Devil's Postpile by mtncorg
A Devil's Postpile page is obligatory for a "Mammoth Lakes' section. It is about 14 miles from the town. During the summer, because of crowds, the road down the valley from the Minaret Summit is restricted to shuttle buses during certain hours of the day. You either have to go before or after the hours of the shuttle buses to drive down into the valley.At the Minaret Summit a wonderful viewpoint gives both hikers and non-hikers wide views over the upper valley of the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin river and on to the mountains surrounding - the awesome Minarets, Mt Ritter, Banner Peak, ....
The Devil's Postpile is a small national monument deep in the valley below. The whole area around Mammoth is alive from recent vulcanism and earthquakes. There are cinder cones to be found throughout the area - look at Mammoth Mountain, itself! The Postpile is a series of basaltic columns that have been exposed over time. A trail takes you around the Pile and up to the top where you can experience the geometry of the columns up close. Another nice and popular hike in the monument is to Rainbow Falls whihc is shown on others' Mammoth pages.
