Tag: Bishop

16-Day Road Trip Highlights: Scenic Stops and Adventures

On February 11 we climbed in our rig and headed off on a 16 day road trip. On February 27 we returned home after logging 2508 miles and having seen some amazing places. We tend to take our time on road trips. We don’t like to spend more than four or five hours on the road on any given day. There are so many things along the way that catch our attention. And traveling with a dog and a rig that can get us off the beaten track, we tend to avoid busy places like national parks. Suffice it to say that we found some wonderful locations to park our rig and our dog Carson had plenty of off leash time.

Our first destination was Bishop to spend a couple of days with family and to play grandparents. We took our time getting to Bishop, stopping one night at Kern River Campground just east of Bakersfield, and another night at the Alabama Hills.

Here’s a photo of our camp in the Alabama Hills. We timed our trip to avoid a storm that was predicted to play havoc with mountain travel. The storm caught up with us at the Alabama Hills dumping rain on us in the middle of the night.

Our kids like to camp, so after a couple of nights in Bishop we all packed our gear and headed to Goodale Creek Campground. Here’s a photo of us around the campfire in the morning drinking coffee. The third photo shows Joann hiking in a slot canyon at Valley of Fire State Park, one of our destinations on our trip.

From Valley of Fire, we headed to Monument Valley. Using HipCamp, one of the apps we use for locating camping, we found HummingBird Campsite, a private campground.

The highlight of Monument Valley was a tour led by Carl Phillips, a guide who specializes in taking photographers on tours. Being in the Valley at sunrise was a magical moment.

Then it was time to start making our way home. We had no planned itinerary; we were just playing it one day at a time. Taking our time, we discovered the ghost town of Stanton, explored Indian ruins, and walked in the footsteps of dinosaurs.

We did find that mid-February was a bit of a challenge. Nighttime temperatures were a bit low on the first half of the trip, in the low 20s. Many campgrounds were still closed for winter. Having captured over 1000 photos and with many stories to tell, I’ll be posting more details about the trip in separate posts.

Winter Road Trip to Bishop: Memories and Challenges

We missed the Bishop contingent of our family over Thanksgiving since they were hunkered down with Covid. This prompted us to clear our calendars to make the trek over the mountains for a visit. Since the camper had been sitting idle in the driveway for three months, it was no surprise that the battery was dead. A quick trip to the local auto parts store and we were ready to roll. We decided we’d break the drive up over two days.

We like to take our time. It was 10:30 am when we rolled out of the driveway. Highway 89 was open, so we drove over Echo Summit on Highway 50 and then took 89 over Luther Pass and down through Markleeville. It was 5:30 pm when we parked the rig for the night on National Forest land near Mono Lake. It was dark, but we found a spot to camp without much trouble. Four-wheel drive is recommended here since there is soft sand. This is dispersed camping, boondocking if you like. No services. We cooked dinner, turned the heater on and hunkered down for the night. It was 18 degrees when I stepped out of the camper at 7 am the next morning. I wandered around with my camera, fascinated by the stark beauty of our location.

We arrived in Bishop at 10:30 am with plenty of time to get settled before the evening Winter Tradition program at granddaughter Annabelle’s school.

Holiday activities also included a visit the Laws Railroad Museum, where we rode the train and sang Christmas carols with Santa. Daughter-in-law Serena got to show off a quilt project that she participated in.

On December 15 it was time to head home. A winter storm had dumped snow on the mountains, leaving the roads icy. We started our return journey by heading north on 395, but the ice on the roads was intimidating even with four-wheel drive and snow tires.

We turned around and headed south, arriving back in Bishop about noon where we rendezvoused with family for lunch at the Pupfish Cafe. This is one of our favorite local restaurants, noted for their Belgian waffles. From there we continued south going over Walker Pass. We found a gorgeous little campground, Sandy Flat Camp, on the Kern River and spent the night there. We were the only campers in the campground. More photos are available in an online gallery.

To Bishop and Back

With our recent travels we haven’t had much opportunity to play grandparents, so this past weekend we made our way to Bishop. Along with visiting family we had the task of delivering a Tigermoth camping trailer. Here’s the trailer ready to tow over to Bishop and a photo of my son’s family sitting inside. This should be a great camper for a family that loves to camp. Well designed and quite fun!

Our short trip and the fact that we were recovering from colds kept us close to home, although we did manage to get out to explore a bit. The Cottonwoods were showing color. And we took a short hike in Birchim Canyon just off of Highway 395.

On Sunday November 5, we made the return trip, stopping near the Groveland Ranger Station just off of Highway 120 to enjoy the display of the black oaks – a mix of green, yellow and red.

Dazzled by Yellow

After three days of chasing fall color I was starting to feel overwhelmed. I felt like I had to give my eyes a rest, and yet we’d find another grove of aspen in full splendor, I’d grab my camera and start snapping photos. And then I’d be asking myself how the image I’m capturing differs from the many thousands of photos I’ve captured over the past 50 years. In any event, every photo is another adventure and the magnificence of the changing seasons never gets old. I’m always looking for a way to create unique photos that celebrate the glory of God’s creation.

Fall color in the Eastern Sierra usually starts in mid to late September with the aspen at the higher evaluations changing color first, and the color progressing down the canyons over the course of several weeks. I usually start to watch the fall color reports in mid September. This year October 4 was the earliest date we could get away, so we stocked the camper with food for a week and hit the road.

From our home in Albany, CA, we decided to take California State Route 108 over Sonora Pass. After passing the summit we stopped briefly near a grove of aspen, admired the view, and then decided to head to our intended camping destination on Green Creek. We were hoping to camp at the Green Creek Campground. Why? Because we wanted to fire up our Dutch Oven to cook dinner; for that we needed a fire ring in an established campground. The campground was closed. There are plenty of places to boondock along Green Creek so we found a comfortable spot to park our rig. We implemented “plan B” for our menu which did not require a fire ring. I was a little annoyed, though, when campers not too far away from us lit a campfire, something that’s prohibited in the dry conditions. I was too shy to confront them. What would I say?

We were so impressed with the fall color along Green Creek, we decided to spend a second night although we moved our rig a mile down the road. The road into Green Creek is a dirt road. For the most part it is navigable by passenger car, although close to the campground it gets a little rocky.

From Green Creek we headed towards Bishop by way of Dunderberg Meadow Road. We admired the aspen along the way and set up camp at the Sabrina Campground in the afternoon. The fall color was about peak there. In the morning we drove to North Lake where I spent some time with my camera and tripod capturing fall color. We also gave our dog Carson the opportunity to hike with us off-leash.

From Bishop Creek we drove to Bishop where we spent the weekend with family. Then we headed home after a night camping on a ridge overlooking Convict Lake. We had intended to spend more time on the road but the furnace in our camper was not working; getting up in the morning with the temperature in the 30s was wearing on us.

More photos are available in an online gallery.

Reunion in Bishop

In April 2017, my two brothers and I gathered together with our families to memorialize my father. We made a commitment to gather as a family on a regular basis. In 2020 we set our sights on Bishop in the Eastern Sierra and booked accommodations at the Eastside Guest House and Bivy. Then COVID-19 struck, and we scrapped our plans. With the pandemic easing up this year we decided to make another go at gathering. Family started arriving on Saturday evening, April 24, with people coming from Washington, Texas, Hawaii, and Massachusetts. My wife and I and our lovely Aunt Sue, being the hosts, arrived the day before to give us time to stock the larder with groceries. Eastside Guest House is an ideal location in the Eastern Sierra to set up a base camp for outdoor adventures. The facility has private rooms, a duck pond, a view of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and a common room for cooking and meeting.

We had the barbeque going as guests arrived. Joann and Sue had prepared skewers of Shish kebab which we put on the grill as family joined us.

April 25. The Alabama Hills and Independence

The day started with Lemon Ricotta Waffles. I had arranged ahead of time to have a couple waffle irons available and, with plenty of family chipping in, we were serving waffles at 8 a.m. Waffles with whipped cream, butter, syrup, berries and lots of other goodies.

After breakfast we set up a sandwich station. Line up and make a lunch. Then we piled into cars for the drive to the Alabama Hills.

There is much to see on the drive south from Bishop. Some of our party made a visit to the Manzanar National Historic Site, one of the sites where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. A few of us stopped at the Mary DeDecker Native Plant Garden and the Eastern California Museum in Independence. The museum has an amazing collection of native American basketry and the garden was looking very nice with many plants in bloom. We also took advantage of the delicious ice cream at the Eastern Sierra Ice Cream Company.

April 26. Big Pine Lakes

Monday morning everybody was on their own for breakfast. Take your pick of oatmeal, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, raisin bran, other packaged cereals, apples, oranges, and bananas. And if that isn’t enough you can walk next door to Schat’s Bakery for espresso and pastries. Then we again set up the sandwich station.

Several in our group were anxious to get into the High Sierra. Despite the fact that the trails are usually snowed in this time of year, it looked like we might be able to hike to one or two lakes in the Big Pine Lake Basin. We piled into our cars and drove to the trailhead at the end of Glacier Lodge Road.

My wife and I made it as far as First Lake at 10,000 feet. My two brothers and clan made it to Fourth Lake at 11,000 feet. We did find a few patches of snow on the trail, but nothing that required technical gear. First Lake still had some ice. The higher lakes were still frozen over. We logged 9.5 miles on our hike to and from First Lake. You can see a map on my GaiaGPS account. Those that went higher logged 12 miles or so.

April 27. Pleasant Valley Reservoir

With family members ranging in age from 3 1/2 to 84, we opted to do an outing close to Bishop to accommodate those not inclined to tackle a strenuous High Sierra hike. We found a level paved trail along Pleasant Valley Reservoir. This proved to be a lovely hike with opportunities to look for wildflowers and birds.

The more adventuresome drove up to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest and reported a lovely outing. Tuesday evening marked our last day together, and we had a birthday to celebrate.

The next morning we said our goodbyes and began our drive back over the mountains.

There is so much to see in the Eastern Sierra. I was sad to leave, but since we have family there, we manage to visit several times a year. The Eastside Guest House and Bivy was a delightful place to host our reunion. The large community room, while being shared with other guests, proved to be a great place to gather, chat, and look at family photos. And talking about photos, you can view more online.

Fall Color Review

So here it is late November and I’ve finally made it through the photos from our Eastern Sierra fall color trip. On September 27, having spent several days with family in Big Pine, it was time to go hunt for fall color. We left Big Pine in the morning, and that night we camped at the Bishop Creek Campground. We were lucky to have some relatively clear air since smoke from wildfires had been plaguing us off and on at lower elevations. Bishop Creek is always a good prospect for fall color.

Here we are with our Four Wheel Pop-up Camper rig parked for the night in a very pretty aspen grove. In the morning we drove up to North Lake and did a short hike to a location I had scouted for a view overlooking the lake. Then it was off to Rock Creek. We made a quick stop at Mosquito Flat trailhead. We did a short hike and, while it was a lovely hike, I was not inspired to take many photos. We moved on to Sagehen Summit Road. Here the aspen were a little past prime but with plenty of photo opportunities.

I found a grove of aspen with a panoply of colors from green to yellow to black. This is my favorite image from this trip and it’s available in my art store. With the sun about to set, we drove the short distance to Mono Lake where we set up camp in the dispersed camping area near Mono Mills.

The next morning we were off to Virginia Lakes, where we did a three mile hike to Frog Lakes. Most of the aspen here were past prime, but we did find fall color in the willows.

From Virginia Lakes we took the Dunderberg Meadows Road, pulling off in mid-afternoon to set up camp. Here I put the drone in the air, you can see the image looking west over the trees. We found some lovely aspen groves along the Dunderberg Meadow Road and made a note to include this drive on future trips. Before heading back to the pavement we took a detour to explore Green Creek and discovered some very nice camping opportunities. Then it was back to the the pavement on US 395 and up and over Sonora Pass for the drive home. We’ve made many stops near Sonora Pass on previous trips, and on this trip we did not stop for photos. You can view more photos from the trip here.

Pupfish Cafe in Bishop – Waffle Warning

Treve at the Pupfish Cafe
Treve at the Pupfish Cafe

Bishop California, located in the Eastern Sierra is one of those places you normally pass through on your way to some of the spectacular scenery of the Eastern Sierra. Visitors passing through are likely to stop for breakfast at one of the higher profile eateries that have a prominent presence on Main Street. Less visible, but favored by locals is the Pupfish Cafe at 124 S. Main Street. If you like waffles the Leige waffles are a must. Simply delicious. Crisp and buttery with a pillow soft inside. Also a delicious assortment of avocado toasts and great coffee.

Bishop Tableland Petroglyphs

On the tablelands with Skypanel in the foreground and the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the background.
Walking across the tablelands
Carson on the tablelands

With family together in Big Pine for a few days we decided to take a hike yesterday, December 22 to explore some of the petroglyphs on the volcanic tablelands near Bishop, California. Much of the tablelands are managed by BLM and and this suited us as a dog-friendly hike since we had three dogs among the six of us. This area is sprinkled with petroglyphs. Some are readily accessible by car, others require some rock scrambling and local knowledge. We visited two sites. I hesitate to say much about the locations since some of these rock art features have been vandalized or ripped off in recent years. A sorry state on the lack of respect we seem to have for the environment, our cultural treasures and our public lands. There is little known about when these artworks were created.  If you wish to find information on the tablelands and the petroglyphs, please contact the Bishop Visitor’s Center.