Vacation 2023 - Didn't Go Quite as Planned

[ttora4runner]

Back in 2022 I had made plans for travel though California to attempt to hike Mt Shasta again and to hike White Mountain in California, finish driving a section of the LoLo trail in Idaho and to head back to ride the Bangtail Divide trail in Montana with out the smoke and to complete the last section of the trail but due to buying a house towards the end of that year I stayed local to Colorado. Rewind to July 2023 and I renewed my plans to visit these areas with some other areas to hit up along the way.

First stop along the way was Great Basin National Park about halfway between Colorado and White Mountain in California, the last time I was here was in 2015 and it was earlier in the season so there was more snow on the ground.

I was a little worried about the rain but it didn't pose a problem.

 

[ttora4runner]

Camp for the night was at the Wheeler Peak Campground - completely full. The last time I was here this campground was still snowed in/not open for the season but despite being full the campground was still pretty quite. The following morning I planned to hike to Wheeler Peak, the 2nd highest peak in Nevada and one of the few trails I didn't hike last time I was here.









Nearing the summit.


















About mid-way down a blister had developed on the left side of my right ankle and despite bandaging it up, it still opened up on me by the time I got back to the trailhead. Little did I know this would lead to some other issues later on in the trip. After resting some back at my vehicle I headed back down to the Visitor Center to see it before heading to my next stop.

 

[ttora4runner]

After leaving Great Basin National Park the next planned stop was just slightly further west just outside of Kingston, Nevada to ride a section of the Toiyabe Crest National Recreational Area and to spend the night at Kingston Campground. However, mother nature had other plans in store as the weather wasn't favorable and trying to find the start of the actual trail head was difficult despite spotting the trail heading up the side of the mountain. So I scrapped plans to ride the trail, setup camp (had the whole campground area to myself ) and decided to explore the roads on my mountain bike hoping not to get rained on too much.



Grooves Lake








Sad to see the Guard Station in such disrepair.












Lets go explore that area tomorrow.








Old mining structure just across from the campground.

 

[ttora4runner]

Camp that night was even more quite than the night before, somewhat uncomfortable due to the humidity and it felt somewhat creepy for whatever reason. The next day I had planned to head over to the Boundary Peak to hike the highest peak in Nevada but due to the blister on my foot I got at the start of my trip I opted not to since I was planning to hike White Mountain and didn't want to aggravate the area more. So I opted to explore down the road some and another old mining area just outside the campground before heading over Grandview campground for the next few nights.







Stopped here to hike up to what appear to be a grave marker but got turned around to the rain.






You can see the cross at the top of the hill on the right.






After getting turned around due to the weather I made a quick visit to an old mining area just outside of the town.














I didn't go much further back than this.

 

[ttora4runner]

Someone decided to cut their way in, can't help to think what they were after.


Old structure just coming back into Kingston.






After a quick break at the pond in Kingston to walk around some and to get some cell service I was headed back down the road to my next destination but not before a quick stop. I'll have to come back here at some future point like so many other places to explore .

 

[ttora4runner]

After more hours and miles on the road I made it to my next stop for the night Grandview Campground in California. After setting up camp (campground was sparsely populate) I headed back down to the road to see where the following day hike would take me.





Come to find out the forest service had closed the road to the White Mountain trailhead at Patriarch Groove (sign posted before the dirt road started) something I didn't see in my research prior to starting the trip. I could only assumed it was due to road damage from the storm events earlier in the year but you were still allowed to hike back in to the area. The road into Patriarch Groove was still somewhat snowed in though.



Road in the background.
















Patriarch Groove road blocked due to snow.


After taking in the great views and with a grin on my face I headed back to camp to make plans for the following day hike which turned into somewhat of a failure and even sorer feet.


To be continued..........

 

[ttora4runner]

Since the forest service had the road closed back to White Mountain you had to start the hike or ride back at a small parking area (if you could call it that) at the turn off to Patriarch Groove and start from there. I had thought about biking back to Barcroft Facility gate / parking area due to the blister on my foot from a few days prior but I opted to hike back since I've done longer hikes (added about 6 miles RT) and my foot felt like it was doing ok (bandage up). So I was up and at it early and started the hike around 530 am.

On the start of the trail - my truck is just behind that little ridge in the middle of the photo.


White Mountain in background along with the long road back.






Start of the trail at the actual parking area.






Barcroft Facility - one vehicle of two people where floating around taking some measurements from some sensor wells. Visitors aren't allowed in the facility you have to stay on the road/trial.




White Mountain getting closer and about this point my feet were starting to get sore and I could feel new blisters forming.

 

[ttora4runner]

Weather station at the top of White Mountain.


Right around this point I had to call it quits, about a thousand foot from the summit. The blister from the prior day had reformed, two new blisters had started to form on the same foot and a new blister was forming on the right side of my left foot. I bandage everything up the best I could with what I had and turned around to head back. I really wanted to push though and reach the summit since I had just a little ways to go but knowing I had an additional 3 add to my trip I headed back.




The view back on my way back.


The long and derry road that awaited me.


Another time White Mountain.




Once back at my starting point I dropped the tailgate on my truck, took off my shoes and socks and laid down to rest for a minute before addressing my feet and eating lunch. After lunch and addressing the condition of my feet I headed back to camp to rearrange my plans for the next few days so I could to try and stay off my feet as much as I could since I still had other hikes in store.

 

[ttora4runner]

Originally, I was going to stay at another campground outside of Bishops, California the falling day but due to the issues with my feet I felt it best to skip the campground and find a hotel to stay in. Once I had cell service the next day I made hotel arrangements but since I couldn't check in till 300 pm I did some exploring around the 'Buttermilk' area and then up to Lake Sabrina.





























North Lake - I would've liked to hike around this area.






That night I was able to attend to my feet a little better and get them properly wrap - having a hot shower and bed were also great though the floor properly would've been more comfortable. The following morning feeling better I headed out to my next destination Mammoth, California to get some mountain biking in and to check out the Mammoth Lakes area.

 

[ttora4runner]

Mammoth Lakes area - since I couldn't walk all that well I biked around the area.
















Made an attempt at riding the the Mammoth Loop trail but didn't have much luck trying to follow the trail.


Camp that night was just on the outskirt of Mammoth at the Shady Rest campground, not counting the hotel having a running water and flush toilets was nice compared to some of the other nights. I'm glad I made reservations here compared to the campground up around the lakes as those campsite were full and completely full (campsite packed together). Those this was mostly fully the campsite where spaced out better and quite (mostly).

 

[ttora4runner]

The next morning it was a early up to reach my next stop at the KOA campground in Mt Shasta, California to do laundry and spend the next few nights so I could hike Mt Shasta after a number of failed attempts.










The dork behind the camera.


Hazy skies behind me.








Hikers ahead of me heading up the trail (which isn't necessarily the easiest to follow but I knew that going into this).


Steep trail.






That patch of snow / ice was somewhat sketchy to cross without spikes.

 

[ttora4runner]

Looking back at the trail below.


Just a short distant up I opted to call it quits, the wrap/bandages on my feet started to shift and get somewhat uncomfortable along with the trail getting a little harder to follow I felt best to head back. After a number of failed attempts from prior years (fires, oversleeping, warn out, etc) I was happy to just make it this far. The mountain isn't going anyway and I can always come back under more favorable circumstances.









Once back at the campground it was shower and laundry time and to review my plans for the rest of trip which would've taken me up though Oregon, Idaho and Montana before heading home. However, sometime after getting back to camp depression and loneliness settled in and I started getting discourage with the rest of my trip. I told myself I would sleep on it and decide in the morning but that didn't last long as I had difficult time sleeping and sometime around 300/400 am I packed up and started to head home to Colorado (years past I've been able to get though it, this time I couldn't). Where the rest of my trip continued visiting a few areas there that have been on list to go for quite sometime.

I did have a visitor my final night at camp but it wasn't very talkative.