My friend Perry and I motored to the Barcroft gate on the White Mountain road on Sunday. It was a great adventure complete with rollovers, pack left behind, abandoned vehicle, and a high school group from Colorado.

We didn't expect to meet anyone, but it turns out a Colorado high school group had walked/skied/snowshoed in from the Westgard Pass junction and were camped in the snow. Amazing!

Then we came upon a car parked just past the turnoff to the Patriarch gate. I'll call the forest service about that one.

We made it to the "locked gate" 2 miles from the Barcroft research lab, and set up camp.

My biggest problem was nearly frozen toes due to moisture getting inside my boots from all the wading through hip-deep snow whenever we had to dig out a stuck sled.

After fitful (but warm) sleep in our tent, we high-tailed it for lower elevations in the morning, as I didn't want to eat -- probably due to the altitude.

We finished off the trip by meeting a particular Moosie for lunch in Bishop, and then seeing Dmatt in his office.

Here's our camp:


Selected pictures here.

How cold was it, Steve? Was there any wind?

Did you ride those evil-avalanche-triggering-contraptions the whole time, or did you do any hiking?

B

Nice photos Steve - looks like fun. That was a long way to go for a one-night snowmobiling jaunt, but I suppose lunch with Laura made it worthwhile. Which route did you take to the east side?

So how was it sleeping on the moon? Looks cold and forbidding.Nice rides though.

Bulldog, our route was 99 south to Bakersfield, 58 east through Tehachapi, then 14/395 north to Lone Pine where we spent the night. We returned via Lake Isabella--beautiful in springtime! The wind was outrageous Saturday evening. There was a monster plume of dust starting at the north end of Owens Lake and growing southward. The air quality and visibility was the worst I have ever seen there.

But on Sunday morning, the air had cleared and the Owens Valley was back to normal, with only a strong cold breeze. On the ride Sunday, I didn't notice any wind at all.

Unfortunately, Bee, I think I walked a total half-mile on the trip. However, it is certainly an exercise experience keeping the machines upright on side slopes and handling the bumps due to the drifted snow. We had one tip-over, and a complete 360 rollover getting past the gate at Sierra View (fortunately only minor sled damage, and luckily no injury).

The snow-covered roads receive wind-blown snow, so the level plane that cars drive on is gone, and the path takes on nearly the same slope as the mountainside out of which it was cut. It's a challenge, just different from hiking.

Our camp was definitely was cold and forbidding -- after the sun went down. I think I crawled into the tent about 7 PM, didn't get out until after 6 AM. Inside the tent, condensation froze, so we had a little sprinkling of ice anytime the tent was jarred. We were warm enough, but it's really tough sleeping at 12,000 with no acclimation. (I was very glad to get up and "get out of Dodge" in the morning.)

Monday morning we were greeted by the howling of a coyote.

But it was such a good experience, we're already talking about going back again next year.

Lunch with Laura was enjoyable, of course. She was taking the day off and being good by wearing her sling. She fell on a telemark turn Sunday and messed up her shoulder. I am sure hoping it heals quickly!

Looks like a fun trip, you think you could have taken a snowmobile all the way to the summit?

Sounds like you could use a pair of those hiking boots with built in electric warmers!

And you think I'm nuts for driving 250 miles RT for a dayhike . . .

Steve, it was great to see you, too. (And it wasn't a tele turn, just a randonee rig. I'm so NOT that cool... )

Shoulder is 50% better today, but I'm still on the drugs and icing. The sling got buried somewhere in the pit that is my bedroom...

-L

PS: This is not a cut at anyone here, but I do actually prefer to be called Laura...

Glad you're coming along Laura - I suppose you can't do what you do, as often and extremely as you do it, without a medical time-out now and again.

And here, just a couple of weeks after the Packin' Heat thread finally fizzled out, I had finally gotten used to the idea that you preferred Lara, not Laura . . .

LOL... best part was that it happened on Sunday afternoon. All week to recover!!!

Yeah, yeah... I promise to "take it easy" this weekend...