bay_area_hikers wrote:
> I read through some sites and forums and got conflicting opinions about the road to the White mountain trailhead.

I have a 2WD sedan, will it be possible/advisable to take it on that road?

Two things about the road:

1. It can get that washboard problem that every dirt road can get. It just depends on how long it has been since they ran a grader over it. When I drive roads like that, I try to find the smoothest track, often the very edge. If it is has lots of washboard trouble, driving slower is about the only thing you can do. And it doesn't make that much difference whether you are driving a sedan or SUV.

2. There are some sharp rock fragments in the road in places that can puncture a tire. Make SURE you are carrying a spare and it is properly inflated. I've driven the road a few times and have never had that trouble, but others have reported getting a flat.

Here's another thread from this forum with good info:
Driving to White Mountain Peak for Whitney training hike

> Also, how realistic is the danger from marmots chewing through the wiring of the car under the hood?

That was a problem years ago at Mineral King, but I don't think many have had the trouble anywhere else.

Edit: Checking the other thread above, someone posted a horror story about marmots on a web page specifically about marmots. It is pretty odd that it is the only place it has been reported. Please call the White Mountain Ranger Station in Bishop, (760) 873-2500, and ask about the marmots. I'd like to know what they tell you. (I have an idea: I think the marmots are salt starved. They chewed my hiking poles in Sequoia N.P. once. I wonder if someone carried a chunk of block salt for cattle, if that would divert them.) That "report" just doesn't make sense, because UC people have been parking cars there for years, without any special precautions. ...You might ask for the name/phone number of the U.C. caretaker and give that person a call, too.

Randy Gibbon wrote:
> I am also going up next Friday and would like any information. Also, any issues with camping at the trail head?

People overnight at the "trail head" all the time. The trail head is actually just a parking area with a pit toilet, by the closed gate that leads up to the University of Calif Barcroft Lab facility, which is another mile up the road. To get to White Mountain, you just walk the road to the lab, and continue past on the jeep road to the summit.

There is no water available anywhere in the White Mountains, so be sure to haul what you need in your car.

BY the way, to both of you: It would be great if you would take some pictures to post here, of the parking area, the road, the lab, the trail, and the summit. We haven't had a White Mountain trip report lately.