8/5/13 - Inyo National Forest, Oh! Ridge Campground, CA

When we set up last night the site we are in was open.  The check-in kiosk was closed for the day.  This morning we had to move because our site was reserved.  By the time we moved to another site it was 11 am.  We had a little lunch and then drove to Devils Postpile National Monument.  We also wanted to go to Manzanar National Monument.  We thought we would run by and see Devils Postpile and then continue on.  No, the Devils Postpile area is like a theme park.  When we got to the entrance there were hundreds of cars parked and preparing their bikes to ride.  Then there is a zip line, climbing tower, ski lifts, shops, hotel and restaurants.  The only way you can see the National park is to ride a shuttle.  We stopped at a nature trail and then rode the bus on to Devils Postpile.  This is a large basalt formation with columns in the shape of hexagons.  We hiked to the top.  You could see the hexagon forms where a glacier had scrapped the top flat as it moved. Around 3:30 we caught to shuttle back to the entrance.  There were lines of people at the shuttle stops trying to get on.  Some people stood in the aisle and held to straps.  We got back to the Silverado and drove by "Earthquake Fault", a rift in the earth caused by cracks in the volcanic basalt.  Then we went back to camp and checked out the beach.  Devils Postpile was a really neat thing to see.