Betsy, Gordon, my brother Jay, and I had some multi-sport fun in the Sierra to celebrate Gordon’s and my birthdays! We stayed four nights in a two-bedroom cabin at Tamarack Lodge near Mammoth Lakes. Here is what we did each day.
Day 0 (Saturday, August 15): Gordon, Jay, and I drive from Del Mar to Tamarack Lodge, while Betsy drives from Oakland to meet us.
Day 1 (Sunday, August 16): We drive to the base of the Panorama Gondola on Mammoth Mountain. Gordon and Betsy take the gondola and two lifts with mountain bikes up the mountain and do repeat laps riding down and going back up to celebrate Gordon’s 41st birthday! Jay and I take the gondola half way up and do three climbing routes on the nearby via ferrata with guide Jasmine.
Day 2 (Monday, August 17): We drive to Lake Mary, where Betsy and Gordon standup paddleboard, while Jay and I kayak. In the afternoon, Gordon hikes around Crystal Lake, while I hike to the south end of Twin Lakes.
Day 3 (Tuesday, August 18): We drive to the Mosquito Flat Trailhead at the end of Rock Creek Road and all climb Mt Starr (12,835 ft) to celebrate my 80th birthday! The round-trip distance is 8.6 miles, and the net elevation gain is 2,580 ft. It takes us 13 hours because I am very slow on the talus and scree between Mono Pass and the summit.
Day 4 (Wednesday, August 19): After checking out of Tamarack Lodge, Gordon, Jay, and I visit the Randsburg “living ghost town” on the drive back to Del Mar, while Betsy goes to meet her friend Alex for another Sierra climbing adventure!
Photos and commentary follow. Thanks to all the team members and guide Jasmine for sharing cools photos and a video 🙂
Day 0: Saturday, August 15. After driving from Del Mar to Lone Pine, we are treated to this view of the Sierra Crest from the Eastern Sierra Visitor Center. Lone Pine Peak is the prominent peak to the right of center, while the higher Mt Whitney is further right in back. Only a few patches of snow remain. 
This is the entrance to Tamarack Lodge. 
This is our comfy two-bedroom cabin. 
A dog stick library is available for dogs 🙂
Day 1: Sunday, August 16. This plaza at the base of the Mammoth Mountain Panorama Gondola has beautiful flowers in the summer but is covered with snow in the winter. 
Lots of fun activities are available in the summer. 
After taking the gondola to the top of the mountain, Betsy rides down Upper Skid Marks. 
Gordon strikes a heroic pose at the top of the mountain.
This map shows the six via ferrata routes. Jay and I do all three green routes: two times down Woolly’s and one time each up Facetime and Dead Snag. 
We hike from the gondola midstation to the top of the routes. 
Our guide Jasmine enthusiastically shows the way! 
Jay and I are ready to go down Woolly’s for the first time. We each have two bungie cords attached to our climbing harness with self-locking carabiners on the ends. One carabiner is always attached to the cable. 
I go up Facetime. 
Jay goes up Facetime too. 
We are near the top of Dead Snag, our second climb of the day
Day 2: Monday, August 17. I kayak on Lake Mary with Crystal Crag to the right of center. 
Gordon standup paddleboards. 
Jay kayaks over submerged tree trunks that were flooded many years ago when a small dam raised the water level of the lake. 
We all head back to the boat landing with Betsy and Gordon on paddleboards and Jay and me on kayaks. Mammoth Mountain is in the background. 
Gordon has this telephoto view of Crystal Crag at the start of his afternoon hike. 
Crystal Lake comes into view through the trees to the right of Crystal Crag. 
The water in Crystal Lake is crystal clear. 
After climbing back to the start, Gordon has a good view of Lake Mary (above) and Lake George (below). 
In the afternoon I hike by Tamarack Lodge to the south end of Twin Lakes with Crystal Crag and Twin Falls in the distance. 
Twin Falls cascades down to Upper Twin Lake.
Day 3: Tuesday, August 18. Gordon, Jay, and Betsy join me for the start of the climb at the Mosquito Flat Trailhead (10,255 ft). 
Lupine adds color by the side of the trail. 
Betsy puts a message on the back of my CamelBak, but only the first two hikers who pass us say “Happy Birthday”. After that, only one other hiker passes us. 
Sierra angelica grows in the rocky soil next to the trail. 
Bear Creek Spire towers in the distance over this little tarn. 
Heigh-ho, heigh-ho. It’s off to climb we go! 
We climb higher on a good trail. 
Gordon takes this beautiful photo of a painted lady feeding on thistle. 
We make good time to Mono Pass (12,045 ft). 
We are all smiles when we get to the pass. 
Summit Lake is in the distance, but we do not need to go there. Instead we need to climb the steep west face of Mt Starr at the right of the photo. 
This is the west face viewed head on. The summit is left of center. A use trail goes a little way up, but after that we have to find our own way, and the climbing is very slow. 
We clamber up talus and scree. 
Sierra columbine grows amongst the talus. 
So does aster. 
Finally we get to solid rock near the summit, where I climb up this rock staircase. 
I climb the last rock pitch before joining Gordon on the summit. 
We are all on top of Mt Starr! Betsy baked a birthday cake to celebrate the occasion and carried it to the top! 
The cake is good 🙂 
This is the view south from the summit. The four highest peaks on the skyline are Bear Creek Spire and Mts Dade, Abbot, and Mills. 
This is a panorama to the west. 
Going down is even more slippery than going up. 
Gordon runs out of water and goes ahead to Summit Lake for a refill. Although the water is pretty, it does not smell good, so Gordon purifies it before drinking. 
Betsy and I are the two tiny figures more than halfway down the big face. 
When we reach the trail by the pass, my pants feature a big hole in the seat and blood stains above my boots from scraping against the rough rocks. 
I am really happy to make it to the end of the trail in the waning light 13 hours after we started!
Day 4: Wednesday, August 19. This plaque for the Rand Mining District on the main street of Randsburg commemorates the discovery of gold in 1895. By 1899 the town had a population of more than 3,500. The Yellow Aster Mine produced nearly $25 million in gold. 
This 5-ton steam locomotive was used to haul ore. 
These businesses on Butte Ave are deserted during our Wednesday visit, though some still open occasionally. 
Bells & Whistles on the other side of the street is open! It’s “THAT shop your friends talk about” 🙂 
The Rand Motor Co. has electricity but no customers. 
This old-timey pickup truck is parked out front. Fortunately we have a working vehicle to finish our awesome multi-sport adventure!