The Buttermilks are the foothills of the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, not too far from our campground in Bishop. Though it is a very popular bouldering destination, it is also quite nice for hiking. Since we don't boulder or rock climb (hahahahha), we just stuck to the dirt road and meandered through the area. The views from up high were awesome...looking over the valley and across to the mountains.
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| heading into the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas...the Buttermilks |
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| this is the place |
Buttermilk road is a washboard type of dirt road, with plenty of sand. Not too much fun walking on it. We didn't want to drive our car on that road, so we parked and walked in about a mile to the "trail", which was a smaller dirt road suitable for 4WD's. We enjoyed the views as we walked down the road, and were surprised at the size of some of the boulders. From what we understand, walking down the road 3.5 miles leads to some exquisite bouldering, but that was too far for us.
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| Buttermilk Rd.....a washboard type of road with lots of ruts and sand |
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| the views are spectacular |
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| pop of color |
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| giant boulders |
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| I think we are heading up there....by going around and up |
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| just makes you want to keep on walking, doesn't it? the view is awesome |
Our plan was to go up the first road so we could get up on the hills across the valley. Do I need to say it....we went up, up and up. Lots of up!
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| Can you see the camper boondocking? That is the road we took to go up into the hills, and we went to the right, (behind Tom's shoulder) |
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| I see green Susie...you know what that means! |
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| the road is washed out a bit here.... |
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| the alternate route |
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| info on an abandoned mine-don't like to read about "high levels of arsenic and lead left behind in the soil" |
Once we started walking up, we saw more and more boulders, and the views were fantastic. A bit of a diversion when walking up and up in the sand! Arg! Not easy.
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| sandy hills-its good exercise!! |
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| the views distract from walking "up" in sand |
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| lots of boulders up ahead |
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| lots of lizards |
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| boulders |
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| more |
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| more |
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| looks fake, doesn't it? |
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| and just look at all the wildflowers |
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| still going up-but at least its not as sandy |
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| more boulders |
We never seem to be disappointed with the desert environment. It looks so barren from a distance, but if you are out and about in it, you see lots of beautiful flowers. Some are really little, but when you think about the environment, its amazing anything grows at all. And the colors are always such a treat.
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| so many flowers...its surprising! |
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| oh wait...and when they go to seed and its so windy...hmmm |
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| sweet and so tiny |
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| ok...now I'm hot! |
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| much better....shorts and cooling kerchief |
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| much better! |
We stopped at one area that seemed to have a lot of boulders, and great views across the valley. We could see lots of tire tracks, so we were pretty sure this was a popular spot, on weekends anyway. Looks like a fun place for kids. The backdrop all around was just beautiful, with the snow-covered mountains everywhere.
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| just keeps going up! |
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| lots of boulders up ahead |
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| oh, and there's the mine |
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| giant boulders |
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| nice mountain backdrop too |
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| awesome |
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| Tom exploring up higher on the rocks |
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| my view...looking down across the valley |
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| what IS bouldering anyway?..ahhaha |
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| my he-man...moving giant boulders...hahah |
Lots of pretty wildflowers on this walk through the boulders. And the views! Not sure what we were looking at, but it looked like some sort of geological rift occurred here.
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| new to us |
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| just so sweet |
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| those views-wow |
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| pretty purple and so tiny |
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| check that out...the cracked boulder |
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| what happened down there...geologically speaking? |
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| looks like a great rift |
Turns out we were headed to the Whitecap Mine Site, and old abandoned mine. The company left behind lots of stuff to just rust in the beautiful countryside. Too bad. What an eyesore in such a beautiful place. There also were a few open mines we spotted in a few places, but as we got closer to the biggest one, we could see there was fencing around the open pit, and a jail-like gate to the entrance of the underground mine.
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| the abandoned Whitecap Mine |
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| they left lots of stuff to rust |
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| the mine is ahead |
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| there's another down there |
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| and another mine |
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| the entrance to the big mine |
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| Tom is drawn to it like a magnet! |
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| keep out! |
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| inspecting things |
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| is that my phone ringing?? |
We had a picture postcard perfect walk back down the hill, and it was certainly much easier than going up. We had the place to ourselves here....just passed one truck (water company?) on the road, and no hikers at all. On the way back, we noticed some nice rock specimens that we overlooked on the way up. Always something pretty to see.The wind kicked up on the way back down the hills, and by the time we got to the road we were parked on, it was really quite windy. We couldn't even hear each other talk. That kind of wind! Thankfully, not too much dust to go with it!!
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| heading back down |
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| sage brush flowering |
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| cool rocks |
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| more |
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| more |
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| someone left these specimens for all to view |
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| another new to us flower |
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| We were way up there on the right...but you can't get there from here! Need to walk about a mile down the road to this point too! |
Another exploratory adventure in the Bishop area! We are heading out again today, and may not have very good wifi for a couple of weeks. Just sayin'. Besides my family and friends, that is what I miss the most....good internet and cell service!
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