SummitPost.org

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?

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.

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)

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!

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!)

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....

How about a mountain bike ?

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 .

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!

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.

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.

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.

> 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.

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."