Lone Pine to Laurel Lakes - Things don't always go according to plan.

[KSL22]

The road started out going up a hill following the power lines. One we got to the top of the hill it turned and paralleled the fence line for the closed area. You could see lot of the old mines and equipment on the other side of the fence in the "unsafe" area. This was a real cool route. The only trouble we ran into was that we had to cross a short section of "closed" area. We didn't know it was closed area until we were in it. We came across an open gate, and when I closed it I saw the do not enter sign. There was another open gate a little further down the road which I also closed behind me. The road intersects Bodie Rd just west what is labeled on the paper map I had as the toll house. I guess there was a toll road set up between Bodie and Aurora. There is a real cool mill to the right of the two track just before you get to Bodie road.


This is shortly after turning off of Cottonwood Canyon rd.

 

[hankincolorado]

Ahhhhh Bodie,

What a wonderful place!! I never tire of visits to Bodie...


Hank

 

[teotwaki]

Thanks for all of the pictures! Keep getting out on those adventures and be safe!

Regarding the Brown Monster-Reward mines which were known by a variety of names over the years:

There are two groups of workings connected through 1600 feet of mountain. You attempted to go up the bad road of Eclipse Canyon to the southern portion which (if I get it right) is the Brown Monster. The Northern portion of the mine is so big you can drive your truck into it and is called the Reward Mine.

Paste these coordinates into Google Maps and switch to satellite view then zoom in

Reward: 36.751568, -118.050573
Brown Monster: 36.746967, -118.049234

My pictures here: http://suntothenorth.blogspot.com/2010/10/inyo-range-salt-tram-expedition_02.html

 

[KSL22]

Thanks for all of the pictures! Keep getting out on those adventures and be safe!

Regarding the Brown Monster-Reward mines which were known by a variety of names over the years:

There are two groups of workings connected through 1600 feet of mountain. You attempted to go up the bad road of Eclipse Canyon to the southern portion which (if I get it right) is the Brown Monster. The Northern portion of the mine is so big you can drive your truck into it and is called the Reward Mine.

Paste these coordinates into Google Maps and switch to satellite view then zoom in

Reward: 36.751568, -118.050573
Brown Monster: 36.746967, -118.049234

My pictures here: http://suntothenorth.blogspot.com/2010/10/inyo-range-salt-tram-expedition_02.html

Great pictures. I'll be back to see the main mine. I need to get my dad up there in his Disco II.

 

[Trophycummins]

Thanks to you, i grew a pair and went to the top of laurel in my full size, there's some pucker factor on that switchback

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[SteelSaguaro]

Enjoyed your write up and pics, thanks for sharing

 

[KSL22]

Thanks to you, i grew a pair and went to the top of laurel in my full size, there's some pucker factor on that switchback

.

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So it opened up past the snow drifts? Rad. I wonder if I can talk my girls into going up there. Mom has a work trip coming up and I am trying to figure out what to do that weekend. Probably try for Rincon Strip though.

 

[KSL22]

Sorry for the long pause. We went up to Idyllwild for the weekend and we don't have anything but cell connection at the cabin. We did do the Jeep trail up there from the San Jacento Truck trail to Highway 243. I put a few pictures in my build thread. Lets just say it was a dumb choice for a truck my size without lockers.

Back to the story.

 

[Trophycummins]

So it opened up past the snow drifts? Rad. I wonder if I can talk my girls into going up there. Mom has a work trip coming up and I am trying to figure out what to do that weekend. Probably try for Rincon Strip though.

Yep, second drift is still melting off and you drive over it, but the way to the lake is passable.


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[KSL22]

Right before we got to Bodie Rd we came across this mill on the right side of the two track we were on.



Some of the old equipment sitting out as we walked up.


Some of the inner workings

From the mill we could see a cool rock building across the valley and down the road a little. We also noticed that on the left side of the two track that there was originally a stone damn there.



The California side Toll house. The toll road ran from Bodie to Aurora, NV.


There was two of these built up out cropping across from the toll building. I couldn't figure out their use but they looked cool.

 

[KSL22]

From the toll house we went up to Bodie and found a spot in the parking lot. If you go in this way you will miss the shack at the normal entrance. We didn't have cash to drop in the pay yourself box, but were able to pay a the gift shop in the middle of town. Bodie was awesome as expected and I am real glad I made the choice to run up here. I will definitely be coming back in the future and probably do the official tour.






Once we felt we had walked around enough we went back to the truck to plan the next leg. We pulled another set of waters from the cooler and opened up the map while the truck was cooling down.

 

[KSL22]

I found what looked to be a cool trail that circled the back side of Mono lake shoreline. On one map it is referred to being the Bodie Railroad road, I also saw it as Shoreline road, but it is unmarked on Google Earth and Maps. I got to it by going left on highway 167 exiting Cottonwood Canyon rd. Off of the 167 I made a right onto Forest Route 3N05 and followed to towards Mono Lake. I missed the left I needed to take at some point and the road ended against a fence line. I turned around in the sand dunes and back tracked up the road. I found my left, now a right just past the ranch.

disclaimer:
If you are in a fullsize vehicle and like your paint or your mirrors don't pull in. You might want to take this route with extreme caution. It is narrow!

This was a real fun trail. It was tight, two track through the brush. It is smooth enough for some spirited driving, but the bushes keep you on your toes, and you have to keep your eyes out for the occasional larger bump/dip. We crossed mud, silt beds, sandy road, and full sand dunes.




We came across this deep rut. It was visible enough for me to slow down way before. We crossed without issue.


This was about half way around the lake.




The trail marker where we connected to highway 120 and took the tires back up to full highway pressure with my Smittybilt 2781 pump.

We took the long way home from here. Highway 120 to highway 6 through Benton Hot Springs. Benton Hot Springs was a cool little town, and would have been fun to walk around with all the old stuff. We took highway 6 back to the 395 in Bishop hand headed back south. We did make it to Big Pine right before 6pm and we able to grab a few Tri-Tip sandwiches at the Copper Pot. Then 4 more hours of highway back to reality.

 

[Trophycummins]

How long does that smittybilt pump take to get you back up to road psi? I was thinking of getting one as a back up to my co2 system.


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[KSL22]

How long does that smittybilt pump take to get you back up to road psi? I was thinking of getting one as a back up to my co2 system.


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It was probably just under 30min to go from 35 to 55. That is just a guess though. It is the fastest pump I have used and I feel it is worth the price.
With CO2 you could run air tools but I hardly do that at home as it is.

 

[SDDiver5]

Awesome writeup. I love that area. Been there a few times. Have yet to hit Laurel Lakes but cant wait to do so!