Carol and Rick finally got away for a little trip to the eastern side of the Sierras this month. Our only specific goal was to go visit the marmot population on White Mountain. Although Carol's Achilles' tendon was feeling better, we'd decided not to push it by trying anything too adventurous.

10/16 - Monday - finished loading the truck, headed out before noon. By 4 PM, we were most of the way through Yosemite NP. We stopped at a couple spots, took a few pics, then had dinner in Lee Vining at Nicely's. Carol wasn't as impressed with the fried chicken there as I was. Drove out to the desert and camped. Cold.

10/17 - Tuesday - woke up at the COD (going to bed at 8 PM really facilitates this...), got our first camera shots from in bed. It was really cold. Got up, off to the South Tufas at Mono Lake (pronounced with long o's). Had a nice hike through the tufas and along the lakeshore. Off to Nicely's (again - is there anywhere else to eat in Lee Vining?) for breakfast. Then we went out to the Mono Basin Scenic Area Visitor Center north of town to look around - it was closed, of course, Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the winter - so we went off on a hike along Lee Vining creek. Turns out the trail goes up Lee Vining creek all the way back to Lee Vining - pretty nice. Kind of the first test for Carol's Achilles problem - she did great. Back to the visitor's center, head off south on 395.

On a whim, I decided to turn into the June Lake loop. This turned out to be one of the highlights of the whole trip. Lots of stunning scenery, including fall foliage, mountains, lakes, clouds (clouds dominated the rest of our day...). Driving along, saw a nice copse of quaking aspens turning color, stopped to admire and photograph, then - "wonder where this road goes?" - and we're off up toward the mountains. Made our way to the Parker Lake trailhead. A couple is studying the sign - "any info on how far to Parker Lake?" - they say "None". After they leave, on further review, Parker Lake is listed, about 2 miles in. Clouds look a little ominous, so we dress appropriately and we're off. Nice climb up to the lake, lots of fall foliage. Spend a little time at the lake, turn around and head out. Starts to spit a few snowflakes. This is fun to us as we rarely see snowfall. By the time we get back to the truck, it's snowing steadily and starting to accumulate. After a snack, we're off down the road. By the time we get to pavement, it's really snowing. This is good for lots and lots of pictures.

We stock up on some supplies in June Lake and head off for the Grandview CG (I'd call it So-so-view, personally) on the way to White Mountain (remember the marmots?). Get there after dark, and if we thought it was cold down at 6,000', it's REALLY cold up at Grandview - 8600'. We're in the back of the truck inside our big 2-person Coleman, and inside the Coleman we have extra sleeping bags / blankets. Yow. I wore my balaclava all night...

10/18 - Wednesday - We're awake early, but I refuse to budge until the sun is on us. The water bag I had hung on the truck for nighttime toiletry duty was frozen solid. We had a net gain in ice in the cooler. BRRRRR.

Off toward White Mountain - stopped in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest visitor center parking lot for breakfast in the sun. Made our way out toward White Mountain - the road is snow-covered, but thinly, so we're doing fine. Two miles from the closed gate, things change. We're headed steeply uphill on the lee side and the snow has drifted. It's been plowed, but has refilled and the cut is narrower than my truck. Finally, we get to a steep enough place with enough snow the truck can't go anymore. Nowhere to turn around (we're on the side of the mountain and on the right is a plunge, on the left is the roadcut and snow drifts). I start backing down, but nervous about the "plunge" on the right, I back into the snowdrifts. Oh-oh, have to rock the truck to get out. Now it's pucker time - backing downhill with a not-so-nimble BFT with disaster on the right (cliff) and an unpleasant result on the left (stuck in the snowdrift). Marmots are completely forgotten by now.

Carol gets out and walks while I back the truck down - can't leave it in gear; 4WD low range has too much pull, so I'm essentially rolling, trying to dance between keeping enough momentum to move and not so much I can't stop. Going backward, to make the truck turn toward the driver's side, I have to put the right front wheel slightly over the precipice - sweating now. No seat belt so I can bail if need be.

Finally get down to a turnaround point, Carol rejoins me in the truck; we make our way out and start discussing "what now?" - we could walk the rest of the way to the gate, but with all the snow the marmots might be tucked away in their burrows anyway and it's too cold for us (dedicated fair-weather mountaineers) in the mountains!

Death Valley averages 92 degrees in the daytime in October - sounds great!!! Off we go...

We get to Death Valley, spend the evening exploring the sand dunes near Stovepipe Wells and then off to Mesquite Springs CG for the evening.

Some nice pics for the day's effort. As I look at these, I think about living where we're able to get (almost) stuck in the snow in the morning then visit sand dunes and be toasty warm in the afternoon. What a ride...

10/19 - Thursday - Today's objective is to explore Red Wall canyon - we've never been, sounded like a hoot.

Everything in Death Valley is a long way from where you are - the park covers 3,300,000 acres. 25 miles down the road we find our the spot our guidebook says to park, and it's off "to the apex of the alluvial fan". What I missed in the guidebook is that it's a 1000' climb (not that this is a big deal) - the alluvial fan slope is so even it's deceptive.

Entering the canyon, looks like it's going to be a good day. Lots of color, vegetation we haven't seen before. The canyon narrows down and - there's the "obstacle" - a chockstone above a pouroff. We study it for a while, I try it, tough with the shoes I have on - they're optimized for long hikes and swollen feet, not for climbing. Carol takes the first whack, gets up under the chockstone, can't find the next handhold to get up. Not a problem, 'cept there's a lack of anything but polished rock for footholds. She says "you can probably reach it", retreats. Rick tries it - needs help from Carol to get up (curse the shoes; now that I have rock climbing shoes I know their benefits) under the chockstone, can't reach the next handhold without making a dicey lunge on the polished stone - discretion being the better part of valor, Rick retreats also.

We're sad; really want to continue upcanyon. Carol tries it again - barefoot for better footing - I'm admiring the effort; barefoot rock climbing with a partially torn Achilles' - you go, girl. No joy, still too scary. Oh well, time to retreat and come back another day (with proper equipment). Long hike back to the car; we're headed for the hinterlands after tonight so we head for Beatty, NV to restock. Beer and ice seem to be in short supply. On the way back, we decide to drive through Titus Canyon, which has been closed for a few years due to flash flooding. Gut-jarring drive into the canyon ("why, exactly, did I want to do this again?") , make our way through and out - back to Mesquite Springs CG for the evening to look at the day's pictures.

10/20 - Friday - today's plan is to tour Scotty's Castle in the morning and then head out toward the Racetrack to camp and then climb Ubehebe peak (U-BEE-HEE-BEE) on Saturday. Fortunately, Scotty's is fairly close to the Mesquite Springs CG, so we're there early. We book the "combo" tour, which gets us the tour of the castle and of the "Underground Mysteries". We meet our guide Jesse who's dressed as if it were the 1930's; Carol and I are the only ones on the tour so we get to see stuff most don't. The house is fascinating; there is detail everywhere. My favorite place was the music room - there was an organ with more controls than the Space Shuttle that controlled a whole room full of tubing and had shutters for volume control. Amazing. Apparently, the hosts didn't play, but guests could play the organ and record their effort on paper rolls, which were subsequently used to play back the music by the hosts. This arrangement has now been superseded by a digital control system. We got to go into the organ closet - WOW, it was cool. Tour over.

Next was the Underground Mystery tour - don't bother unless you're fascinated by the details of heating, cooling, storm drains, sewage drains. There are some fascinating things like all the construction materials left over when the building stopped. I guess I should mention - Albert Johnson, the actual builder of the home, bought land, spent somewhere around $2 million constructing the home and another $2 million furnishing it - only to find out the land he'd purchased was contested and he didn't actually own the land his castle was built on - Doh!

A little lunch, and off to Teakettle Junction - 20 miles of road you don't want to be on - we find a place to camp for the evening. Rick goes off and looks into the little canyon nearby, looks interesting, goes back and collects Carol and off we go exploring. Turns out to be a fun evening - solving climbing problems, finding a short slot section, exploring. Turn around after the canyon widens out again, now we get to solve downclimbing problems - all is good. Dinner, quiet evening, look at our pictures, off to bed.

10/21 - Saturday - Up early (again, after going to bed at 8 PM), breakfast, off toward Ubehebe peak. Drive past a group with a flat tire, I give them a can of tire goop (reminder to me - time to refresh my supply), they offer to pay, "No charge, it'll come back to me as good Karma!" - and we arrive at the Racetrack. Gear up (lunch and drinks), head out for our climb. Long slog up to a saddle, then climb across a minor peak to reach Ubehebe. From a distance , doesn't look like a gimme - have to go down, do a ridge traverse, then the peak itself is steep. Turns out there is a mostly class 2 use trail all the way to the top (a couple class 3 moves on the way) and we're there. Photography, lunch and it's time to go down. Slowly, lots of downsloping scree with hard, pointy things to fall on, a little route finding back at the minor peak, decide to leave the side trip to the historical copper mine for next time, and we're back. A couple Sierra Nevada Pale Ales and 3 Vitamin I's and I'm feeling better.

Carol is fine, her Achilles' has held up well; we're excited about that!!!

What's next? The next day being Sunday, and we, being major NFL fanatics, decide to drive home. I now know that one can leave the Racetrack in Death Valley at about 2:30 PM and get home by 12:30 AM the next day, especially if restoked by a large McDonald's coffee about 8 PM...

Ubehebe peak pictures.

Afterword: Carol visited her physical therapist this morning; the therapist thought it was great she'd been able to do all this stuff and told her no more PT. However, she's not to engage in dynamic sports (like volleyball) until it gets strong enough to lift her full body weight on just that leg...