The goal today was an easy family hike to Rainbow Falls and then a gondola ride up to the top of Mammoth Mountain. In our excitement to get in the car and get to hiking on the trails, we forgot directions to get to the trailhead. But since Mammoth has a visitor’s center, we decided just to go there for directions. Toby went in and found out that like Tioga Pass to Yosemite and Devil’s Post Pile National Monument, the road to Rainbow Falls has not yet been cleared of snow, and is closed.
Toby got directions to another hike around Convict Lake. There is a trail that winds all along the edges of the lake that is considered an easy hike. So we drove there, lathered up with sunscreen and loaded Weezy into the baby backpack. We started hiking, but Max was not happy. The beginning of the trail was asphalted. He wanted to hike on a trail, not walk on a road. Finally, the asphalt ended and we were in dirt. Max was satisfied that we were now actually hiking.
It is about a 3 mile hike around the lake, but at about the 1/4 mark, baby started fussing and Max told me he was tired. We pressed on to just short of 1/2 way, and then took a snack break. Although I would have liked to make it all the way around, we decided that it would be better to turn around and head back the way we came.
After lunch, we headed up to the gondola. As we headed up Mammoth Mountain, we passed a couple of ski lifts that were still running. It is June and the ski lifts are still running! We got to the gondola station, but found out that because Mammoth is between seasons, the gondola only runs on weekends. We will try again on Saturday on the way home.
Since we were in snow country, we got out and Max played in the snow a bit. It a little dirty snow but he had a great time anyway.
Then, Max got to have a special treat. He spent the night in the motorhome with Gran and GranDon (and the cat, Essie). When he came home this morning for a pancake breakfast, he reported that Gran was a loud snorer.

We had been talking up going fishing to Max whenever we discussed our vacation. Since we had been to visit the Fish Hatchery it seemed like it would be time to go fishing. GranDon had brought two poles and his tackle box down from Oregon just for the occasion. I bought a day license and we headed to what I consider the perfect fishing place for a 5 year old: sharing the bank of the lake with a play structure and swingset.
Don thought Max would only be interested in fishing for less than 5 minutes, since Max had been so excited, I was thinking more like 10 minutes. Don baited the hook, cast the line and handed the pole to Max. We showed him how to slowly real in the line and explained to him about the fish pulling on the hook. He sat down on a rock and seemed content. I baited my hook, cast my line and sat next to him. At the 6 minute mark, Max decided he was done and went to play on the slides. I tried another 50 minutes or so, but caught nothing. It was very windy, so we decided to call it a day.
While we were fishing, Mom and Gran were putting together Max’s “Blue Group” scrap book. They got a number of pages done and it is looking good. Everyone took a break for a couple of hours and then Don and Camille came back over for dinner and more scrap booking.
Weezy’s spots are still there, but she continues to act unaffected. She only woke up 3 times last night.

We had big plans to do some hiking after visiting the Hot Creek Fish Hatchery. The place we wanted to hike to was listed as ‘an easy mile from Red Meadow’. We had no idea where Red Meadow is, so we were going to ask someone at the Fish Hatchery. Unfortunately, the Fish Hatchery was completely self-guided. There were no people to be found. We saw huge Rainbow Trout all crowded together in sections of a little stream. They had a little vending machine for fish food. When a bit of fish kibble was thrown in, the fish would swarm and look like a little riot. Max really enjoyed the Fish Hatchery. So we went to a park in Mammoth that a great play structure, swings (for both Weezy and Max) and a stream. We ate our late lunch there and played for over an hour. Then we came home, took naps, and got ready to go out again. But this time, Gran and GranDon stayed with the kids and Toby and I went on a dinner date to see Star Wars 3. We had a very relaxing date with some interesting conversation.
Weezy’s fever is gone, but now she is covered with little red dots, front and back. Actually, there were a few dots on her on Monday, but we thought that they were a mild reaction to having a fever. But by Tuesday morning, there are tons of red dots. Some are slightly raised, but most are flat. She doesn’t seem to mind them. They don’t appear to itch, and she seems relatively happy.
She is doing one thing though, she is banging her hands on the side of her head / her ears. Maybe she has an ear infection. But if she has the ear infection, I think she would be more uncomfortable more of the time. There was a lot of ear banging on Sunday night, but fewer and fewer in the days since, so we have basically ruled out ear infection. I am glad that we have eliminated this because according to the hospital in Mammoth, the only walk-in care is the emergency room. The Family Clinic is available by appointment only, and appointments can only be made during business hours.
Another suspicion is that it is the chickenpox, as a reaction to her vaccine she got about 2 weeks ago. But neither of us have heard of anyone getting full blown chickenpox from the vaccine so far after the vaccine. The warnings were all about redness, pain, swelling in the area surrounding the shot, and occurring right away. We did some research on the internet, and Toby discovered a disease that seems to match her symptoms nearly perfectly.
Roseola generally has 3 days of fever (Weezy had at least 2 days, she could have had the fever while we were driving, and we didn’t notice it) followed by spots on the neck and trunk. The website we looked at also mentioned ear pain and diarreha, which she also has. According to the website, Roseola has no treatment, and should generally run its course on its own. So, it seems the mystery is solved.