White Mountain, California

July 8th, 2011 White Mountain is a 2.6 Mile high (14,230 ft), extinct volcano, in the White Mountains, California. This makes it the 3rd highest peak in California. It is considered a good introduction to high altitude hiking as you can drive to almost 2 mile altitude before starting the hike. This gave us the chance to camp at the trail head the night before, and acclimatize to the altitude. Dogs are allowed on this trail as long as they are under voice control. From the bay area, White Mountain is a drive of 7.5 hours, but for us on a Friday afternoon, it ended up taking more than 9 hours. The nearest town is Bishop (about 6.5 hours), and then it's another hour approximately from there. The last part of trip, White Mountain Road is unpaved (see below). Check the weather, the road had only opened the week before we hiked because of snow (this was July!). The road is rough in areas, I would recommend high clearance, 4 wheel drive only.

Getting there - Tioga Pass

July 8th, 2011 - 20:00

We decided to go through Yosemite, using the Tioga Pass. No regrets there, it is beautiful at sunset, but plenty of photo stops which didn't help our schedule. (Click on pic to enlarge)

The sun is setting, the moon is up... Half-Dome in the distance (my next objective).

Twilight is a great time to get reflections off the lakes. I guess this is as close as I will get to Ansel Adams.

Another reflection shot as the sun sets behind the trees.

Getting there - White Mountain Road

July 9th, 2011 - 00:55

White Mountain Road is the last segment of the trip, and the last part of this, at least 10 miles, is unpaved. Much of the unpaved section is high altitude, almost 2 miles elevation, and as you can see, only recently cleared of snow. This is July, and the road had only re-opened the week before from a June snow storm.

Even in the parts without snow, the road is rough. Coming along here at 1am, with no other cars viewed for over an hour, I recommend not doing this alone. Also, unless you hate your car, don't go in anything less than 4WD, and then ideally with high clearance. It really feels like you are driving into the middle of nowhere.

Base camp - The locked gate

July 9th, 2011 - 01:30

Continue on White Mountain road for what appears to be forever, keep going straight and don't panic when the road seems to be descending again. Your destination is the ominously named, "Locked Gate", but this only turned up on one sign at the very beginning. It all looks very bleak at 1am when all you can see is what your headlights illuminate, basically a narrow road with a steep drop off on one side.

Eventually we got to the gate, and saw several other cars, but of course nobody. One advantage of arriving so late, was that the moon had set again. This gave us a spectacular view of the milky way, and several shooting stars. Unfortunately, didn't bring my telescope. We laid a ground sheet and just slept in our bags on the ground. It was about 34F.

My first indication this was high altitude, came when I stepped out of the car, instant light-headiness, which pretty much continued until I slept.

The next morning... 2 hours later

July 9th, 2011 - 04:45

As dawn breaks, you notice a few things that escaped your attention the night before... How beautiful it is!

... the state of my nice clean car.

... there was a restroom

... where everybody else had camped

... that it is now 29F, and we had thought it was a good idea not to have a tent.

... that I was still light-headed and had a slight headache. Hmmm, maybe 2 hours isn't enough time to acclimatise, it certainly isn't much sleep.

Setting off...

July 9th, 2011 - 05:30

The first 2.5 miles is a gradual but continuous climb on a wide trail.

As the sun was rising at the same time, we had differently lighted views of the Sierra Nevada across Owens Valley as we hiked. (Click photos for a larger view)

It was really difficult to not be impressed with the beauty of the scenery

There was plenty of snow, my dog walked at least 8 miles in the first 2 miles of the trail.

The trail leads up past Bancroft Research facility.

We reach our first false peak at the Observatory. (Last night's sky made it obvious why that is here)

From here, we can see some more of the trail, including a sight of the real peak, and the disappointing news that we are going to descend again first. My light-headiness and threatening headache continued to annoy me.

The long stretchy bit in the middle

July 9th, 2011 - 07:00

The next section starts as a gradual and soul destroying loss of altitude. A much narrower and rocky trail now.

The scenery remains amazing, with more views of the Sierra, and now views down into the Owens Valley, and the canyon scarring the floor of the valley below. The floor of the valley is at 4000 feet. Already we can see we are for the most part higher than the Sierra.

We start climbing again, getting some of that lost altitude back.

More lost altitude

July 9th, 2011 - 08:26

Mother nature just sucks when it comes to designing trails. We are now 3 hours into this hike, and discover we have to descend again. My light-headiness is now really bugging me. Also, we can see clearly now the real peak, and it is towering over us, with a big dip in front of us.

Shy is still wandering off trail, but with a good deal less energy than before

Brave smile, but the altitude is really getting to me now. Threatening headache is now a real headache, and every time we get down and up again, the light headiness is dizziness. Other than that, I'm just aching all over.

The final ascent

July 9th, 2011 - 09:00

Danny leads the way on the final climb. We have probably about 2 miles left to the peak, but with all the descending, we figure we still have almost all of the 0.6 mile elevation gain to do. We are both hurting now, one step at a time

Every few hundred yards, brings us much higher, and the views change quickly. In general much more barren everywhere. (Click picture for large view).

Snow drifts (now frozen) cut across the trail, and the wind is now continuous. Danny is well equipped with gloves, balaclava, etc., I'm still in a T-shirt. I find the wind refreshing, Danny not so much.

Looking down on that tiny set of Sierra Nevada mountains.

Slowly, the peak draws closer. Headache is not relenting. However, Mother Nature has one final crushing blow to deliver. The trail disappears, and is replaced by frozen snow. Even Shy wants to give up!

Looking back after crawling up the snow. This wasn't meant to be a technical climb. My fingers are quite numb from digging into the snow and crawling up. Very light-headed right now.

Finally we clear the snow. Danny took a different path across the snow and came out lower on the trail, but the end is in sight!

Top of the world!

July 9th, 2011 - 10:30

Finally, 2.6 miles above sea level!!! Just give me a minute and I'll celebrate!

Danny and Shy, and a much earned rest. We were in fact the first group to get to the top, and in fact we spent 40 minutes on our own.

When we got our breath back, got the timer working on the camera, but not on the dog.

Danny with Owens Valley and the Sierra in the background.

Getting ready to descend once more.

Back down

July 9th, 2011 - 14:14

No altitude sickness on the way down, but it was painfully long. The only mammal we saw on the mountain were these marmots. Slim pickings for somebody who likes to take pics of wildlife.

Glad to be done, but glad to have done it.