The trip to Mammoth meant a drive across Route 108 across the Sierras. This was a road I hadn’t used before. The climb was significant reaching almost 10,000′ at the high point of Senora Pass. Most of the time we were just driving along. However, we did come across a sign for Donnell Lake and thought that might be worth a look and stretching the legs is always welcome on a long driving day.
The lake itself is set down a long way in the valley and the road led to an overlook area. This was just fine. The lake is a really intense color which I guess I would describe as a combination of sky blue and green. It certainly catches the eye. In fact, it had recently caught my eye when I was flying east. I had looked down from a flight at another dammed lake. Just below us at the time I had seen the dam and this greenish lake so it was quite a surprise to find ourselves right by it.
A couple of people were leaving just as we arrived and they were the only souls we saw. The place was ours after that. The location meant you could see where the dam was but couldn’t really get a sense of it. However, the rest of the view was lovely and well worth a stop if you are heading across this way.