This was a 5 day motel tour around the perimeter of the White Mountains which are on the California/Nevada border and just east of the Sierras and the Owens Valley. The group of 12 were brought together by the always welcoming Wayne Martin and Margy Marshall of Bishop, CA. You might be interested in their website below (nomints). My ride ended up being 221 miles and 15,743 feet of climbing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Mountains_(California)
http://nomints.org/
There was a camping option, which I was going to do, but one of the limited rooms became available. I took my touring bicycle with a rack and panniers, but I only carried the bags the first day, because there were several vehicles along. A couple other, more hard-core types, lugged their gear along, I guess for the extra exercise. One bicyclist did camp. A couple of the vans camped sometimes.
This was a very interesting, eclectic group of folks, of which I knew half from previous tours. All retired and ages ranging from 59 to 87, that's correct 87!! More about him later. Former occupations included engineering; structural, civil, and cost. A high school science teacher and psychologist. A couple of silicon valley hightech folks. And a firefighter. There were 3 e-bikes along.
The night before the start we all camped in and around Wayne and Margy's beautiful house. This couple has it going on with their great active lifestyle and are very nice to boot.
The weather was very cooperative, more tailwinds than headwinds, a little warmish for my tastes, hitting the 90's especially in the lower elevations. Most of the riding was over 5,000 feet, some passes over 7,000 feet, and the low point was in Big Pine, around 4,000 feet. With few exceptions, the roads were in good shape and amazingly empty, especially on the east side of the White Mountains.
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DAY 1
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2694789909
https://www.relive.cc/view/1556667461
The first day I was very sociable for the first half of the day, but I soon had to back off to get into my photography mode. I truly have a compulsion to take pictures of every rock and twig that I deem picture worthy if I am on a tour. This constant stopping also serves as little mini breaks which I quite like. In 5 days I took 361 pictures & videos, which I have recently culled to 119....lucky you! I wouldn't call Tom's Place a one-horse town. It is much smaller than that, with a lodge, a store, and a restaurant/bar. Somehow I had a little extra energy when I got there after 30 miles, so after dropping off my panniers, I headed up Rock Creek Road with two others, to do an extra credit out-n-back. After getting to about 8,600 feet, my lowland self was suffering mightily and I did a u-turn back to Tom's Place. Steve Purcell made it to the end of the road which was over 10,000 feet. More about him later.
Here are my pictures;
https://1drv.ms/f/s!AuvSBXwonxKxvEmD-QNUI1dMao58
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Day 2
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2694789933
https://www.relive.cc/view/1558982915
A beautiful day as we started after breakfast at Tom's Place with a swooping scenic downhill to Crowley Lake. Here I bought a sandwich and some drinks for dinner tonight as there are no restaurants or markets in Benton Hot springs. The supplies were carried by Wayne in his van. On the way out I had a brief visit with a touring buddy who lives at Crowley Lake, Bob Colt. Our route does a semi-circle around Lake Crowley before heading for two passes of the day. Before getting to the first pass, you'll see a picture of Steve Purcell laying on the ground fixing his rear derailleur. It went cattywampus as he was climbing. Got it fixed, but forgoing the use of his largest rear cog. Steve is an outlier of sorts in that he is a super ultra light tourist. Notice his handlebar bag. In it, he has a tent, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, warm clothes, rain clothes, tools, and everything he needs to camp anywhere, anytime. A man for all seasons....simply amazing!
The first picture at Waterson Divide @ 7,525 feet is of Steve and Jeff Orum. The second one is the only one of me and Jeff. I first met Jeff on the Baja tour of 2004-5 that I led. He was my roomate on this trip. The second pass of the day was Wildrose Summit @ 7,650 feet. Before dropping down to Benton Hot Springs there was a very interesting and scenic group of rock formations. Benton Hot Springs has a B&B where we stayed and as the name implies, there were several enclosures of natural flowing hot water. Very relaxing and no sulfur odor. We are in a desert environment now.
The fellow standing next to the old wagon is Ed Delano. He is the 87 year old and one of the ebike riders. I've toured with Ed several times over the past 20 years. A graduate of Berkeley, spent many years in the military and many years working for Caltrans. He has many kids, grandkids, great grandkids, and more stories than you can fit into two lifetimes. One of my heroes for sure.
Here are my pictures;
https://1drv.ms/f/s!AuvSBXwonxKxvErbP0RqFYYgiTrE
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Day 3
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2694789959
https://www.relive.cc/view/1561353995
Today, we entered Nevada and over the one pass of the day, Montgomery @ 7,167 feet. Some excellent views of the White Mountains and then we entered Fish Lake Valley. A nice picture of Margy and Dave Uriciuoli in one of the very few green spots around here, although alfalfa fields are in abundance with the proper watering. Margy told us that Fish Lake Valley has no fish and no lake. There are some grand vistas and very few vehicles. We entered the berg of Dyer, with it's cafe, store, and campground with cabins. Jeff and I were in the campground in a very adequate tow along trailer.
Here are my pictures;
https://1drv.ms/f/s!AuvSBXwonxKxvEtkNDR3gpglivx7
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Day 4
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2694789990
https://www.relive.cc/view/1563211646
Advertised as the most difficult day, I got off to a troubled start by missing a drop off of my panniers and the cafe didn't open until noon. With fruit and a bar in my handlebar bag I headed off. In a short while I was back into California. With a kickass tailwind on the flats, after 10 miles two of the vans came up on me and I flagged them down to tote my panniers. Thank you guys! The first of two passes was Gilbert Pass @ 6,373 feet. A fairly steep climb, but doable with great views looking down into Deep Springs Valley. In this valley lies a very remote, two year school, Deep Springs College;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Springs_College
I tried to bike in for a visit, but the sign for visitors was less than welcoming, so I turned around. That is when I saw the snake on the road.
Continuing through the valley, I could see the wall ahead. It was quite a steep, long, but beautiful climb of about 7.5 miles to Westgard Pass @ 7,271 feet. There was a plateau and the turnoff to the bristlecone pines, which I was told is quite a climb from the main road. The drop off down into Owen's Valley is steep, wild, and with great views of the Sierras. Big Pine is the low point of the ride at about 4,000 feet. And it was warm! Lucky our room had air conditioning. I was hungry and had a rack of ribs at the good rib joint in town.
Here are my pictures;
https://1drv.ms/f/s!AuvSBXwonxKxvEwlSGdlahT3Oage
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Day 5
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2694790023
https://www.relive.cc/view/1565655565
Today Margy led us on a back road adventure ride back to the start. I was surprised that you could actually go that far north without going on the main highway, route 395. There was dirt and gravel and "old 395" with washouts and broken asphalt. Kind of fun and no traffic to speak of until we got close to the road going back up to her place. The views of the Sierras and greenery of the watered farmlands was very nice. Altogether a great tour and many thanks to Wayne and Margy for their organizational skills and hospitality.
Here are my pictures;
https://1drv.ms/f/s!AuvSBXwonxKxvE2EHDuyEza5tJZ1
Burt