October 27 -- Papoose Flat And A Return To The Burros

Morning at 7am was cold -- about 34 degrees, the announcer said on local KIBS, "the voice of Bishop". There was even some ice on the top of my truck that I noticed when I was cleaning my windshield at the Vons gas station. Before that, I bought 15 carrots and put them in the Igloo; I planned on visiting my new burro friends again in the afternoon, and I wanted them all to have one. I was heading south for a 4-wheel-drive trip into the Inyo Mountains, the chain south of the Whites, so I stopped by Klondike for an early-morning look; it was a little breezy, so waves were gently lapping on the shore -- 

It's a bit tricky to get in and out of Klondike Lake from Hwy 395; there are concrete barriers so you have to go very slowly around each -- don't bring your big rig! 

I took a left on Hwy 168, the road to the Whites and the bristlecone pines, where I made a right turn on the road to the northern part of Death Valley. The road is 25 miles of pavement, followed by dirt the rest of the way. And there are warnings that you'd better be prepared for what was ahead --

I'd been wanting to "do" the dirt-road route to Papoose Flats in the Inyo Mountains for years and had never explored the Inyos, so this was going to be fun...But what I saw when I reached the start of the loop was a bit...disconcerting...

Anti-freeze...and Crystal Geyser water bottles, and they were all full...I headed up the road to Squaw Flat; I'd come back out on the Papoose Flat side to the right. I'm using Tony Hugel's spiral-bound book "Sierra Nevada Byway" for my 4-wheel-drive sojourns in the eastern Sierra Nevada and other mountains here; I highly recommend it as it has mileage markers, GPS coordinates, and is pretty accurate as to the road conditions "on the ground". However, it was last updated in 2008, so some things have changed, and not for the better...Tony Hugel says the route is "easy", with the canyon bottom "sandy and rocky". Well, it's not only that, but NARROW; pinyon-pines and sagebrush branches seem to want to reach out and scratch down the sides of your vehicle. And the route, while marked, is also a bit confusing, so I went down a few tracks that turned out to be the wrong way...Here's along the correct route, in a forest of pinyon-juniper pines -- 

The road is rockier in places than I thought; I'd say it's more "moderate" than easy.  I eventually end up in an open area -- 

It's gorgeous up here, classic Great Basin high-elevation scenery. Just down in this flat area the road splits, and I decide to go left. Well, it is ROUGH -- rocky, narrow, and it turns out I AM in The Narrows, a high-walled gap that descends and doesn't seem to end, so I play it safe and turn around. Hugel's book mentions The Narrows, but not the tough condition of the "road". I come back to the fork in the road and take the right-hand one this time -- a good choice, as it connects up down at Squaw Flat with the Narrows road. Though you have to go downhill steeply to get there -- 

I'm at the top of the road, and I end up -- down THERE, at the squiggly road on the flat. I put Tundra in 4WD Low and crawl down. When I'm down at Squaw Flat, I look back -- 

The squiggly line in the center, up the mountain, is the road I was just on...Now the road is sandy but drivable. But it IS narrow -- 

Those branches are reaching out to scrape your sides... But the scenery makes up for it.

I spy a bird on a rock -- it's a Loggerhead Shrike; I get a quick shot of him with my 500 f/4 lens before he flies off -- 

The road now comes to Papoose Flat, an area that is a rock-climber's dream, full of jumbled rock outcroppings -- 

I have lunch at a massive granite outcrop that has an arch in it -- 

The view of the Sierra Nevada, looking west, is stupendous -- 

When I'm up in the arch I look east and see a small plant on top of a rock, surrounded by colorful lichen, a hardy reminder of how difficult the weather conditions can get up here, yet life struggles to hold on --

The road goes further west and with a short walk, the vast bulk of the Sierra is spread out in front of you -- 

What is amazing is that you can literally see UP the Sierra canyons, views you can't get from the valley floor. For instance, I can actually see up Sawmill Canyon, which I've backpacked a few times--

This is the upper portion of Sawmill Canyon;  Though you can't see it, Sawmill Lake, at 10,000 feet, is in the trees to the bottom right of center. I took the photo with my 500 f/4 lens. For me, this is a truly astounding view. I also use the 500 f/4 lens to get a closeup of Middle Palisade Glacier, which I saw above the south fork of Big Pine Creek when I visited the Big Pine Creek area a few weeks ago -- 

The views of the Sierra and the Owens Valley are the best I've even seen,  and the clouds just enhance  things --

That's Tinnemaha reservoir just below center, and if you know where to look you can see the area of Tinnemaha Campground --

 The body of water just to the left of center is Klondike Lake, where I'd started my morning trip --

Meanwhile, the clouds were putting on a show -- 

I finally tore myself away from the Sierra spectacle, but not without one last look at Papoose Flat -- 

The road eventually winds down in VERY tight hairpin turns --

And I end up back at the beginning of the loop -- 

It's now about 2:30pm, so before visiting my burro friends I decide to take the Death Valley road the rest of the way until it turns to dirt. As the road winds down the eastern side of the Inyos, Joshua Trees take over from the pinyon-pines -- 

And I spy a Tarantula on the road -- "hey!  My first look at -- SPLAT!" I unintentionally ran over it. Boy, did I feel terrible...With a heavy, guilty heart I headed back to the Owens Valley and Aberdeen. They were a bit difficult to find, but there they were; now don't be shy -- 

Those 15 carrots I bought lasted all of 30 seconds at most. Then they wanted to be next to me, and were nudging my hand. Sweet and gentle, they were -- 

There's at least one mare among the herd -- 

I say goodbye to my friends, and find another way out so I don't have to backtrack; here they are on the other side of the fence as I'm on the road -- 

I'll be back to visit once more before I head over to Overton, Nevada on Saturday to spend the winter...It's now about 4:45pm, and time to head over to Klondike Lake once more for some late-afternoon spectacle -- 

A female Northern Harrier was out hunting to the east, and I got a shot of her with my 500 f/4, set against the White Mountains -- 

And a Loggerhead Shrike was set against the mountains, too -- 

The clouds were spectacular all day, so I knew there was a good chance there was going to be a memorable sunset -- there was...

How am I going to be able to leave the Owens Valley and the eastern Sierra? With great difficulty...