Bristlecone Ride Report

[Boondocker]

August 12-14 2021

Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest is located in the White Mountains of California, east of the town of Bishop, accessed from Hwy 168. For spiritual reasons I pilgrimage here every couple of years to pay my respects to the old trees, the Bristlecone Pines, some of whom exceed 4000 years of age. The riding ain’t bad either. Note to sporty riders – Hwy 168 from Big Pine, CA to White Mountain road and up to the Bristlecone Pine Forest Visitor Center is wicked fun! I rode it 6 times this trip for good measure. After the visitor center is a 13-mile good but rocky dirt road to Patriarch Grove, home to the world’s largest Bristlecone Pine.

 

Patriarch Grove located at an elevation of 11,200 feet.

 

This is my Ténéré 700 packed for a weekend of camping. The tail pack is by Moto Centric. Don’t recall much about acquiring it but it fits my Outback Motortek tail rack and is sturdy and convenient to use. The other piece is a Giant Loop Coyote. The Coyote bag is very sturdy and well designed but its odd shape makes it horribly inconvenient to pack and unpack. There is a lot to be said for boxy shaped panniers, I just haven’t wanted to install pannier racks.

 

The loadout is a Big Agnes Long Ranger sleeping bag, 8x8 tarp, 2xcollapsable hiking poles (for the tarp), ground sheet, small cook kit, 2x3-liter water bags, food for a day, camp clothes, tool roll, and tire repair kit. Add to that a Camelbak backpack containing 3 more liters of water and my dear A-lite chair. A few more odds and ends like my Crocs footwear, a headlamp and toiletries are in the tank bag and other crevices’.

 

Route Map

The route is basically counter-clockwise beginning and ending at home in Las Vegas, NV.

 

Day One took me to Big Pine, CA for lunch and fuel then up to Patriarch Grove to say “Hi” to the trees. Along the way I poked into a bunch of forest service roads looking for a suitable campsite. Note that there is no water, no cell service and fires are not allowed in this region. On road 8S109 I found a flat spot surrounded by trees that seemed inviting enough. Woe to befall me later for this choice.

 

Day Two was planned to camp somewhere around Lake Sabrina, west of Bishop, CA. Breakfast in Bishop followed by a nice ride into the eastern Sierras, but the camp sites weren’t happening for me. Too crowded (good to see families camping and all), and I didn’t want to pay $30 for a leftover site surrounded by happy tourists. I prefer wild camping, it's in the namesake. Back to 8S109. I hardly needed an excuse to ride those roads again! Plenty of time for my daily dram and a stogie to go with my sumptuous meal of Top Ramen and Spam. I even managed to pitch the tarp in a coordinated fashion for once.

High Sierras on the horizon, Dixie Wildfire smoke in between. Elevation here is 7650 ft.

Didn’t even have use the hiking poles thanks to actual trees.

 

Day Three, 2AM – Ouch! Feels like something biting my face as I pull a bug off my forehead. I grab my head lamp and glasses for look around. Sure enough, red ants. Damn, they got me. I get up, stagger around and try to collect my wits, feeling distinctly unhappy about the situation. I guess the ants thought that was a pretty sweet spot too, and they own it. I considered bugging out, but being 2AM and all, didn’t seem prudent, so I dragged my swag to the barren ground (foreground to the bike in this picture). Here were no pine needles or “soil” to speak of and no ants visible. I managed a bit of shut-eye, as snugged up in my rug as I could get.

 

At first light I rose, face not feeling right. Looked in the mirror, Dang! Uglier than usual, nose and left eye all swollen, left hand too so I didn’t have to look in the mirror for a reminder. The swollen schnozz made my tri-focal glasses not set right, further complicating my cock-eyed vision. Didn't something like this happen to Ewen McGregor on Long Way Around?

Can’t believe I’m sharing this picture on the internet. Seriously, I usually look like Brad Pitt’s good-looking other brother.

Thankfully, there was no pain or itching. Nothin’ for it but to have my instant coffee, can of beans and Clementines. After packing up, railing a fine set of twisties did wonders to lift my spirits. A nice side trip to Whitney Portals (of Mount Whitney fame) and some tootling around the Alabama Hills, then to Lone Pine for lunch. They made me sit in the ugly people section. I laid over in Ridgecrest, CA (my ancestral home) where most of my immediate family happened to be, a coincidental conjunction. Sympathy all round for the ugly one.

 

But what I came to say is that the Ténéré 700 performed flawlessly and in spirited fashion on highways, byways, tight—turny roads, and dirt trails all while porting my camping junk. The trip stat was about 850 miles averaging 57.5 US MPG. Feeling real good about this bike.

[Bmp4510]

That was a great write up and description of the trip, packed items, navigation and adventures. But I’d have substituted the “fought off the bear” story instead of ants. But superb write up.

[Landshark]

Very well done, young man.  Thanks for the write up and pics.  And for the advice about ants.  Who would have thought?  I will now.  How's the face today @Boondocker?

[Boondocker]

11 hours ago, Bmp4510 said:

That was a great write up and description of the trip, packed items, navigation and adventures. But I’d have substituted the “fought off the bear” story instead of ants. But superb write up.

Uh yeah. You shoulda seen the other guy. I smashed a few out spite.

8 hours ago, Landshark said:

Very well done, young man.  Thanks for the write up and pics.  And for the advice about ants.  Who would have thought?  I will now.  How's the face today @Boondocker?

After 48 hours face is about back to normal ugly.