High Sierra Topix

I recently asked for and received excellent advice about easy trips out of mineral king and/or general's highway (thread viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4219" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

However, in making final plans to go there, I found out about car wire and hose eating marmots, which is a new one to me. How much of a risk is this? Is there anything one can to to stop it? The idea of coming back to a disabled car seems extremely unpleasant.

thanks,
adam

Hope this helps:

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3866&p=24884&hilit ... ing#p24884" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

viewtopic.php?t=277&highlight=marmots" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://natedeb.com/krv/displayimage.php ... t=43&pos=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hi Adam,
My wife & I originally planned to aim for the backside of the Kaweahs by going in over Sawtooth pass in early June, but the final straw in aborting that plan was the prospect of returning to a "marmot-eaten" car. The ranger station at Mineral King has formal "marmot-damage" forms, but I doubt that filling out one of those forms provides much solace. Much as I'd like to initiate some hikes out of Mineral King, I'm reluctant to go back there till the marmots have had their fill of other folk's cars (or till enough of them bite into the wrong wire). Also, I'd encourage you to keep your eye on the fire burning on the Kern side of Farewell gap; it appears not to be too bad today, but it looked pretty ugly late afternoon yesterday, and if the winds blow wrong, it could smudge Mineral King valley.
CG

thanks--
those pictures would be hilarous if it were NOT where I was thinking of going....

adam wrote:thanks--
those pictures would be hilarous if it were NOT where I was thinking of going....

No doubt! But hey, seems the methods contained in those links have proven to be a sufficient deterrent.

The first few times I went up to Mineral King ('04 to '05) there was an elderly woman that lived in the cabin nearest the Sawtooth trailhead that actively helped keep the Marmots away from cars parked there. Bless her heart; don't know what has become of her as I haven't seen her in the past few years.

In '07 I was was returning from a dayhike via a series of switchbacks and I could see my car from a mile or two away. On that particular trip I took no extra precautions against the hose eating varmits. As I got withing 3/4 of a mile or so, I could clearly see a swarm (herd?) of Marmots in and around my car. I must have been a sight jogging down the trail trying to honk the car horn with the keyfob to scare the little son-of-a-guns away.

the silver city store will rent out chicken wire to wrap your car in if you don't mind scratching the paint. I did this a couple of weeks ago, but then took the advice of the ranger and left the hood open anyway. bad idea. a marmot climbed the chicken wire into the engine and feasted on the insulation. Apparently the ranger saw this, ran the marmot off and closed the hood. Supposedly by mid-summer they get their fill of autos and move on to other things

"And you don't stop, you keep on eatin' cars
Then, when there's no more cars
You go out at night and eat up bars " (Blondie: Rapture)

Maybe they're really men from mars.

Haven't parked my car in mineral king yet, but I took my trekking poles to Yosemite last weekend and the marmots ate those....

Well, not completely. Just some vigorous tasting of the cork grips. They also licked the pots and pans. The second night we all hung every single thing from the trees and bushes.

Mmmmm, yummy backpacking gear and automobiles.