Death Valley & Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest
Time to head north. As usual, we camped at Mahogany Flat and enjoyed a sunny hike the next day up to Telescope Peak (14 mile round trip hike). Pretty good weather and just right for shirt sleeve hiking at that altitude. Compared to Death Valley at the base of the mountains at Sea Level, Mahogany Flat is at 8100 feet, and Telescope is 11,000 plus.
Returning to camp late in the afternoon, we were happy to meet Brian and Mary-Ellen from Indianapolis...All the other sites were empty! It was very pleasant spending time with them around a campfire, and wish them well on their travels!
Every visit, there's something new in the ammo box. This time a soother and a little plastic egg with a pepperoni stick in it.
Even better, someone (probably from Iowa) donated a first class First Aid kit!
The next morning we head up towards the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, high in the White Mountains north of here.
Follow the 395 north through Lone Pine and then turn east after going through the town of Big Pine.
The tree marks the spot.
As we gain elevation the road changes character from tight turns through rock cuts, to broad open expanses.
After a lazy day of driving and stops in town, it's late afternoon and we want to camp for the night. A perfect spot is Grandview campground, high up in the mountains.
Not far away is a radio antenna array (use Google Earth to find it in the White Mountains) and we caught sunset there.
It's called CARMA (Combined Array for Research im Millimeter-wave Astronomy)
Shi-Ping Lai, a visiting scientist from Taiwan, is on duty tonight, and we had a very nice chat.
A new day and we're off the the Bristlecones...
Those are the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Mount Whitney off in the distance.
At the parking lot in the Visitor Center, we have two nice road bikes, in a way resembling the large blachbirds we see frequently.
After chatting with the Park Ranger, he gives us two challenges: find each spot where two photos were taken 50 years ago. The roads and parking lot have changed a bit, but a bit of "sleuthing" aka Hardy Boys should help.
It was a fun challenge!
Continuing up to the Patriarch Grove there's a family in a pickup with tire troubles. Not just one tire but two. Ryan, Zack,Jody and Brandon had just managed to change one tire only to discover another one was also flat. Now what, with no tire pump and no spare?
A couple of times over the years we've had to fix flats on our truck or someone else's up in the mountains. Out comes the pump, and a repair kit. Honestly, this little kit can usually fix a flat before the tire loses all its air if you sense the problem soon enough.
It's a kind of screwdriver handled needle that you use with 4" lengths of tar/gummy rubber rope - thread into the eye of the needle, push it half way into the puncture, then pull the needle out. The rope doubles back on itself forming four strands/wads in the hole, and a slot in the end of the needle lets the rope slip out of the tool as you pull the needle out. (on a previous trip to Toroweap we had to do it twice in the puncture for a total of 8 wads but it even sealed a 1" cut long enough to travel 40 miles back to Fredonia for a new tire...)
These kits cost about 4 bucks and are tiny little kits. Carry one in your rental car along with a small pump. When you're many hours away from civilization it can save a lot of time and effort!
A lone tent on a breezy saddle on the way up to the Patriarch Grove
Following the path above the Patriarch Grove parking lot
A little Bristlecone Pine gets a start, with a rock and a piece of an ancestor nearby.
Now we continue up the road toward the summit of White Mountain. It's getting a lot like the Moon here, and is pretty desolate.
There's a gate at the end of a small parking lot, and getting to the top from here means a long hike. We meet father and son, Jeff and Justin just arriving back from their summit trip, and they're very happy to be sitting down.
Pick any alpine area where there are people or parked cars and you'll find enterprising Marmots on the lookout.
After a nice visit and walkabout, we start back down to our campsite, a couple of hours drive on these winding rocky roads. It's easier to do it before dark!
So we arrive at the Patriarch Grove parking lot, and then chance to see that one of OUR tires is losing air, thanks to a sharp rock. Out comes the tire repair kit again, and a minute later the leak is fixed. Then out comes the hand pump for a lot more up and down effort. But right then, a kind visitor (Johannes) offers us an electric compressor to do the job instead. Any easy choice at this point. Thanks Johannes!
