Saturday was a late start as I drove right past the "Road Closed" sign adjacent the Bishop Creek Lodge. (Hey, we all know what we do with the one at the base of the switchers on WPR, right?) The road is clean, dry, and clear until .4 miles beyond Parcher's Resort, where a solid sheet of snow and (mostly) ice covers the road edge to edge. I parked here and headed up, finding that beyond that hill the road is again completely clear. Unless you have 4WD and know how to use it when your vehicle is ice skating, though, I wouldn't try it.
About a mile along the Bishop Pass trail is the cutoff to Treasure Lakes, and immediately above that, to the right, is one of the nicest overlooks on the lower trail. I planted myself here, threw my down jacket over me as a blanket, and promptly had one of the most quality naps in the sun ever. I think I heard a few people tromping by, but otherwise it was me and the sun.
Highlight of the day: naked fishing guy on the boat dock at South Lake.
Nope, didn't need to see that...Sunday dawned gorgeous once again, and I drove up as far as I could on Rock Creek Road (Pack Station) and parked the TOF. The road to Mosquito Flat is gated , so no dashing around this time. I followed a single set of snowshoe tracks to about 10.8K on the way to Ruby Lake, then ended up breaking trail from there. Hey, no better way to break up congestion than with a bit of huff-n-puff! Ruby Lake was not frozen in the slightest, and as I cooked lunch and slept with my head under a pine tree, I listened to the wind send pulses of water lapping to the shore. Upon awakening by a rather rude raven , I ended up plodding along the trail up towards Mono Pass, finally turning around at 11.7K . I didn't see a soul all day until reaching Mosquito Flats again that evening.
Not bad for a sick weekend...
A few other moments:
Rest of the pics are here and here .
From the luckiest girl in the world: Climb Hard, Be Safe.
-L
PS: Looks like the bowls above Ruby are settin' up nnnnniiiiiiiiccccccceeeeeeee... Cheez, I gotta get me a randonee setup for this winter (and many more to come!)...
