Photo above - paved road at about 11,500 feet!
Probably the highest
section of pavement in California
White Mountain from about 12,500 ft.
White Mountain is one of 15 summits in California over
14,000 feet. Along with Shasta it is the only other 14,000+ mountain in California outside
of the Sierra Nevada mountains. One of the oldest permanent settlements in North America is located
12,600 feet up one of the sides of White Mountain. This is the highest of the former
permanent Indian settlements; there are several encampments slightly lower in elevation.
The dirt White Mountain road is the highest road in California. What
very well may be the highest section of pavement lies in California
above the Patriarch Grove at about 11,500 feet. For quick access to high
elevations this is as good as it gets in California! If you live in the
greatest Mountains on the Planet - the Himalayas, or even the Andes, the
elevation at the top of White Mountain would almost be considered the
"foothills"!
For those being introduced to higher elevations - this is a good
introductory hike to take them on. Having said that, on a cold day late
in the afternoon, the hike back to the trailhead from the summit can be
among the most lonely, long, stark, windy and cold hikes you will ever do in
California. The hike is entirely above 11,500 feet and the dirt road
seems to go on forever - across the seemingly barren high slopes leading
from White Mountain.
Above about 11,400 feet the main vegetation disappears and rock and soil
replace it. It is quite barren compared to the Pinion Pine and
Bristlecone Pine tree lined slopes from about 7000 feet up to 11000
feet. Below 7000 feet there are few trees present. The vegetation consists of sagebrush
mixed with other similar looking small shrubs.
To get to the main hiking trail to White Mountain (there are 15 ways to access the
mountain) take the 395 south to the 168 which is Westgard Pass located just
before you reach the small town of Big Pine. At the junction of 395 and
168 you will find a small RV park and information center. Here you can read a little bit
about the Bristle
Cone Pines and the surrounding area. There is also a giant sequoia
present which supposedly was planted to commemorate the opening of Westgard Pass. This
tree is named after Teddy Roosevelt.
White Mountain Saddle
Turn left onto 168 as you drive south on
the 395 and drive for about 16 miles until you reach the turn off for the
Bristle cone Forest. This turnoff is just past the summit elevation of Westgard
Pass which is around 7200 feet. NOTE: be extremely careful when you drive back down the Westgard
Pass. This is a very steep road
and the
brakes will easily overheat if you use them too much. I highly recommend taking your time
driving down and gearing down to very low gears. Several times I have seen smoking brakes
and smelled the terrible smell of burnt out brakes at the bottom of the pass.
The Bristle
Cone Pine Forest road is about 25 miles in length to the very end. Most of the
road is gravel and easily accessible by car although you have to watch out
for the stray larger rocks that often times are sitting in the middle of
the road. There is a locked gate at the end of the
road 2 miles before the University of California's
Barcroft White Mountain
Research Station. Be sure to check out their awesome
website as they
provide much information and photos of the inner parts of the buildings
that most people will never see. Can you believe they have high speed
Internet Access at the Research Station and also Internet access at the
summit building! The University of California operates the Barcroft
Station, The Observatory and the White Mountain Summit Lab. They hold an
annual open house - so check their website for details.
You can park the car at the small parking lot next to the locked gate.
There is a permanent bathroom located here - toilet paper is usually
well stocked. From here you hike along a 4-wheel
drive road to the summit of White Mountain. The entire distance
from Big Pine
to this locked gate is 39 miles. You can also take a 4-wheel drive rough
road from Bishop which hooks into the White Mountain road after 15 miles
- then you continue on the White Mountain road until the locked gate.
There are several campgrounds located along the road that leads into the Bristle
Cone
Forest (see
the Inyo National Forest Campground Guide for more information about the specific campgrounds). I
highly recommend staying at one of these for several nights in order to acclimatize
before
hiking to the top of White mountain. Dave's Pick
is the The Grandview Campground which is located about 5 miles from the
main Bristle Cone Visitor Center at about 8600 feet. This is a large
campground (no water or garbage facilities) spread out over several
acres among the Pinon Pine trees. First come first serve - several
dollar donation requested. Campsites are fairly well spread out among
the trees so you have some privacy. Sometimes astral photography occurs
at this campground at night so you are requested to keeps lights to a
minimum. Bathrooms are located on site.
You can also camp out at the locked gate at the end of the White
Mountain Road which is
about 11,500 feet in elevation. You cannot camp outside of the campgrounds in the actual
park but the locked gate is technically outside of the park.
The total hike to the top and back to the locked gate is 14 miles. The first
time I attempted White Mountain I made the mistake of
trying to hike to the summit in the middle of the night without the proper gear. Even in
the summertime this can be one of the coldest areas in California, with temperatures often
down to 5 to 10F or even colder at the higher elevations. The temperature was getting down
to around 25 degrees F at above 11,500 where the locked gate is. I was there in the middle of
July, supposedly the warmest time of the year there, and the temperature was getting down
to 10F around 14,000 feet.
Summit Register
at 14,246 feet
Looking up at the summit from rocky road
Be Prepared for altitude and cold weather. If you do not have the proper gear
do not
attempt to climb to the summit. If you are not acclimatized do not attempt the summit. See
the
Altitude section in Dave's
Nepal article for more information.
I left the the small parking lot for my summit attempt at 7pm. The
Barcroft White Mountain
Research Station run by the University
of California is located at about 12,500 feet on the side of the trail leading to the
summit of White mountain. This station conducts studies of the effects of altitude on
organisms. At the time they were testing the effects of the high altitude on pregnant
sheep and in the summer there are normally sheep in the sheep corral. These
sheep must not get much attention as when you stop in front of their
corral they often will all turn around and look at you in unison! This facility is located 2 miles in from the locked gate.
Their are several buildings, a large Quonset hut - and below the road a
small water supply fed by a spring which leads to the buildings via a
long pipe. As far as I can tell there is no other visible summertime
water source anywhere in this area and its probably the spring here
which is why the Barcroft facility was located in this area.
The road remains in good
shape with a relatively gentle slope to it (a car could easily drive it) from the locked gate
until the research facility. However, once you hike past the research station the road
remains passable by 4 wheel drive but becomes a bit more rocky and steep. Once you are
past the research station you climb up to a ridge where you will find a
locked domed observatory, some antennas and miscellaneous metal lying
around - located at about 12,800 feet. From there you will hike along a gentle but usually
windy slope. You will next drop down quite a ways, then hike along a
sprawling barren valley before you begin hiking up again to the "saddle".
From the saddle you drop down yet again before the final excruciating
summit push. Finally the road becomes more of a rocky trail and you will begin to begin the final
ascent to the peak up a series of many switch backs.
After hiking two
hours I arrived at the research station around 9pm. I had spent
a day camped at 6000 feet the night before, but other than that,
I was not very well acclimatized. From previous high altitude
experience I knew that I needed to hike very slowly in order to
not be bothered by the high altitude. At this point I was still
comfortable despite the rather strong cold wind blowing. I kept
going.
Looking towards White Mountain from high altitude plateau
Four hours later I was still going. It was now 1am and the 1/2 moon had
almost set, the wind was blowing about 40 mph and the temperature was
hovering between 10 and 15 degrees F. I was on the final ascent to the
top when I became so cold that I had to stop and cover myself with an
emergency blanket and a sleeping bag that I had brought. There is
painfully little cover along the trail at that elevation so you are
hiking along cold exposed rock where the wind can do what it wants with
you.
After scrambling around madly (at about 13,800 feet due to the effects of the altitude,
the cold, and no cover I finally found a small rock outcropping on a small ridge. By
laying low behind this rock ridge I was able to get out of most of the wind, but not all
of it. I attempted to cover myself under the sleeping bag and the emergency blanket, but
only had partial success. My hands were so cold I could barely grasp anything, and the
wind was so strong that it kept blowing the sleeping bag and the blanket off of me. This
was not good and if I continued in my current state I would soon have hypothermia. I was
beginning to shiver uncontrollably and from previous experience I knew that I had to do
something or I would soon not be able to walk out of there under my own strength.
By this time the moon had set and all I had was starlight to see
the dimly lit trail. I quickly wrapped myself in my sleeping bag
and the emergency blanket. However, in my haste to start heading
down the mountain after an aborted summit attempt the emergency
blanket somehow blew off of me. I noticed that it was missing
about 5 or 10 minutes later.
White Mountain Road - just below the summit!
Seeing this, at the time I thought it was critical that I find it. I
walked back up the mountain and spent about 1/2 hour looking for it,
wasting energy that I did not have. This was a crucial mistake for I
could have used this energy to get down the mountain. Later on, I would
see that I would not need the emergency blanket.
After my unsuccessful try at finding the blanket (the wind would have carried it far way -
for some reason I did not think of this when I was searching for it) I headed down the
mountain. I was on the nervous verge of slipping into hypothermia the entire way. When the
trail would climb I would be fine, but as soon as I stopped to rest which was quite often,
I would become extremely cold.
The hours between 2 and 4am were extremely cold, dark and lonely. I kept hiking and
finally saw a
faint light appear in the western sky around 4:30am. The research station was the greatest
thing to see at about 6:45am when the cold whispers of the suns first strands began to
climb over the horizon. I reached the locked gate and car at 8:15am. From the time I had
left the locked gate the prior evening to the time I arrived back, I had been hiking
straight for 13 hours in cold terrible hiking conditions. I was fortunate to make it back.
I promptly fell asleep in the car, however, only after turning the heat up to
"maximum".
If you go during the winter please call 760.873.2500 for more information. The
Bristle cone Park is closed during the winter, so you will be unable to drive to the end of the road.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Dave re-attempted White
Mountain two months later and successfully reached the summit. This second hike was in the day this
time! Dave has since made a third successful summit - all pictures here were taken from
the third summit attempt.
White Mountain
Summit Facility and Penitenties, at about 14,000 feet high on White
Mountain
