Convict lake

A small lake on the side of the 395 just 20 minutes away from Mammoth. This is a stop Allen and I have been taking over the last 14 years of our lives together. This year marked the first year we brought both of our boys to this beautiful place. Watching them delight in this place as much as we did made our hearts swell. A long time ago (before kids) I brought a friend here to show her how stunning the natural beauty of the sierras were and she was unimpressed. She kept mentioning how she wasn’t “a mountain person” and she “doesn’t do these king of things”. I didn’t really know what that meant. What’s a mountain person? Can’t anyone with eyes come to a beautiful place and say WOW! this is incredible. Creation is a work of art and I am inspired in this place no matter how many times I witness it. I didn’t realize how deeply personal that kind of thing can be. But this one thing I do know, a beautiful place that was carved out the earth from the creator himself is a place I will forever return to, especially with my children.

If Convict Lake is calling you too, our Mammoth Lakes page has our favorite spots and the best seasons for a session.

Family photo in the snow at Convict Lake with Mount Morrison behind them

Toddler in a red jacket stands by the dock at a snowy, mirror-still Convict Lake

Dad films with a camera beside the frozen edge of Convict Lake

Black-and-white photo of mom and her son looking out over Convict Lake in winter

Mom and two boys look out at the water from the snowy shore of Convict Lake

Black-and-white photo of dad and son crouched by the still water at Convict Lake

Mom holds her son on the snowy dock at Convict Lake below the peaks

Two boys in bright jackets explore the dock at a snowy Convict Lake

alabama hills

Our pit stop on the way home. This is one of those spots where the desert meats the tallest mountain in the United States standing at 14,500 feet, Whitney. Judah kept saying “mommy this is the desert” and it was hard for me to understand that because YES there are giant boulders and a few cactus here that remind us of Joshua Tree (another place he has been that probably reminded him of it). But looking into the distance and seeing the towering mountains covered in snow make you question everything. What is this place? It feels unworldly in the best ways. The boys ate their lunch, stopping to climb a rock or two between each bite. It was the perfect little boy playground in the middle of our 6 hour car ride home. We feel lucky that CA offers so many landscapes that give us joy and inspiration. It was a great reminder that detouring off our path, taking a long breaks to get the wiggles out, and filling up our tanks mentally and physically (the car included) is always worth it.

Dad and two boys run down a dirt road toward the Sierra peaks in the Alabama Hills