The route from Yosemite to Mono Lake was officially closed that day because of a forest fire. We didn't find out about it however until we passed a sign almost out of the park. Since we were almost at the edge of the Mono Lake region anyway, we decided to continue forward anyway to see. When we got there, it turned out that the route had just unofficially opened, and support vehicles were accompanying the initial wave of cars through the region; we found out later that the route closed again a few hours later. To add to our good fortune, someone canceled their hotel reservation because of the route closure, allowing us to grab a cheap, last-minute room. Although the smoke from the forest fire ruined our stargazing plans that night, it did paint the world in a fiery reddish-purple hue came the sunset, marking a wonderful end to our fortuitous day.