White Mountain

Regional discussion and conditions reports for the Golden State. Please post partners requests and trip plans in the California Climbing Partners forum.
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esmith

 
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White Mountain

by esmith » Thu Jul 28, 2011 6:49 am

Does anyone know the conditions along the White Mountain Road? I'm thinking to hit that summit this weekend, but I don't have 4WD. Is it passable at all with a low clearance passenger car?

And is there any traffic along the road on weekends? Would it be possible to park at the end of the paved road and hitch-hike to the trailhead?

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cab

 
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Re: White Mountain

by cab » Thu Jul 28, 2011 10:05 pm

I haven't been up there this year, but I assume the road is totally clear of snow by now. If so, it is passable by any 2WD passenger car.

There isn't a ton of traffic going all the way to the Barcroft Gate, but I guess it would be possible to hitchhike. But, like I said, the road is easily passable in any car.

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fedak

 
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Re: White Mountain

by fedak » Fri Jul 29, 2011 12:06 am

I wouldn't count on hitchhiking that road- though there should be a reasonable amount of folks up there on a summer weekend.

The road is easily traversable by a low clearance 2wd- just take it slow and make sure you have a decent spare.
(And I haven't been up there this season- but I've seen trip reports and I believe the road has been snow free for weeks)
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johnr

 
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Re: White Mountain

by johnr » Fri Jul 29, 2011 4:49 am

According to the White Mountain Research Station website the road is in very bad shape due to runoff this year. Earlier today my wife called them (as they are having their annual open house Sunday August 7, 2011) to ask this question, since we don't have a 4WD vehicle. They said that they graded the road this year, so there aren't any big trenches any more (making 2WD possible), but that there are high rocks exposed so that a high clearance vehicle is needed. We're going to check back again before our trip up there.

We're going to drive the road as far as we can in our car (using a pick and shovel if needed), and if we have to hitch-hike the rest of the way, we will!
My trip reports, etc. https://hikingtales.com/

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esmith

 
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Re: White Mountain

by esmith » Fri Jul 29, 2011 6:33 am

That's great to know. Looks like there is a good chance of thunderstorms throughout the area this weekend, so I'll have to pass, but it sounds like road should be good enough next weekend (or at least there will be enough traffic to hitch-hike!)

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huntersthompson

 
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Re: White Mountain

by huntersthompson » Fri Jul 29, 2011 5:19 pm

I think hitchhiking up to the gate...or relatively near the gate...is doable. The big question is getting a ride back. I have taken folks on the trail 9 or 10 times and can't recall getting back to our car with many cars parked in the "parking lot". I think that hitching a ride back down the hill would be the difficult part....driving up has always been really doable...a little washboard action that makes you think that your dashboard will rattle off never hurt anyone...Nice easy hike with great views at the end...plus marmots like crazy....

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Palisades79

 
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Re: White Mountain

by Palisades79 » Sun Jul 31, 2011 3:51 pm

How about a mountain bike ?

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vinze

 
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Re: White Mountain

by vinze » Sun Jul 31, 2011 9:19 pm

The dirt road to the gate is in the best shape I've seen it in the 9 years I've been going up there. For reference , there was a Ford Focus and some minivan parked at the gate with me.

There were not many marmots seen in the parking lot by the gate , I was a bit worried about them getting into the engine when my truck was parked , but nothing came of it .

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granjero

 
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Re: White Mountain

by granjero » Sun Jul 31, 2011 11:35 pm

Palisades79 wrote:How about a mountain bike ?


From my understanding, there is a phenomenal downhill ride that takes you nearly to Bishop (from the WM road south of the Bristlecone groves, so I guess you have to pedal a fair bit from the summit). 10k of drop!? Holy shuttle ride!

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esmith

 
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Re: White Mountain

by esmith » Mon Aug 01, 2011 3:15 am

vinze wrote:The dirt road to the gate is in the best shape I've seen it in the 9 years I've been going up there. For reference , there was a Ford Focus and some minivan parked at the gate with me.


Have you seen any Vettes? ;-)

Someone mentioned washboard. I hate washboards, they don't agree with my suspension. Maybe I'll take my wife's minivan.

Mountain bike sounds like a cool idea too.

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RickF

 
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Re: White Mountain

by RickF » Mon Aug 01, 2011 3:32 pm

We took our Mountain Bikes to the summit in 2004. Bikes were allowed then since it's not a National Park or Wilderness area. I don't know if bikes are still allowed past the gate. There's a jeep trail all the way to the top. It's a fun descent on a bike.

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Michael Graupe

 
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Re: White Mountain

by Michael Graupe » Mon Aug 01, 2011 6:05 pm

3Deserts, did we meet on Boundary/Montgomery on Saturday? I started out at 6 from the Queen Mine TH, was on Montgomery at ~10am and fortunately back at the car before the thunderstorms started.

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Re: White Mountain

by fedak » Mon Aug 01, 2011 7:54 pm

> Yesterday, while I tooled around in the valley, it looked even worse up there.

The storm yesterday was one of the most electrical I've ever been caught in. There appeared to be 2 separate fronts- one over the NV ranges and one over the Sierra Crest.

It closed 395 north of Sonora Pass for much of the evening with mudslides.
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johnr

 
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Re: White Mountain

by johnr » Thu Aug 11, 2011 1:19 am

The latest from the White Mountain Research Station website says:

"Please note that the USFS has recently graded the White Mountain Road (thank you Inyo National Forest engineers!), which was damaged by the heavy spring snowmelt. This means it is passable to passenger cars. However, we recommend that you drive very slowly, as there are many sharp rocks turned up by the grader, and the road is very dusty."
My trip reports, etc. https://hikingtales.com/

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