2012 February to Eastern Sierra Nevada

This was my 3rd visit to the east side of the Sierra Nevada in the past 8 months, but it was my first-ever trip here in winter...if you could call it winter.
My trip began with an overnight visit to my folks in Redding, CA, then east on CA44 to Susanville, CA (didn't see hide ner hair of Smokecreek1) where I joined US 395 and took that south and south that day to Mono Lake.

This map shows where I went and camped:

Red is paved, blue is unpaved.

OK...I have been very slow to process my photos from this trip...but I have assembled a 360° rotatable panorama that I shot the morning after my first night's camp "Camp 1", at that place on the southeast side of Mono Lake where I've camped in several trips before.
Here's a link to it, below. It's kinda big -- 4MB, and you need the QuickTime Player installed -- free download from Apple (I know! something free from Apple! )

Mono Lake Pano

Here's one small section of the pano:

The overnight low in this spot was 14°, my coldest night of the trip.
Usually CA120 (which takes off east from 395 south of Lee Vining) is closed during the winter (according to the map), and the turn-off from 120 to the USFS road to this spot is within the winter-closed zone (by just a few-hundred feet or so). But because of the drought-y winter the gate was open when I passed.
I've never been to this spot when there was snow on the ground. It was snowing very lightly overnight...and I couldn't help wondering, "what if CalTrans decides overnight that it's time to close the gate -- with me inside?!" There's no way they would know that I was down that very-minor road. Now, there are 4x4 roads -- in sand -- that would get me around the gate if it was closed, but I'd rather not have to risk that.
But the gate was still open when I left in the morning.

Wow, Mark, really great sage in that pano!!

Wow, Mark, really great sage in that pano!!

Stew, you old sage lover!

Sweet pano, Mark. Nice to see that spot in a different season.

OK, so I'd made yet another visit to that spot on the southeast side of Mono Lake -- this time just a place to stay for the night, though it was a beautiful place.
Now, south to Bishop for truck fuel at the Paiute Palace Casino and groceries at Von's.

On this trip, my first winter visit to this great area, I'd planned to visit eastern Sierra places that would be accessible in snowy winter -- lower-elevation places like the Alabama Hills, Volcanic Tablelands (both of which I'd only briefly driven through before) and the Buttermilks.
Well, as we know, it hasn't been much of a winter in the Sierras...enough to close the usual mountain passes, but not much else. Nevertheless, it still made sense to visit these areas since they're scenic/photogenic and new to me.
So I did.

The Alabama Hills

On south to Lone Pine: Gateway to both the highest (49 states) and the lowest USA places. Amazing!
My destination was the Alabama Hills a few miles west of Lone Pine, off the Whitney Portal Road (so called because it's the portal to Whitney ). The Movie Road (so called because various movies/TV have shot "western" locations there) takes off north from the Whitney Portal Rd and winds through, west of, the Alabama Hills.




I wound around the Movie Rd loop, heading north, passing a sign that indicated that I was leaving the "official" Alabama Hills...but it was an arbitrary dividing line -- I was still in the Alabama Hills. There were a few other folks driving around, and a large RV that had what seemed like a choice spot when I drove past...but I got a better spot -- "Camp 2":




I spent two nights at this spot. This was the second morning:




Love those barrel cactus! Let's have another!



I shot a couple of 360° panoramas that morning. Here are a couple sections of one of those panos:





Here's a link to the full rotatable 360° panorama:
Alabama Hills Panorama 1

Alabama Hills continued

In the afternoon it clouded over a bit, but I took this photo anyway to show the interesting granite boulders around my camp. The granite is kinda crumbly on the surface, at least in spots -- eroded, deteriorated (can't think of the right word...).



I planned to spend 3 nights in these Alabama Hills, but I decided I didn't want to spend the third night in this exact spot...so I packed up and drove along the spur road I was camped next to, drove about 1.5 miles west closer to the Sierras to where that spur ended, near the base of a large outcrop-ridge.

(this photo was taken the next morning, so is out of sequence with those that follow, but I put it here to introduce the spot) "Camp 3":


Mt Whitney is one of those peaks on the Sierra crest, on the right.

After setting up camp I took a walk up to the crest of the ridge that you can see behind the camper to scout a spot that I might take photos, maybe panoramas, at dawn the next morning. As I mentioned, it was somewhat cloudy that afternoon, but there were still some interesting things to appreciate and photo:

I think this rock has some kind of mineral psoriasis:





Appreciating the clouds on the Sierras from the ridgetop:


The next morning I wasn't as up'n'at'em as I'd planned so I missed getting to the ridgetop at dawn by about 15 minutes. But it was still nice, and I took a partial panorama, about 180° view from the ridge. Here's a mini-size view:


And here's a link to the full-size image (5876x800 pixels): Alabama Hills Pano 2. View it at full-size/100% for maximum enjoyment.

Here are some other photos I took on that ridge that morning and on my way back to the truck:



Center-right in this one, above, you can see the little white speck of my camper/truck at the end of the road. This view is towards the northeast, at the morning-shady side of the Inyos with the snow-capped Whites to the north, picking up some light.

This one, I believe, shows a fossilized sand-worm, revealed by erosion:



I broke camp late-morning. I got back to the Movie Rd and then continued north on it until it joined the Moffat Ranch Road which took me back east to US 395...and then north to Bishop for some supplies.
But where to spend that night? Some place that didn't require a lot of night-time exploring to find, as it was getting later-afternoon....

So, the place I decided to go for the night was Grandview Campground in the White Mts. It's less than an hour drive from Bishop, and I've been there enough times that I know it in the dark.
Grandview is open most of the time, most years -- even in winter. As long as the road to it is open, and the Whites are always drier than the Sierras, so I knew there'd be no problem getting to the c.g. this year, even at 8500 feet. There were a few patches of old snow covering one of the lanes and both lanes in a couple of places, but no driving issues to get there.
Even though it was mid-winter and there were areas of snow in the campground I was surprised that on Sunday night of President's Day weekend I was the only one in the campground.
I went straight to my favorite spot, good-old #22, which was "Camp 4":


The next morning I drove up to the Sierra View point, a couple/few miles up the road from the campground. The gate a few hundred yards beyond the viewpoint was locked, as I expected, despite the relative lack of snow.
Here's a little panorama I shot at this point. The crest of the Sierras topped with clouds.


Here's a link to a full-size (3091x800 pixels) version of the panorama:
Sierra View Pano

A couple of cars came by as I sat in this spot enjoying the view and eating lunch.
And then it was back down the White Mt. road south to 168, then west to 395, and north to Bishop...
...and then north from there to the Volcanic Tablelands.

Beautiful pictures Mark, thanks for sharing.

we never get tired of the alabama hills area,and your great pictures show the beauty of
the area.

i have always thought that it would be a great spot for a wander the west get together
as it is a central location for a lot of folks on this site.

as someone who has spent a lot of time in the area there are a lot of exploring to do
for those who like to do more than drive,neat mining areas,hiking,and much history.

again thanks for the tour.

will be one of our first trips when we get our new rig.

drive slow and enjoy. "its the journey"

Les,lqhikers

While seeing the Sierras is high on my list, it's not something I can swing at this time of year. A close second, though, is Wandering vicariously through MarkBC's excellent photos and narrative. Plus, I didn't get my toes cold, nor did I burn a single gallon of diesel.

Isn't it funny how the same view elicits different thoughts of interest among different individuals? Mark was digging the barrel cactus, and in the same photo I was digging the spheroidal weathering of the granite. The psoriasis-like surface is the result of spheroidal weathering and the resulting exfoliation, where onion-skin like sheets spall off of the rock. Happens commonly with plutonic rock from the granite family. Back here in the East, we see much of the same, but deep soils hide much of it.

Thanks for sharing, Mark.

Foy

Volcanic Tablelands

I'd driven through the Volcanic Tablelands once before, and spent a night there, on my July-4-weekend trip there...but it seemed like a good winter destination. Turns out, though it has a very big view of the White Mts and of a scenic part of the Sierra Nevada...the near-ground around where I camped was not that interesting: plants were winter-brown without a coating of winter-white. Still, I spent two nights there (due to inertia, I guess) -- maybe 36 hours total, and found some things to shoot as photos.

I got to the edge of the V.T. via US 6 then the Five Bridges Road to this point:





From here I headed north on the Casa Diablo Road (the other road parallels the Owens River/Gorge - rock climbing, etc.)


up through the heart of the Tablelands...and beyond, to "Camp 5":


Technically, I'm not in the Volcanic Tablelands anymore but just north of there, in the Inyo National Forest. This spot lacks most of the interesting volcanic stuff, but it's higher so has a bigger view -- and I really like the big view.

So, here's some of the views.
Sunrise the first morning:

A panoramic sunrise (small "forum" version):


Full-size (5485x800 pixels): Volcanic Tablelands Pano 1
The gash near the right edge of the view is a section of the Owens River Gorge.

Next to Mt. Tom is the very-interesting-looking canyon of Pine Creek...I need to check it out sometime:


I found a couple of pack rat nests -- I think they're kinda interesting:


I thought the one below was worth two views:




This one shows the entrance.

In the afternoon I tried to find something interesting in the clouds over the White Mts:


Here's a link to a full-size (2939x800 pixels) view of this panorama: Volcanic Tablelands Pano 2

At sunset I found some more to look at:





And this panorama sunset of the local Sierra view:


And a link to the full-size (4431x800 pixels) version: Volcanic Tablelands Pano 3

The next morning I left and headed back to Bishop via the way I'd come. I'd planned to locate the Sky Rock petroglyphs, which are in the Volcanic Tablelands, near the Owens River, (featured in this Galen Rowell photo) to which a friend had sent me directions. But the location, while not difficult, was just a little out of my way on this trip. Next time for sure, now that I know where it is.

On to my final destination, the Buttermilks.

Great trip report, Mark. You've had some time to work up some great images.
I liked the cacti foreground, various mountain background images from AL Hills quite a bit.

We like the Volcanic Tablelands too, as Benton aficionados. Lot's of easy to locate petroglyphs there and apparently a good number that are off the beaten path. I know of the Rowell image; hope you get there some day.

Pine Creek canyon has a large active (when I was there last) mining operation, BTW. I believe it's a tungsten mine. As a hiking destination I have found it less than ideal due to the mining impact.

The Buttermilks

I'd heard of the Buttermilks before, but I hadn't considered them for this trip until MidnightRider suggested it. Thanks -- it was a good one!
I took CA168 west from downtown Bishop then turned off the north side onto gravel Buttermilks Road and followed this west then north then east as it wound around a major rock formation, studded with boulders and swarming with rock climbers. It was a weekday, so why weren't these people in school or at work? A friend pointed out, in reference to "climbing bums": "There's a leisure class at both ends of the economic spectrum". I did see one FWC/ATC parked in the climbing-parking area, so I guess they weren't all bums.

I found a great spot with a pretty-good view a mile or so beyond the last active climbers. I had walked up to the top of a ridge just behind where I ended up, following a 4X4 track, to a really fine spot with a 360° view...but this track was very rocky with a scary/risky (to me) off-camber/side-slope in a couple of spots, so I decided to settle for the safe-and-sane spot.

"Camp 6", which I'm referring to as "Quartz Camp":





Right next to the spot I was camped was a huge vein or deposit of quartz (or so I call it) -- pretty neat. I grabbed a few samples as a thank-you gift for my friend who takes care of my cat while I'm gone -- she likes rocks, and I usually try to bring her some good ones from my trips.





Some nice colored veins in a lot of it -- some of it was pale pink:



Here's a zoom in on the high-points of the White Mountains to the east:



As I'd been spending several nights outside (more-or-less) I'd noticed this in the western sky -- Mighty Jupiter was following the lovely Venus, he seemed to be getting nearer over the nights...maybe Venus had noticed and was slowing down:



Beautiful evening -- but, like the rest of this trip -- too cold to comfortably enjoy hanging around outside for long in the evening. Well, it was winter, after all.

The next morning I got up early to catch the dawn -- it was nice in such a nice spot!

I shot a few panoramas.
Here's the mini-size view of one of them:


And a link to the full-size (2905x800 pixels): Buttermilks Pano 1

Another pano, mini-size:


And full-size: Buttermilks Pano 2

A third one, very similar to the first one...but I couldn't decide which one I prefer :


And full-size: Buttermilks Pano 3

Some very nice bunch-grass -- if you're into that sort of thing (Foy can just admire the rocks )





On the next morning, for some reason I had the crazy idea to set up the tripod and, while I had breakfast and got the camper ready to pack up, shoot a series of photos of the same thing as the sun got higher, so this is the combo:


It didn't turn out that special, but just for fun...

I'd decided to leave this morning and drive home (to avoid next-day forecast bad weather), so I broke camp and headed back on the Buttermilks Road the way I came. No climbers had shown up yet....probably too cold.
Before I got back to the pavement I considered that I hadn't taken any photos of the granite boulders that make this area famous/popular with climbers, so I stopped and shot this panorama...not that special -- just for the record:


And the full-size (2397x800 pixels) version: Buttermilks Pano 4

I drove home all that day -- about 600 miles. By leaving that day instead of the next I had a nice tailwind much of the way and beat a snowstorm to Bend.
It was another nice trip to one of my very favorite areas!.
THE END.

Cool trip.

Thanks for another great trip report! I always look forward to the panoramas you take.

Very nice work. Thanks for adding ANOTHER place I must see to my "places +2,500 miles from NC" list!

I did some searching for links in the geologic literature on the age, etc, of the granites of the Alabama Hills and extended the reading to the VT area. If there is a broader and deeper cornucopia of petrology, mineralogy, structural geology, and economic geology within a fairly small area (north of Bishop to west of Lone Pine to Cerro Gordo) elsewhere within the Lower 48, I'd like to know where it is. Flat-out awesome.

Foy

Great trip report. A couple of weeks ago, when my wife and I drove to LA and back we were eyeballing several places along 395 to explore this coming season.

Great pictures and ideas of where to go.

Jack

I really need to make it to the alabama hills. How was the weather there? How were the roads in the volcanic table lands? I skipped those last time I was in the area due to not having a spare.

Looks like winter camping may be in my future. I'm already working six days a week

In your nice twilight photo of Venus & Jupiter, Mercury is hiding behind the peak in the twilight. If folks haven't seen Mercury before, head out in twilight soon. By mid-March it will be getting close to the Sun and hard to see. You can use Jupiter and Venus as pointers toward Mercury (pointing toward the horizon).