The 395 and Owens Valley-Eastern Sierra Region

Super pleased with the photos I got of the sunset that night!


A Sign from God guides us towards camp...


Sweet, an abandoned mine!










Shit, better set up the tent before it's pitch dark!



The clouds finally cleared just as the moon rose...





And I stayed up way too late, so we were a few hours late breaking camp the next morning.

Dang, I missed the cabin! Guess I'll have to go back.

 

So, I've been planning a trip down to the Bodie/Mono area, and also to Coyote Flats, entering from Big Pine. The plan is to leave either tomrrow or Tuesday (depending on when I get my act together).

Two questions:

1. Anyone on the ground with smoke info? Looks pretty bad in the various AQI maps I use online - at least at the north end by Mono. I'm not sure I want to drive down from WA just to slog through a bunch of smoke and not really see anything.
2. Coming into Coyote Flats from Big Pine - I know of the hairy section of trail east of Baker Creek. My understanding is that I'll be headed downhill from Big Pine. Passable as a single rig? Well armored, on 33's. (shoot, you guys know my setup )

Thanks to anyone who's got info, appreciate having local folks to ask!

 

The smoke isn't super bad but it does prevent you from seeing the mountains from town. It's been this way for about a week now. I doubt it will clear until fall.

The Big Pine entrance to Coyote is doable with some good line choices. It used to be much harder but some folks have taken it upon themselves to dumb it down. Don't get me started on that subject. If you do it and have problems there's cell service there so just send out the help signal and I'll come get you after work. lol

 

This forum is awesome!

 

Yesterday morn there was two miles visibility at best in Big Pine. It is somewhat better this morning.

 

Looking at the webcams now it doesn't look good at all. On inciweb the only major fire is the Tamarack which is north of Mono Lake. Is this the primary cause for smoke in the valley?

Edit...the source is the River Complex Fire even further north. Only 10% containment.

 

https://www.fireweatheravalanche.org/fire/dashboard/california/bishop

 

Thanks everyone. I've been watching three sites:

• Fire and Smoke Map (airnow.gov) - this is what I use to look at current smoke conditions. Not great, and haven't been for a couple weeks obviously. Mono has consistently been in the darkest shade of smoke, with ~90-150 AQI.
• AirNow Interactive Map (epa.gov) - this has current smoke situation and a 24-hour forecast (the only forecasting site I've found). Hasn't really changed (mostly orange, some yellow) for the last couple weeks. That has of course, panned out, given the site above.
• Windfinder - Wind map, wind forecast & weather reports - this I've used to see if wind patterns are projected to change. It looks like tomorrow (Tuesday) they are going to be dramatically different, with west-southwest winds really whipping through the area. Hopefully will blow everything out, but probably only until Wednesday when the normal pattern is back.

With those sites, and the inside info from you, I think I'm calling this one for the time being. I hate to do that because... well, I want to get down there, but I might as well wait until I can really enjoy it. My route down would also take me through Susanville, CA on the way to Hawthorne, NV... and right past the Dixie (and several other) fires, so it'd really suck the entire way down.

Thanks for all the info!

Looking at the Fire and Smoke Map (airnow), it looked to me like a lot of the Dixie smoke was also blowing east then south down into the valley.

I couldn't agree more. A bright light on the internet, IMO!.

 

It sounds like your starting point will be from hwy 367. Might I suggest going thru Yerington and south on 208 on Pine Grove Rd which drops into Bodie or other spurs. You're like me and like to find you're own secrets but if you want some in that area pm me.

 

My plan (for whenever it happens, b/c it will happen) is to hit Pine Grove Rd from Hawthorne on my way over to Mt Patterson and the Bodie area, with a few "things" mapped out along the way. Hopefully happens before snow makes Patterson inaccessible for the winter.

 

This says it all. A few hours ago, we were parked at the Old Cemetery in Big Pine, west of 395 -- those are the Sierras behind me. Half the time we couldn't see any mountains, the other half we got faint gray outlines.



We cruised thru the Alabama Hills before heading to the Witney Portal for a burger. I spoke to a guy at the Portal who just came down from Whitney, he said the air was clear above ~9,000' with excellent visibility.

 

If only there where places on the East Side you could drive over 9000' that would be cool. lol

 

Shhhhhhhh.........

 

Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest.

 

Here's the 24 hour smoke forecast. To help put this into perspective, the blue line is/are my breadcrumbs from the last week. The loop at the top of the blue line is Mt Patterson, the line running south is roughly down 395. Patterson had light smoke on Saturday.

 

Let me know. I'd be up there already if it was clear. If we go around the same time, I will join you on the trail to Coyote Flats - if you like.

 

Even the Barcroft webcams I'm looking at are smoky.

 

So then off to Whitney.

 

Turns out my Dad is at Mono today and says the smoke is better. Bishop web cams confirm - better, but still smoky. My guess is that it'll continue to clear through the day with strong west-southwesterly winds, but will get smokier tomorrow and the next few days as the winds revert to normal patterns.

 

Wasn’t too Smoky at Whitney summit a week ago, but when I came down to hike the big pine lakes, it def got Smokey. Cleared up the next day at the Bishop cold springs.