fly to Reno or LA and catch the crestline . . . it'll drop you in mammoth . . . or fly to Reno and thumb . . . or, try flying to Reno or San Francisco or LA and using "rideshare" on craigslist . . . gotta be a few bay area SPer's that are headed over to the eastside.

http://easternsierratransitauthority.co ... e-reno.php

Oops, you can probably fly into Mammoth right now––somewone here will no doubt set you up with the info, but you can fly from L.A. to Mammoth . . . google it . . . my computer is slow as hell or I'd get you the info, but gotta go.

+1 for fly into Reno and take the CREST to Mammoth.

Alaska Air flys into Mammoth from Chc, but I'm not sure what your definition of cheap is, cause I doubt this is.