White Mountain Peak via White Mountain Road
15.3 mi
Distance
8 hrs 18 min
Time
terrain
2,495 ft
Elev Gain
Overview
This is a difficult out and back trail to White Mountain Peak in Inyo National Forest.
Sights to See
Rate this Hike
★★★★★
Solo day hiked Weds 11/15/2023 – Spent the night at the trailhead and it got down to -7°C/19°F but the Leonid Meteor Shower was spectacular with one shooting star lasting 4 seconds. Reached the White Mountain Summit at sunrise and it was -12°C/12°F before adjusting significantly downward for the 45-56 kph/25-35 mph winds. You have to bring insulated gloves and upper/lower hard/soft/down shell layers to go up right now, not just for the summit but the pass just below the summit where the wind screams at you. If it rains/snows with the usual White Mtn wind, the shells will save you! Used goggles/mask instead of the usual glacier glasses for comfort but not necessary. Views from the summit are great in every direction. Took a cross country route up Mt Barcroft after White, going up stable talus fields which was great fun. White Mountain Road is in pretty good shape and I never had to switch my truck into 4 wheel drive on the night drive to the trailhead. Went slow and occasionally had to stop for rabbits and blip the horn to “un-paralyze” them. Would not take my Mazda 3 out there but if it was a beater with higher profile tires…..maybe. Stopped at Patriarch and Schulman Groves on the drive out and hiked the loops to see the Bristlecones. Didn’t start raining until I was back on Hwy 168 – another great day of hiking before dusting off the mountain boots! Logged 15.7 miles/3505 vertical ft. with Gaia.
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Public Tracks
White Mountain Peak, 14,250'
And...on the day after our walk in the ancient Bristlecone pine forest, Chris (birthday boy), Cindi, and I climbed White Mountain Peak. After a 25 mile dirt road drive with views of the Easter n Sierra to the west and beautiful alpine terrain, we bedded down at the trailhead. We were hiking by 6:30 AM the next morning, having diapered our cars in heavy duty tarps to keep marmots at bay. 2.5 miles in we encounted a reasearch station with a flock of sheep (Loma Linda University is doing hypoxia experiments on them. Sucks to be a sheep). Then past a small observatory with a bronze roof (color coordinated with the rock well) and on up. The steep summit push to 14,250' gave us our "Everest" experience without having to go to Nepal. On the way home we had a close up encounter with a flock of bighorn sheep (rare sight!) and a few marmots. Highly recommended adventure!
2015.08.02 White Mountain (14,246'/4,342m)
White Mountain (14,246'/4,342m).
Camped at Barcroft gate trailhead (11,640'/3,550m) in rain the night before. The morning started cold (~50°F/5°C). A few inches of new snow above 13,500'/4,100m. Great view from the peak. Marmot was basking in sun. Thinking of bugging Mt. Barcroft (13,040/3,975m) as well, attempted a peak visible in the west of UC Barcroft Lab on the way back, but the real peak turns out to be further west and slightly higher by 250’/75m. So, instead, hiked cross country back to the trail and to the trailhead. This cross country on a gentle rolling hills was more enjoyable than hiking on dirt road/trail. On our way back to Bay area, the city of Big Pine (~4,000/1,220m) in Owens Valley below was dry and hot, with temperature of 93°F/34°C.
White Mountain Peak MTB 7/29/15 9:45 am
With Jim, Lamar, Matt & Rudy.
Flickr album: https://flic.kr/s/aHskhifvyz
White Mountain Peak
Decent amount of snow at the top, dad and I summited in June
