June 17-18, 2011
WIth our failed attempt of Quandary in March, we decided to climb White Mountain in Inyo National Forest. It's located about 70 miles north of Lone Pine, CA and is the third highest mountain in California at 14,252'. This was also a climb to prep us for Mount Whitney on July 9th.
Our plan was to camp at the trailhead at 11,600' to get one night of acclimatization. By the time we got onto the main road leading to the trailhead we decided to stay at the Grandview campground at about 8,000'. The campsite were very well maintained and spread out.
This was our campsite for the evening. Got there just as the sun was setting.
Scott getting the tent ready and stopping to pose for a picture.
The next morning we got up early and continued towards the trailhead, stopping along the way to enjoy the view and take some pictures.
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| View of the Eastern Sierra Mountains |
We also stopped at the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest to take some pictures of these beautiful tress. They are the oldest living trees in the world at 4,767 years old.
We got about 3 miles from the trailhead only to be stopped in our tracks literally. You can see the 4 Runner tracks that made it about 10 feet across the snow. Saying Scott was disappointed was an understatement. Scott still wanted to get some hiking in so he decided to climb some of the smaller mountains. While he went hiking I went back the down the road a ways to photograph more of the Bristlecone Pine Trees.
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| Scott climbing up to Sheep Mountain |
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| Sheep mountain in the upper right with the Bristlecone Pine in the foreground |
After shooting pictures for a while I decided to drive back up to where Scott had started hiking. We decided to head up to Sheep Mountain at 12,500' since we were unable to summit White Mountain. Climbing up the snow back which was much more difficult then expected.
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| Scott well ahead of me on the climb up |
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| Slowly making my way up. |
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| At the top of Sheep Mountain. You can see White Mountain in the far distance |
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| Scott writing in the summit log |
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| At the summit getting a chance to take some pictures of the Sierra Mountains |
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| The view looking west of the Sierra Nevada Range |
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| Learning how to glissade down the snow |
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| On my ass after catching my foot in the snow |
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| That little speck in the distance is me. Of course Scott demolished me on the descent. |
Scott getting the tent ready and stopping to pose for a picture.
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