Bald Mountain in the Snow With Dmitri

Snow Wheeling in the Central California Sierra Nevada

Over the long holiday weekend, I took Dmitri up on Bald Mountain outside of Shaver Lake, California to go play in the snow. While the steepest parts of the route were clear of snow, there were several feet of the white stuff to play in on several tree-covered sections of trail. Here are a few photos of our fun.

Dmitri and I traded time in the drivers seat on our way up the mountain. On the flats, there was about 2-3 feet of snow. As long as we stayed in the ruts, we did fine. If we got off into the heavy, deep, and uncompacted snow, it became much more challenging.
We had to stop off at the Hollywood Hills area to take some photos on the poser rock.
Hanging out on the poser rock. The Central Valley was completely shrouded in low clouds and fog. We could see the coast mountains in the distance.
Driving around on Bald Mountain is so much fun any time of the year. In the snow, it’s a great game of figure-out-where-the-trail-goes. There are a lot of different tracks bashed in the snow going in all different directions.
The old fire lookout is on top of Bald Mountain in the background.
Looking out from the lookout tower on top of Bald Mountain.
My little 4runner did a great job getting up the mountain. We saw a few other old 4runners and Toyota Pickups on the trail. There was a SxS and one or two Jeeps as well. It was a pretty quiet day all things considered.
My 4runner and someone else’s 4runner. Our two runners looked pretty good together.

An interesting note: this is the first time I’ve used the new WordPress Gutenberg editor. I’m still on the fence about how it works. Uploading multiple images is now more complex and annoying. But these blocks are pretty nice.

High Sierra Ranger Station

On our way to some of the reservoirs at the end of the road, we stopped at the High Sierra Ranger Station.  If I ever was going to be a ranger somewhere, this would be the place.

The housing they have for staff has one of the best views I’ve ever seen.

This is the view from the back deck of the ranger station.  WOW!

Out of the Backcountry




IMG_3856

After almost a week in the deep backcountry of the John Muir Wilderness, we emerged at the trailhead at Courtright Reservoir.  Our feet were sore (mine much more than my dad’s) and we were dirty, but very happy.  My mom and grandma drove up from Dinkey Creek to pick us up.

IMG_3857

Heading across the dam at Courtright.  This is the most full the reservoir has been in several years.

IMG_3858

It is almost up to the top!

IMG_3859

Looking down the canyon from the dam.  We finished another great trip into the backcountry and I’m already itching to go back in again.