and caravaned south. It may only have been a brief stop in the pines, but it was a worthy one and we’ll be just around the same distance from the sun at our next one. See ya there…:)
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Love your posts! Keep them coming!
What a lovely location surrounded by the pines and blue sky:)
Question…doesn’t the beer bother Paul because of the gluten?
Hope you are far enough south to avoid the cold!!
It does, but he “suffers” through for the taste LOL. He does ok if he only drinks it on occasion, so he’s been doing that. I can take a little too, but I tend to react more than Paul.
Nina
I totally understand. Sometimes I just have to suffer that nasal congestion thing so I can taste new beers, as well.
Sorry, but I have to say something…..No Glass In Hot Srings!…Jeez all it takes to hurt someone….
I do wish I was there tho..
David
Errr…we pack it in, we pack to it out and we don’t throw it about. All the locals were having a brew in the springs too. it’s a popular sunset activity around here.
Nina
I second that. My favorite place in the world so have to say it. Love seeing you guys enjoying it all.
We love traveling on 395! That looks like a terrific hot spring — we’ve been to Travertine hot springs near Bridgeport several times; it’s another beauty and we’ve almost always had it to ourselves. We’ve never been to Wild Willy’s, but it’s going on our list! Thanks for the enticing photos.
You know in all the years we’ve been traveling 395 we’ve never really spent any time in Bridgeport. One of these days were going to have to stop and explore it in more depth.
Nina
I was going to ask if Cherie was holding your beer! I know I can’t touch the stuff, for gluten reasons. I went on the brewer’s website, hoping to find a hard cider.
Love the post!
Jim
She was actually holding a hard cider. They brought along two Mammoth 395 IPAs and one hard cider. Can’t remember who was the maker of the cider.
Nina
Looks like Fun. Reminds me when I lived in Coarsegold, CA. Thanks for the update. Travel safe 🙂
OK, techie question….
“stay at altitude purely for the solar flux, our battery losses pretty much wipe them out. ”
You are using lead acid, was it q noticeable loss? How did Chris and Cherie’s LI batteries do with temperature?
Yup, the capacity losses with lead acid are quite significant at low temps. If you click on the link in the blog post you’ll see the graphs that show it. At just around freezing, you lose close to half your capacity at fast discharge. I estimate we were running almost 40% less the past few nights.
I think Chris and Cherie’s batteries did ok. Lithium doesn’t really lose capacity as it gets colder (very minimal), but it doesn’t like to charge. So, Lithium does need cold weather protection on the charging side. Many folks install Lithium inside their coach (e.g. Under their bed) to help keep them above freezing for this very purpose.
Nina
I see significantly poorer LiFePO4 charging performance starting even at 60°F average battery temperature (45° nights, 70° days). I am not getting nearly the longevity I had originally hoped, and I suspect it is due to this. On my next set, I plan to do an automatic heavy discharge just before sunrise, so that the cells are much warmer internally, when the solar panels begin their charge.
Good to know. How much worse is the charging (any data details)? I’m just curious.
We plan our install our lithiums internally somewhere (maybe in our bedroom cupboards) since we typically keep our bedroom warmer. I’ll have to ask our neighbors how their batteries did during the chilly morning charge.
Nina
Coulombic efficiency, usually around 95% in the summer, falls below 80% in the winter. We all know that charging LiFePO4 below freezing results in signficant irreversible plating, but I have a hard time believing it’s a simple step function. IOW I suspect there is some plating going on even above freezing. Difficult to prove, of course, without a lab. But my next set will be kept warmer, so at least I will be able to remove the temperature variable.
This is such a beautiful part of our state that not a lot of folks take advantage of – we are so much more than beaches and freeways 🙂 This is a dicey time of year to travel that route, but the rewards of a little daring are huge when you get days like that!! Safe travels 🙂
We’ve been SO lucky with the weather (so far) especially considering the crazy storms that are hammering the Midwest and some of the northern states right now. Here’s hoping it lasts!
Nina
You got some amazing pictures of the SRM (Solar Radiation Management) grids sprayed overhead. The “High Desert Valley” picture is particularly shocking. Right over our heads yet most people don’t realize what it really is. Yikes.
That’s the first I’ve heard of active SRM grids in the area. I assumed these were all airplane tracks?
Nina
As Freud would say, “Sometimes a contrail is just a contrail…”
Wish they were just contrails, but they’re not.
Looks wonderful. The Mammoth Lakes area is on my To Go List for spring. Like you we are running away from the cold weather, but it caught up with us in Fredericksburg Texas. Freezing our asses off. Can’t wait to be in Arizona and San Diego.
Texas is getting a beating right now. Hope you’re staying warm!
Nina
We are camped just up the road(about four hours)from you and headed your way this weekend. Those hot springs look wonderful, especially with the chilly night air we have been experiencing. What a wonderful view you have!
Enjoy the area. Hope the weather holds for you.
Nina
Well one more place to add to thelist of traveling 395….
The list is a long one. Even though we’ve traveled here several times, we keep seeing new stuff & adding to it too.
Nina
It may be long but all seem to be gems not to be missed!
Love your reporting of these travels on 395. We hope to be there next spring. Probably in mid to late April. Will the weather be doable that early?
Grrr…een with envy… You guys are savoring the last taste of mild weather there methinks. We will re-launch from Sonoma after Thanksgiving, spend December in No San Diego County, and head for AZ after Xmas. See you in Quartzsite!
Fantastic high country pics, Nina. Thanks as always. I thought the salt in the autumn golden grass was frost at first.
Hope you can miss the snow as its kind of “interesting” driving any RV in the mountains with snow on the roads.
I’m pretty sure we’ve missed it. We’re down to around 4,500 feet so well below the danger point. We actually saw snow dump in the high mountains today (lots of pretty white frosting), but nothing fell down here.
Nina
I’m glad to hear the Techno-Wheelin’ Caravan has achieved safer destinations. I hope you have nice views of the fresh snow on the mountains from where you are now. It’s easier to take a drive in the toad to go play in the snow for a day or an afternoon than being stuck there with the RVs.
Have fun!!!
love your posts……and your experiences at cape blanco