Mt Whitney Zone Forums Trip Reports White Mountain Peak 6/27/2012

Went up White Mountain the other day. Great hike and awesome views. It was a nice, fairly easy hike for a quick day trip. We actually met one of the University workers up there. He was changing out the pollution filters, and gave us a chance to look inside the shack and take pictures. The only draw back is the dirt road you have to drive on in order to access the parking area/gate.
Other than that, it was a great day.

What's the condition of the dirt road, is it passable by a low clearance 2WD car?

Thanks for the pictures!

Say, with bunk beds and a stove, they should let people stay up there, and charge $$ for it!

The White Mountain Bed and Breakfast :cool:

Yes it is, but it would take a while. Washboard road. It took me a good 40 mins in a 4x4.

The road is usually closed below Barcroft Station; it makes the hike to the summit a bit longer. Go slow in your 2wd; there are a few rough spots before the gate. There is ample parking at the gate.

I want to drive as far as I can comfortably get in a Corvette and then to ride a MTB the rest of the way. I don't care much for washboards. Sounds like I'd end up leaving the car at the end of the paved road.

I'm curious - how do you fit a MTB in a Corvette?!

Corvette (the coupe version) has one of the biggest trunk compartments of all cars in its class. It easily fits a MTB with 26-inch wheels if the front wheel is taken off.

Interesting! You learn something new everyday.

Yes. 2012 model year coupe is rated at 22.4 cu.ft. of cargo space. (I have '06, don't know the numbers for that one, but it's the same design.) Compare with Porsche 911 (4.8) or Nissan 370Z (6.9). 22.4 cubic feet is more than you get in most sedans.

The downside is that ground clearance is very small. On one occasion I had to be pulled out by another car, when I got stuck on a rock in a dirt road, 100 feet from the pavement. It was embarrassing. Since then I try to pay close attention to where I go.

We need a picture of your bike in that trunk!

You're going to get quite a workout on the MTB. The dirt road starts at Schulman Grove, about 10,000 elevation, and goes 16 miles, with 3400' of gain/loss, all between 10,000' and 11,900'

Here's the Google map. White Mtn Road

...that reminds me, I've always wanted to ride my mtn bike down the Silver Canyon 4wd road to Bishop. It tees off the White Mountain Road about 3 miles north of Schulman Grove -- 6000' descent over 11 miles.

Another option for you: Use a different vehicle, haul the bike to the gate, and then ride/push it to the summit. I once had a mtn bike on the White Mtn hut's roof. I was going to ride that Silver Canyon road on that trip, but the White Mtn ride completely wore me out.

I don't have any pictures of the MTB in the trunk on hand, but here's one of my road bike http://i49.tinypic.com/sgn4t1.jpg



I've seen much worse. Though on a road bike, not a MTB, and not starting at 10,000'. http://planetultra.com/portfolio/mulholland-challenge/ I'll probably do this some time in late July.



Interesting. But 6000' over 11 miles is a 10% average grade. (In fact, the steepest part would be more like 17%.) It would be a fun descent on a road bike on a good paved road, but, going down on a mountain bike on a 4wd road, it would be downright scary and I'd probably be riding the brakes all the way. It's better to get a good workout climbing Silver Canyon in the other direction, get to the summit, and then roll down the 168 back to the car. But that looks like 96 miles and over 15000' of elevation gain, so, incredibly tough, I'm not sure if I could pull that off in a single day.

In the early days of the local MTB races, there was a race down Silver Canyon to Laws. Inyo SAR had first-aid teams stationed for the descent. We did a few minor repairs to some riders, including one guy who came off his ride at high speed and ripped the bottom off his lycra tights; extreme road rash.

The organizers had safety "catch-nets" positioned below some of the switch-backs, which actually caught a couple of bikes after their riders bailed. The riders ended in heaps on the road. It is a truly terrifying down-hill, but has several stream crossings lower in the canyon...to cool ya off.

Many of the participants worn dirt bike protective clothing and helmets. The race was discontinued after a couple of years, as being too dangerous.

The winner made it from the top to Laws in under one hour! Balls to the wall!