Winnedumah Lost

Towering above the crest of the Inyo mountains, the Winnedumah is an 80 foot tall boulder with a mysterious legend of origin. For generations, the native Paiute people have revered the unusual rock. According to legend, thousands of years ago a Paiute tribe was being chased into the Inyo Mountains by a rival tribe. Chief Winnedumah stood at the top of the mountain and began to pray for the salvation of his tribe and suddenly he was transformed into the giant monolith and the enemies were swept away. Today the Winnedumah still protects the Paiute people.

With my time in the Owens Valley growing ever limited, I felt it time to climb to the top of the Dwelling Place of the Great Spirit (that's what Inyo means) and visit the Winnedumah. After some advice and maps from my coworker Richard, I felt it appropriate to set out on the morning of leap year.
After some initial difficulty finding the trail, I was pounding through the sage and rocks towards the mystic Winnedumah.

After making excellent time up the steep mountain slope, I was surprised to encounter snow - not inches of snow, but feet of snow. What had appeared from the valley floor to be tiny insignificant patches on a few of the upper peaks were in fact enormous drifts covering the north aspect and every drainage. Needless to say I quickly lost the trail, but continued on nevertheless.

To make a long story short, after a few hours, my feet and pants were wet and the further I ascended, the greater the accumulation of snow. After hiking from 9am to about 2, I decided to head back, without making it up to the Winnedumah. The following is a picture of the Winnedumah I took, but I did get closer... Maybe next time.