Old TR for several White Mountain trips

[Wandering Daisy]

This year 2023 would be a good year to do the White Mountains if getting into the Sierra is not an option. The first trip, going in from Bristlecone Forest would probably not go because the road likely will not be open.



White Mountains Chapter 1: August 24, 2004

After a CMC climb of Middle Palisades, I decided to do the “easy” route up White Mountain via the road, while I still had my high altitude blood! I drove up the road, past the Bristlecone Forest. The road became bumpier and gravely. At one hill I simply gunned the engine and prayed. I parked at the gate and wandered around finding a nice spot for my bivy sack and hopped in my sleeping bag to cook dinner. It was danged cold!

Next morning I gathered up stuff and walked back to my car. Another car was now parked at the trailhead. Two of the three occupants were puking out their guts. They had driven up directly from sea level. As I headed down the road, I occasionally walked with the remaining occupant who had somehow avoided altitude sickness. Soon we reached the research station. I wanted to go a lot faster, so bounded ahead. I had on three layers of wool and fleece, long johns, and my Cloudveil heavy-duty rain-wind gear, with a balaclava, wool hat and hood buttoned up. I never took off any of this! I went on one foot in front of the other, again, and again. Clouds were billowing up from below. Snow occasionally fell. The road became steeper. At the top I hunkered behind a building as the wind picked up. I was soon cold and got up to return. The walk up the road is easy, but the weather conditions and altitude make this anything but trivial. I was glad to get back to my car and turned on the heat!



White Mountains- Chapter 2, May 28-30, 2005

Three days over Memorial Day weekend Dave and I climbed three peaks without seeing a single other person or car! And we really were in California -just barely! After purchasing maps in Lee Vining, we drove east on Highway 120 and turned south towards Dyer, immediately spotting debris from a huge avalanche down the east face of Boundary Peak, convincing me to leave Boundary and Montgomery Peaks for another day. Instead we turned onto the unmarked dirt road up Indian Creek. By 4PM we were acclimatizing at 7,200-foot elevation by lazing in the sun, drinking wine and watching the rattlesnakes! Brush-choked Indian Creek conveniently spilled over into the road ruts at our campsite, providing a water source at our fingertips.

Day1. 5/28/05: Indian Creek to 11,100 feet on Chiatovich Flat (4.6 miles, about 8 hours, 3900 feet gain)

After a warm night and leisurely breakfast, we studied the maps. We headed up past Post Meadows. With about 1,000 feet of gentle elevation gain behind us we chose to turn south following an aspen choked drainage until we were forced us onto the steep rocky hillside and finally able to intersect the ridge. In retrospect, staying on the ridge to the west from the start would have been better. We reached the 11,100-foot plateau at 3PM, exhausted, and found water and having enough elevation gain for one day sipped tea, read and cooked dinner to pass the time until we hit the sack by 7:00 PM. Clouds built up and it rained lightly most of the night.

Day2. 5/29/05: Mt Hogue and Mt Dubois to the Jumpoff (13.0 miles, 10 hours, 2750 feet gain/loss)

At the crack of dawn I headed for 13,500 foot Mt. Dubois. Data from the White Mountain Summit station provides an interesting record of conditions. Dressed in wool underwear, two layers of fleece, softshell and two hats, I soon reached the 13,000-foot Pellisier Flat (8AM; 24 mph average wind, 30 degrees F). Abundant snowmelt pools were frozen and the Styrofoam snow had a firm crust providing easy passage over intermittent snowfields. Too cold to stop, I quickly walked the 6 miles to Mt. Dubois in awe of the grand vista of the Sierra to the west and the wind to my back (11AM, 34 mph wind, 34 degrees F). The rocky summit provided shelter.

Should I continue two miles on to 12,500-foot “Jumpoff”? I knew the snow crust was deteriorating requiring post-holing on my return trip. Fortunately the route to Jumpoff was primarily on exposed sandy slopes, so I decided to go. Close to noon I was tagging every hump on the ridge, not sure which one was summit!

IT was time to return and fight the headwind. When I again reached Mt. Dubois, weather had deteriorated and I had to put on my Goretex parka and zip up the hood (1PM: 44 mph, 36 degrees F). Now I had to walk long zig-zags to avoid the soft corn snow. I was unable to avoid it all and waded agonizingly slowly through thigh-deep drifts fighting the ever-increasing wind (3PM; 57 mph wind, 37 degrees F). Things were getting a bit epic by the time I reached the south end of Pellisier Flat (5PM; 58 mph average wind with gusts to 86 mph!). The sun had disappeared and it was getting cold (31 degrees).

Dave chose to climb 12,712 Mt. Hogue and wisely descended before the worst part of the afternoon gale. When I arrived we compared notes on the misery of soft snow. Dave got his share of wallowing too! At 8PM, on White Mountain, the wind peaked with an average of 80 mph, gusts to 99 mph! Overnight temperatures dropped to 26 degrees F. Our little campsite was protected from the worst of the wind, however, by dark the wind had picked up and fine silt sifted through the mosquito netting of our little 3-season tent. The tent rocked and we were covered with dust.



Day3. 5/30/05: Return Chaitovich Flat-mining trail/road (5.8 miles, 5 hours, 200 feet gain/4090 loss)

By the next morning water bottles had a film of ice but the sun was shining and the wind subsided to a gentle breeze. We decided to go back down Chaitovitch Flat and intersect the trail to the Mollini mine. We did not find any evidence of a trail until we headed down the steep slopes off the north side of the flat. Eventually we the trail turned into a rough 4wd road, becoming better as we descended. We were back at our car by 1PM.

The top of the White Mountains can be an inhospitable place, but what a view! Oddly, the only wildlife I encountered was a jackrabbit on the slope of Mt. Dubois! There was abundant running water during the warm part of the day camping is dictated more by wind protection than water sources. By running out of energy, we had fortunately camped at an ideal site. Had we continued on to Pellisier Flat, we would have had epic conditions. The routes we chose were basically walks. The steeper snow slopes appeared to us too dangerous to attempt. The snow was very unstable. I do not know if this is typical of the White Mountains or an anomaly of this year. I was impressed and am ready to explore more of the east side canyons. This is truly a little used wilderness area.



White Mountains, Chapter 3, June 4-5, 2005

The next weekend I headed back by myself to do more exploring and climb Boundary Peak. My little climb to Pt 13107 was about 13 miles round trip with 6,300 feet elevation gain. The Boundary Peak climb was 8 miles round trip with 4,600 feet gain. Getting around in the White Mountains is actually harder than much I had done in the Sierra. There are few trails, slopes are exceedingly steep, elevation gains are tremendous, brush is vicious, winds are howling, it barely gets above freezing mid-day, and you are really out there alone. Snow conditions can be very unusual- wind crusts, ice, avalanches. Weather is just as odd- highly threatening but so dry that the clouds seem to disappear into thin air, in spite of blackness, lightning and thunder. There is always the worry about where is the next water source.

Day1.6/04/05: Leidy Creek road at 6250 to Perry Aiken Flat at 10800 (6.0 miles, 4200 feet gain)

First, I decided to try to climb White Mountain from the east side. This time I drove as far as possible up Leidy Creek. I parked about a mile east of the Nevada-California border (I did not have a 4wd). After a short rutted uphill section, the road smoothed. As I walked 3.7 miles up the road I completely passed the hidden turn in the road, so instead of continuing on the old jeep trail, the road/trail slowly deteriorated and ended.

The next two miles were some of the weirdest terrain I had ever traveled! The north facing steep V-shaped gully turned into a rock and ice “glacier”. As the sun warmed the upper snowy slopes, rocks started tumbling off. I was on snow, but it was a mix of sand and ice with all sorts of debris. I realized I was walking up an avalanche chute! Holy mackerel, I had better get out of here. I turned up the exceedingly steep southeast slope literally crawling and clawing my way up the next 1,000 feet. My ice axe became very useful. Clouds were building. I was in and out of mist. At 10,800 things flattened and I found a nice little campsite next to a small pond in a sheltered nook. I hunkered down for the night in my bivy sack; it snowed.

Day2. 6/05/05: Climb to Pt. 13107 and move camp (2.2 miles, 895 feet gain)

Next morning, I packed up and walked over a ridge dropping into a creek on Perry Aiken Flat. As I followed this creek, it had water for the next 600 feet of elevation gain. By 11,800 feet elevation I was in solid snow. It was cold and I could mostly walk on top of the hard wind crust. The wind picked up. Very threatening clouds shot up from the lower flats near Dyer. One minute it seemed like it would snow, the next it cleared. I reached Point 13,107 a mile from my previous night’s camp. As I looked up towards White Mountain, I realized the snow was only getting deeper and weather more threatening so I descended. This time I followed the creek all the way northeast intersecting the road I had intended on following on the way up. I walked down to the “spring” shown on the map but never found it. There was plenty of water in the little creek. I camped on the flat and read a book.

Day3. 6/06/05: Return to Leidy Creek ((5.8 miles, about 3 hours, 75 feet gain/4360 loss) drive to Middle Creek Trailhead, base camp for Boundary Peak (1.7 miles, about 2 hours, 1025 feet gain)

Next morning I followed the road back to Leidy Creek. There were some steep places and some difficult snow drifts to wallow through. At the creek I found that the “road” was blocked by tree limbs that someone put up to disguise the route. Now I did not feel so stupid for missing the road on the way up. Back at my car I headed back to Dyer, then north. I am really not sure what roads I drove, but I seemed to drive forever on dirt roads, becoming very concerned about running out of gas! I finally ended up where I wanted to be- the trailhead parking on beautiful Middle Creek.

I started up a jeep road that passed the wilderness boundary and became a trail. The trail deteriorated as it got lost in a large soggy meadow. The creek was running so high that I was sure there would be a nice water source higher up. After about a mile in the gentle sloping brushy riparian stream course I headed up the North Fork a mile and half as the stream dried up. The map said “springs” up higher, but I never found them. I found a sandy flat spot at 11,000 feet to camp and then began contemplating that I may have to drop back to get water. Just for an experiment, I put snow in my pot and buried the pot in the warm sand. Soon I had water! So I spent the late afternoon repeating this process until I filled two Platypus 2.5-liter bottles.

Day4. 6/07/05: Climb Boundary Peak (5.7 miles, about 7 hours, 3330 feet gain/4350 loss)

The weather was perfect, although very cold, next morning. I continued upward on sandy ridges having trouble keeping from sliding back every step. After about 1,000 feet of this I reached a saddle full of snow. I now started up the east ridge of Boundary Peak. I had on all my clothing- it never got above freezing. The upper part of the climb was on steep snow; real mountaineering! For the last traverse to the summit, I had to put on crampons to walk across the icy ledges. With the ice and knife-edge ridge ahead of me, I decided not to try to continue to Montgomery Peak. I headed down, picked up my camp and descended back to my car. The drive out was less stressful, now that I knew where I was going.


All these photos are from the second trip. I did not take a camera on the other trips.

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[thegib]

I haven't done any white mtn exploring yet, (beside the eponymous), your pictures definitely suggest wind may be an issue.

[Wandering Daisy]

The White Mountains are challenging and very different from the Sierra, isolated and wild; not for everyone. In the last years with drought, the water has dried up making it nearly impossible to backpack. This year is an opportunity for anyone who is up to the challenge. The wind is less severe later in the season. I think this year water may be available all of June, maybe early July. No permits required either.

[sparky]

i dont know if i would be up for backpacking the white mountains but I have wanted to explore the area for many years. Have just done the drive up short hikes to bristlecone pines. thanks for the info tho! I kind of assume the roads are in bad shape right now though, I do not have 4WD

[robertseeburger]

This indeed looks like a great June opportunity..
I like many am looking around trying to figure out where to go in June, which is such a great outdoor month for many reasons.
No fishing though in the White Mountains!
But looks beautiful

[Wandering Daisy]

There is fishing! It is down on Perry Aiken Creek just over the Nevada-California boundary. But I have never been there. I vaguely remember that it is a bit of a bushwhack. Also another route to climb White Mountain. You may want to do an internet search.

[Fly Guy Dave]

There are indeed some streams in The Whites that contain trout, but like WD said, most are a bit of a bushwhack. Also, some are closed to fishing, so check your regs carefully before wetting a line.

[robertseeburger]

To both WD and Fly Guy Dave..
I am googling now and researching..thanks for the tip..
this may actually be something to do.. "a little bit different for me"..