Ancient Bristlecone Pine MORG - July 12-14

[Mffoster]

 

Leigh Anne and I will be leading the July MORG to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest.  The forest is located in the White Mountains due east of Bishop, up between 10,000 and 11,000 ft high.  The drive up is easy and suitable for any version of Land Rover - Leigh Anne has even considered driving Sparkles, her Evoque!

We'll be taking a couple of hikes, the first about 3.5 miles starting at the main Visitor Center at Schulman Grove.  Many of the trees are over 4000 years old, including what is thought to be the oldest tree on earth (although the exact location of that one is kept secret).  Later we'll head to Patriarch Grove, about 13 miles north up an easy dirt road.  The walk there is shorter and goes past the Patriarch Tree, the world's largest Bristlecone Pine.  There are great views from the entire area.  Looking west across the valley you can often see Bishop and then Mt Whitney up above.  

The last time Leigh Anne and I visited a ranger at the Visitor Center confirmed that dispersed camping is allowed in the state forest around the actual Bristlecone Pine Forest, and we've stayed at a couple of nice spots.  There is also Grandview Campground in Inyo National Forest, about 5 miled down the paved road south of the Visitor Center.  That area is $10night and has 23 first come, first served sites.  It's flat and wide open, and will likely have plenty of room (and pit toilets).  We'll decide where to camp once we have a good idea of how many trucks are coming.

There is a paved road from the south up to the visitor center.  We prefer driving up Silver Canyon Road from Bishop.  That's a dirt road that turns into a steep power line road that switchbacks it's way up the mountain, ending up between the Visitor Center and Patriarch Grove.  There's a possible camping spot about half way up that road.

 Since the altitude where we'll be is over 10,000 ft be prepared with cold weather gear, even if it's smoking hot down in the valley below.  it might be windy and possibly cold at the top, although we're hoping for great warm sunny weather in July.  We'll likely head down on Thursday afternoon to scout out sites.  Depending on when others are able to join we can meet in Bishop on Friday afternoon and drive up Silver Canyon.  If some people are able to come Sat morning we'll decide where to meet up later. 

This is an initial plan, we'll firm things up as we get closer and get an idea about how many trucks might participate.  This is an absolutely stunning area and the trees are amazing!

[Mr.BlueSky]

Theresa has the time off so we are in! We will try to leave Friday morning if not Thursday night.

[Motobrewer]

I could be persuaded into Thursday night. 

[SDS]

I am definitely coming. Anna plans to come as well. Looking forward to the trip!

[NCLR074]

Lisa and I will be there. Would like to head out on Thursday and planning on extending into Monday/Tuesday to spend some time on Eastern Sierra. Also planning on taking Milky way shots using the tree as a foreground element.

Stefano

Edited June 12 by NCLR074

[SDS]

20 minutes ago, NCLR074 said:

Lisa and I will be there. Would like to head out on Thursday and planning on extending into Monday/Tuesday to spend some time on Eastern Sierra. Also planning on taking Milky way shots using the tree as a foreground element.

Stefano

If Anna ends up coming, we were also thinking about spending an extra day on the east side of the mountains, since we rarely visit there.

[woodwelsh]

I plan on attending.  Out early on Thursday, if possible.

[jcb]

I'm in, hemlock willing.  Will bring the O2 tank...

[lithium1330]

I plan to be there with Sebastian! 
This will be the first time for Sebastian above the tree lines, and good experience to get him ready for Whitney. 😝 

 

Note! For anyone planning to drive through Yosemite on Tioga Rd, you’ll need to have reservations for Yosemite NP.
https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/reservations.htm
And plan for ~2hr drive (~70mi) from one end of Yosemite to the other. Most of the park roads are limited to 35mph.

 

Edited June 18 by lithium1330

[Motobrewer]

Lols like reservations open 2 weeks in advance. If I can secure a campsite along Tioga, I will likely leave Thursday. The pass can be slow moving. 

[lithium1330]

On 6/17/2024 at 4:19 PM, Motobrewer said:

Lols like reservations open 2 weeks in advance. If I can secure a campsite along Tioga, I will likely leave Thursday. The pass can be slow moving. 

there is nothing inside yosemite that's avail for Thurs night. The Yosemite entry ticket is required between 5am - 4pm. So, plan your Yosemite arrival early/late enough so you can drive (a little under 2hrs) from one end the park to the other and camp just outside yosemite.

I'll try to leave SJ around noon on Thursday to avoid the entry ticket and camp just south of Lee Vining before dark. 

[lithium1330]

Procrastination kicked in...

So, here I am with more yosemite rez info:

The mandatory Entry ticket is good for 3 days. The site has 900 ticket now for July 10th (good for July 10-12 entry), and 400-some July 14th tickets (good for 14-16th). 
Each ticket is $2/veh, limit is 1. This does not include park pass - if you have your national park pass, bring it. Your national park pass alone will not allow entry into Yosemite without the entry ticket when entry tickets are required. 

Alternative is, you buy entry tickets for July 12 (good for July 12-14) on July 5th at 8am PT - 7 days before arrival date. 

• From https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/reservations.htm: "Additional reservations are available seven days before the arrival date (e.g., make a reservation for an arrival date of October 27 on October 20) at 8 am Pacific time on Recreation.gov. Reservations available one week in advance are a combination of reservations valid for full days or reservations valid for arrival only in the afternoon on the first day."

 

[jcb]

On 6/21/2024 at 12:04 PM, lithium1330 said:

Procrastination kicked in...

So, here I am with more yosemite rez info:

The mandatory Entry ticket is good for 3 days. The site has 900 ticket now for July 10th (good for July 10-12 entry), and 400-some July 14th tickets (good for 14-16th). 
Each ticket is $2/veh, limit is 1. This does not include park pass - if you have your national park pass, bring it. Your national park pass alone will not allow entry into Yosemite without the entry ticket when entry tickets are required. 

Alternative is, you buy entry tickets for July 12 (good for July 12-14) on July 5th at 8am PT - 7 days before arrival date. 

• From https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/reservations.htm: "Additional reservations are available seven days before the arrival date (e.g., make a reservation for an arrival date of October 27 on October 20) at 8 am Pacific time on Recreation.gov. Reservations available one week in advance are a combination of reservations valid for full days or reservations valid for arrival only in the afternoon on the first day."

 

FYI, a few years ago I took the kids to Yosemite without reservations and was able to secure a tent-cabin by showing up before 8am at the office and waiting for the day's cancellation list.  First-come first serve and not a sure bet for certain, but if you are feeling lucky....

[Oliver Draffen]

I was just in Yosemite yesterday, and they WILL turn you around if you don't have a reservation. If you plan on arriving before 4 pm, you WILL face traffic, no matter the entrance. I entered via 41 at 9 am and had to wait 30 minutes to get to the gates. This entrance tends to have smaller wait times due to the extra hour it takes to get to the valley, and Google/Apple maps route people via 140. I was visiting a friend who works in Wawona and still faced traffic trying to reach him. If you plan on entering via 140, expect a minimum of 1 hour to even 2 hours of waiting. They have cones and physical roadblocks to prevent people from cutting for about a mile and a half before the 140 entrance. I exited via 140 around 9 pm, and there was no line or traffic within the valley and the west entrance in both directions. The sun sets in the valley around 8:30 pm as of 6/29, which provides amazing views and shadows visible from Wawona Road and the valley. So if you plan on traveling through, I would definitely plan on arriving before that to see the beauty. Being 2 hours from the valley, I visit often, and still, every time I enter, I am amazed by the beauty.

 

BUT there is a way around this. If you enter after 4 pm, you don't have to have a reservation, and to my knowledge, you don't need to pay $35 to enter. Rangers aren't stationed at the entrance after 5 pm, according to my friend. I was lucky that I was visiting him and therefore didn't have to pay nor get a reservation. So if you know a ranger or have connections, you may want to explore that. You may have to get a signature from them to prove you were visiting them, but in my case, they didn't ask for one.

Overall, if you want to avoid the traffic, it may be easier to take 108 through Sonora, which will put you out near Bridgeport. 

 

It is fire season, so there may be some pop up fires in the coming weeks. There have been 4 bush fires in Merced, and a large forest fire east of Fresno which brought smoke into Yosemite this past week. Even driving from Antioch to Merced I saw 2 separate fires in the same day.

Taken at 8:45pm in the valley

[lithium1330]

On 6/30/2024 at 3:12 PM, Oliver Draffen said:

BUT there is a way around this. If you enter after 4 pm, you don't have to have a reservation, and to my knowledge, you don't need to pay $35 to enter. Rangers aren't stationed at the entrance after 5 pm, according to my friend.

Yes, this is true if you also exit the park when entrance is not stationed by rangers.
There are stop signs at all the exit lanes. When you are at stop sign, the ranger do ask/check for your park pass/park receipt before you exit. 

 

Yes, Yosemite shines at another level at sunset! 

Edited July 3 by lithium1330

[NCLR074]

We will be heading from Sutter Creek on Friday morning. Going over the Sierra via Hwy 88, then 395 south. Definitely taking pictures of the Milky Way with the Bristlecone. Happy to walk anyone through the process if interested. Have not done it with an iPhone, but know that you can if you have an app for Long Exposure. Still planning on extending the trip. Maybe Mono Lake area for sunrise pictures.

[Mffoster]

 

 

Less than a week to the trip, looks like we may have 8 trucks.  The list seems to be:

• Mike and Leigh Anne (MORG leaders), D110
• Miles and Theresa, Range Rover Classic
• Sasha and possibly Anna, Discovery 3
• Stefano and Lisa, Range Rover L322
• Chris and Sebastien, D90
• Jeff Brown, Range Rover L405
• Paul, Range Rover L322 probably
• Wood, Discovery 2

It sounds like the people heading out Thursday may camp around Yosemite or somewhere in the Sierra on the way to Bishop.  Leigh Anne and I will now be heading down from Reno on Friday morning.  Think we should plan on meeting on Friday in Bishop for lunch at noon or so.  We can try the Mountain Rambler Brewery or Schat's Roadhouse, although we're open to suggestions.  After lunch we'll head up Silver Canyon Road.  At the top we turn right and head down to the Grandview Campground, https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/inyo/recarea/?recid=20268.   Every time we've driven through there it appeared that plenty of sites were available, all on a first come first served basis.  It's $10/night per site.  I don't think there is reliable cell service once we head up the hill out of Bishop, so we should plan on all camping there Friday night.  That will make it easy for anyone that arrives in the afternoon or evening.  We can consider moving to a dispersed campsite closer to the Ancient Forest for Saturday night if we like.

On Saturday morning the plan is to head over to the main visitor center at Schulman Grove, https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/inyo/recarea/?recid=20272&actid=50.  There's a $3 per person fee for parking there.  The Methuselah Trail is a beautiful 4 mile loop that goes through Ancient Bristlecone Pine groves.  Somewhere in there is possibly the oldest tree ever found, over 4000 years old.  The specific location of that tree is kept secret.  The visitor center has trail brochures, and there are marked posts along the way with descriptions in the brochure.  This links to the short 1/2 mile Bristlecone Cabin trail, which goes past some old mining sites and cabins.  

After those hikes we can head up the dirt road about 13 miles to the Patriarch Grove.  That is a flat, shorter loop through more ancient trees.  One, actually identified as the Patriarch Tree, is the largest Bristlecone Pine ever found.  We can plan on having lunch at one of the 2 groves depending on how early we've gotten going in the morning.  This will probably take most of the day if we take our time.  Back to where ever our campsite is that afternoon, and people can head out Sunday morning.

Please post up when you plan on getting to Bishop so we make sure we can all connect.  My number is 775-501-2991.  Looking forward to a great weekend!

[woodwelsh]

Wood, wife and dog here.   Coming from Santa Rosa Friday morning.   Would love a late lunch as we have some miles to do.   Maybe 1:00 or 1:30 pm ????   Thanks in advance.

 

[lithium1330]

Folks going through Yosemite on Thurs or Friday between 5am - 4pm go buy your park entry ticket. 

If you haven't bought your park entry ticket yet, you will need to buy the July 10th (or 11th) entry date. 

• You buy the July 10th full-day entry ticket, valid between July 10 - 12, 5am-4pm (390 tix remaining) $2. Or, 
• you buy the July 11 half-day entry ticket, valid on July 11 from noon-4pm only, and 12-13th between 5am-4pm - (40-some tickets remaining) $2. 

I just got my Full-day entry ticket for July 10th to use on Thurs or Friday. 

If you plan to come back through Yosemite on Sunday, July 14th, you will then need to buy park entry ticket on Sunday, July 7th at 8am PT. 

Right now, I am tempted to leave San Jose Thursday evening, either camp before Big Oak Flats or after Tioga. I can imagine Friday park entry during normal hours will be 1-2hr wait. Someone can prove me wrong when we meet in Bishop Friday!  

New plan...  got a hike-in campsite at Hodgdon (a few minutes inside the Hwy120/Big Oak Flats entrance) for Thursday night. So, Seb & I will camping in Yosemite that night. Friday morning, we'll drive through Yosemite to Bishop for lunch. 

Edited July 8 by lithium1330

[Mr.BlueSky]

Theresa, Henry, and I plan on heading out of Fremont around 6-6:30PM on Thursday night.

We plan on crossing through Yosemite and camping at Tioga, Junction, Sawmill, or Ellory Campground Thursday night.

Then meet up with the larger group at noon on Friday in Bishop.

Managed to snag the Yosemite pass through permit for the return trip, I expect we will aim to be at the park entrance around noon. About ~300 half day passes were still available.

[SDS]

I just got passes that would get me through Yosemite on Friday and Sunday. Thank you Cris for pinging me on this!!!

I will drive my LR3. Anna will come with, and we'll bring two dogs: Belka and her puppy (Pete).

The plan is to leave from home on Friday some time during mid-day. We definitely will not make it to Bishop for lunch. Will go directly to Grandview Campground.

In case folks are there ahead of us (quite likely), please get us a spot if possible.

 

[jcb]

Unfortunately I am having med issues and need to bail.  Say hello to Methuselah for me.

[Mffoster]

Bummer, we’ll miss having you on the trip! Hoping you feel better soon!

[NCLR074]

The L322 is having medical issues. Another coolant leak. 4th one in a row. Once I fix one, then another springs to life. However, we are still going. Will be taking the new "Defender" from Ineos. Yup, bringing the Grenadier.

Staying in Mammoth Lakes Sunday night and grabbing a Monday sunrise shot at Mono Lake. Devils Postpile is closed M-F for road improvement this summer, unfortunately.

[Mr.BlueSky]

8 hours ago, jcb said:

Unfortunately I am having med issues and need to bail.  Say hello to Methuselah for me.

Sorry to hear you won't make it Jeff. We need to meet up again soon!