The 395 and Owens Valley-Eastern Sierra Region

There's always stuff to see. Just depends on whether you like pin stripes or not. Make sure you have a good spare and a plug kit with you. Mazourka Canyon Rd has been known to chew up tires. Have you been into Papoose before? It's a got more then a few spur roads to go exploring on.

It's not that bad. It's not bullet like The Hulk but if your used to alpine climbing it's standard fair. I did a new direct start to it when we did it. Left of the regualr direct start, which is a right facing corner, there's a left facing corner capped by a 6 foot roof. It's hands to the roof and the roof is about 5.9. Then you get into some "Oh Shit" runout 5.10 face. It ends at the regular ramp start after about 180' or so. Great line but whoever does it next should place a bolt on that face. I didn't have one with me or I would have.

 

Did almost this exact loop a few years ago. Never checked out Squaw mine, is there a road down to it from the peak or do you have to hike?

There's a few mines on the road out to the Narrows that we checked out. Be sure to hunt for the adit that's a few hundred yards into the blackrock canyon from the cabin at the creekbed junction (by hike, the road has some major washouts). It's fairly developed for such a remote area, with narrow gauge track still in place.



On the way out from the Narrows, be on the lookout for false roads. You can get quite a ways up some of them before realizing you'll have to turn around.

 

Squaw mine has a road to within a quarter mile of it. I ran out of time today and could not check it out. Thanks for the other suggestions, I’ll be back for the Fourth of July and have more time then.

 

The Alabama fire with Mount Whitney in the background.

 

So that’s actually a different fire despite being in nearly the same spot! Alabama Fire was successfully 100% contained and what is in the above photo is the Inyo Creek Fire which could turn much worse given the terrain it is in. Whitney Portal closed and causing havoc with Whitney climbers as well as through hikers.

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7564/

 

That's been contained.

There's another one called the Inyo Creek fire that is not contained. Started up in the Meysan Lakes drainage from lightning strike. That drainage goes directly down to Whitney Portal. It's gonna get big. High winds tonight and hot as hell end of week. A Type 2 team is taking over command in the AM. Not gonna be a fun one to fight. I really hope they can save the Portal Store.

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7564/

 

I will be really bummed if the portal goes up in smoke. That's a beautiful campground.

 

No bueno on the Inyo Creek fire. I got my permit to hike Mt Whitney on 7/8. Hopefully, the put it out soon, so fire damage is minimal.

 

I think I have seen this book at Spellbinder Books in Bishop. They have a good selection of local history.

 

Made it up to the eastern Sierra last weekend... first time in this area!




Never seen these before, but they were sprouting up all over in the forest... must be some sort of miniature red pine tree?



Tried to stay up past moonset to photograph the night sky, but didn't quite make it.



Supposedly there are fish made out of gold in this river, but I didn't catch any of them.



Even though I wasn't catching any fish, these sneaky guys were filling their bellies on tiny ones all day... completely unfazed by my presence.



Lots of cattle up there too. But this one weird-looking calf ran off from the heard and escaped under the fence!



Glad I finally made it up there, looks like fire season is already upon us. Hard to drive very far without seeing past burn scars. And sadly it seemed that a majority of campers were ignoring the campfire ban :/



The winds really whipped up on the drive home--saw a big rig nearly topple on the 395. But the gusts were welcome when we stepped out into 110 degrees at Mojave.



Hope to run into some of you next month when head back up to ... well, wherever's not on fire by then!

 

Those are snow plants or snow flower.

 

I'm planning to head up to Laurel Lakes, Coyote Flats and Silver Canyon/Bristlecone Pine Forest next month, but haven't camped in bear country before (usually a lowland/desert guy). What do you folks do to avoid bear contact and for defense? Is a bear fence around camp a good idea or necessary?

We keep a clean camp (and of course pack everything out) but how fastidious do we need to be about food smells during and after cooking? Is it safe to have food in the fridge in the cab (just a few feet away from our RTT)? Are bears getting acclimated to humans=dinner in those areas?

Maybe i'm over thinking this, as I see all these videos from folks camping in the area cooking super pungent, splattery foods and just chilling with seemingly no regard for bears.

 

Bears seem to be more of a problem in campgrounds but the rules still apply. Do not cook or eat where you sleep. Secure food and other odiferous items in a bear box if available or in the car. Don’t keep soap or toothpaste in your tent or where you sleep. Dispose of trash or secure it.

All the common sense stuff.

 

If you see bear boxes at the campground you're at, use it. It means bears frequent the area. When I'm in bear country I keep my stove and cooking gear away from the truck or tent. Non-perishable food, toothpaste/deodorant, and trash go into my bear vault and stowed away from the truck or tent. When I'm truck camping and I have food in the fridge/cooler, I try to minimize the odor by using extra zip lock bags or tupperware. Unfortunately, with the Taco, the fridge is mounted in the bed next to the sleeping platform, so I just roll with it and hope the bear has fun with the bear vault while I make my escape. From my experience, most bears don't like beer.

 

Thanks for the feedback so far. Sounds like I need to add another table to the packing list as I usually cook on the tailgate, as well as a bear canister for trash. The grill is another concern...guess I'll just have to leave that out in the open at night, away from the truck.

I don't think there are any bear boxes in the locations we're going to. I hope keeping food within the fridge, within the cab is airtight enough to block any odors from emanating from our mobile Marriott.

Edit: Are they skittish in that area or should I bring along "countermeasures"?

 

Hello. Just found this thread.
Hoping to explore more of this area.

I just saw one of those snow flowers last week while camping off Silver Fork Rd and I also thought they were a pine tree.
Sounds like they are edible but possibly protected.


Also found some white roses.
They're not protected so I picked about a dozen of those.

 

You ever drove up Mount Paterson? did it on a quad love to take the tacoma next time

 

Not so fast…..

https://countryrebel.com/bear-steals-36-beers-from-campers-gets-drunk-passes-out-until-cops-come/

 

"The bear first tasted the Busch beer but didn't like it..."

even bears have better taste in beer than a lot of people