California's mountain getaways: our favorites

By CARY ORDWAY

With the snow pack melting and warm summer days ahead, a lot of California’s getaway travelers are starting to plan those warm weather trips to the mountains. Hiking trails will be clear of snow soon, and the fragrant pine trees and colorful spring wildflowers beckon those who yearn to be back in the woods.

Whether it’s the Sierra-Nevada range to the north or more localized mountain destinations like the San Bernardino Mountains in the south, California has an abundance of places to experience the Great Outdoors. The state also has many small towns – each with its own distinct character and charm -- that cater to those city folk wanting to get away to the mountains. Here are some of our favorites:

June Lake

While nearby Mammoth gets most of the attention because of its world-class ski mountain and facilities, June Lake really is one of the state’s most scenic vacation spots. The “June Lake Loop” area, just east of Yosemite Park, probably should have been included in the national park – its dramatic mountain faces, pine forests and sparkling lakes make it just that beautiful.

Driving into June Lake we were reminded of those pretty little hillside towns you come across traveling through the Alps. The first views of June Lake on this bright sunny day looked like a travel poster for Swissair. With the cragged snow-topped mountains in the distance, Highway 158 winds its way along the blue-green lake where anglers spend considerable time in summer persuading good-size cutthroat trout to jump aboard their boats. Since it was mid-week, a wide, perfect beach was being under-utilized by just two teen-age girls content to bathe in the ample sunshine. A couple miles farther we rounded a corner to enter the town itself, a tiny community with lots of cabins and vacation-style residences serviced by just a handful of restaurants, a pizza joint with just enough room for one table and two chairs, and a couple of general stores that are always fun to browse when passing through these small settlements.

Just a few miles down the highway, past Gull Lake and just before Silver Lake, we came to the Double