The 395 and Owens Valley-Eastern Sierra Region

No.

 

I can't even....

 

Buy tickets ahead of time.

 

Dang, but thanks for the info!

Mammoth used to be my favorite place on earth (outside the Rockies of course), summer and winter alike. Few things compete for most-cherished childhood memory quite like those of our fourth-of-July Mammoth trips. But in 10 short years--err, 20... (slow mental math) let's make that well over 30 short years... it's somehow become the pretentious douchebag capitol of earth? (Again, excluding the Rockies, talking about you Telluride!)

Not sure if road access was ever an option, but god, that place was awesome before it became yet another Disneyland.

 

Wait so I can just pay money to a land baron to access our public lands?

(retracts previous criticism while searching for drive-up tickets on our glorious land baron's most-excellent web site)

 

Mammoth is private land. It used to be owned by the McCoy's. In 2005 it was sold to Starwood. In 2017 Starwood sold out to Alterra Mountain Company.

 

Right up to when they sold out, it was a great place. Quiet in the summer, great place to ski. Now, there’s condos and mountain chalets complete with villages. The money being spent there is incredible.

The rest of what I have to say might be a wee bit too political.

 

Lol, thanks for calling me out on my misinformed internet ranting. This is why I love TW.

And it makes sense, the big changes started after the change of ownership. Wish I had been smart enough to buy in back then!

Agreed, I miss old Mammoth! I'll keep looking for another foothold from which I can claim the moral high ground and spew further disdain regarding the commercialization of the mountain.

But it's not all bad, even if I can't afford a lift pass any more. I remember being in town when several ski patrol staff lost their lives in one of the geothermal vents several years ago... there's definitely a strong community of good people up there.

Looks like I'll have to call or visit to inquire about driving up to the top, I can't find anything online. I'm okay playing it by ear--we'll try to arrange something, but we won't count on it.

Either way I'm looking forward to a summer trip to the eastern Sierra!

 

I figure this is a good thread to post a quote from HCN in 1995 by an acquaintance of mine from Keeler:

Here we are again: a bewildered and beleagured public losing another freedom we take for granted. I'm wondering, what's a recreationist? It's no doubt a person, probably a human, out for a stroll over the land, enjoying an evening by firelight, the stars, coyote howls, a sunrise, a moonset in the twilight sky. We should pay a bureaucratic patriarch for this experience? I thought it was a birthright.

 

@mk5 I highly doubt they will let you drive up the private roads used by hikers and mtn bikers that buy tickets to ride on these trails. I'm sure having vehicles on roads that their customers are paying to use presents just a bit of a liability issue.

If you want to get to the summit, ride the gondola. If your passenger doesn't want to do that either leave them at the bottom and go by yourself or find another mtn in the area to drive to the summit.

 

I was figuring buying tickets ahead of time makes the choice easier

 

You can always hike to the top. That'll take a bit longer.

 

We are huge fans of Mammoth -- have been going during the summer for many years (cannot speak about winters). From a mountain biker perspective, the mountain KNOWS mountain bikers with super fun trails -- everything from bunny slopes to double black diamond. The town is also traditionally quiet during the summer, a plus in our book. No, you can't drive to the top of Mammoth Mountain, but there are a ton of other mountain tops to visit (we will be driving to the top of a 11,600' hill this weekend). After the Mammoth weekend, we'll check out Ebbetts Pass plus stuff along the way.

 

Speaking of mountain biking, rumor has it, no lifts are operating yet. So gotta ride up.

But the real reason for posting is finding a book about El Camino Sierra, Tales Along El Camino Sierra. Which was the name 395 started with. It’s got stories from travelers as well as photos from the 1900’s showing the water level at the roads edge right around Mono Lake. I’ve only ever heard of those high lake levels, never seen pictures.

There are stories of apple orchards where Manzanar is today.

Not the usual travel book but certainly something worth looking through. Amazon has Kindle versions that might be free.

 

just talked to them today about the bike park, since I'm going skiing there for closing weekend on Sunday/Monday.

the lower trails are open, the stuff below Main Lodge/The Mill. Its Shuttle serviced, and it picks you up under the Village Gondola, and takes you back up. Nothing Lift Serviced is open for MTB.

I'm considering doing a half day ski and half day MTB on Sunday.

 

Bring your rock skis.

 

Some of my favorite days have been on my Baldy board.

 

They have three volumes now...I usually look for signed copies at the gas stations along the 395 in Owens Valley

 

Updated the first post with this link:
https://www.essrp.org/camping

Pretty informative resource for camping and enjoying the Eastern Sierra.

 

On our way back from our trip this weekend. Made it as far as Big Pine and started to ascent up to our designated camp spot before I noticed a concerning binding noise from the truck under load. We decided to turn back and camped at 5k overlooking the valley towards Bishop.



With not having full confidence in the truck, I decided to head back south as many of the good trails in the area require climbing. Looked for a place to camp and found ourselves in the Sequoia National Forest at 9k for the night.

The trail was GREAT but not what I was looking for with a crippled truck. We made it off the mountain without issue but there were a few parts that had me concerned.