4/13 Bishop area

April 25, 2026

It's funny the pattern the clouds have. During the day, they build up in the mountains being dramatic and moody. They hint at a wonderful splash of color at sunset, then just about as the sun goes down, they dissipate completely. Hmmm. I'm sure there must be a reason, but I find it peculiar.

Manor Market is the place, but this looks a bit sketchy to me. It has more the appearance of an old "Convenience store" including a gas station! Some recommendation. Inside it's a little better than expected. At least the merchandise doesn't look like it's been there for a long time. Then I notice some items that shouldn't stand out, but do, in this food desert- Tasty bites? Good chocolates? Woah, a bulk food section with a good assortment of non-sugarized nuts, grains and snack mix- OK, so this is the place for me! Produce that's not a leftover. I'll update my opinion/ assumption- happily.

$7.57 is the going rate these days for Diesel

Housekeeping tasks today, diesel, propane, groceries, hardware to fix the heater, and a place to crawl under the van and do the fixin'. After a very cold last night without heat, that was kind of a priority- It sure feels good to have those things done. :)

Researching some mountain bike trails for today/ tomorrow. Trailforks has quite a few suggestions for the area, it's time to explore some. After having some lunch I set out on the Fly Away trail. It's hard to predict which way these rainclouds are moving. As I near the end of the out and back trail, it starts snowing! Geez. At least it's downhill going back. Nice trail, but a bit short, maybe tomorrow I can connect to some other trails in that area. I should find long pants though- the brush is hard on the shins.

I did some workout explore trails this afternoon in the Poleta open area- it's challenging! I think it's designed for ATVs and motorcycles, but I managed to get some exercise. The trails are very loose rock, and sand which would be ok, except they're also very steep! That's even a challenge going down, without going down! Keeping the bike on the trail, and balanced is challenging in these conditions. I drove down to the ponds below this afternoon, and saw a few birds, but not too much for the habitat, maybe because it's still wintry conditions?

Yesterday a beautiful bird flitted past when I drove up slope to my camp. I was super intrigued by his size, coloration and mannerisms. With Merlin's help, I guessed it was a Kestrel, I saw him again today and am certain he's a Kestrel, beautiful!

Independence / Onion Creek Rd.

April 13, 2026

I'm camped on Pinyon creek, off Onion creek road, near Independence- it's absolutely amazing beautiful, and there's no one here (so far). I have a large flat camp spot, next to the creek, in a low spot, so it's hard to see me, as if that mattered.

I saw a lot of bikepackers (like 7 or 8) starting up Onion valley rd. this morning. I wonder where they're headed. I'll explore out that way on my bike tomorrow.

As soon as I landed this morning at my camp, I was ready to write, feeling really good. Then I did just about everything but write- including watching the clouds- I coined a new phrase:

"The clouds are calling- and I must go". That's kind of me- it doesn't really make sense.

It's 5:41 and the sun is going behind the mountain. The clouds are still very cool. I'm sure they'll disipate when if comes time for alpenglow! I'm keeping my eye out the window. It was just ok. Mostly faded to gray.

The wind is pretty strong here, gusty, but I'll deal with that- no flies :)

Then today the clouds persisted, and the wind, and the snow??, yup. Not enough to stick, but there were definitely snowflakes. I allowed the weather to curtail my MTB exploring - hmm. Maybe I just didn’t' dress right. What a wimp.

I've been pondering the heater issues. Today I found a lot of air bubbles in the fuel line- that's bad, and could definitely cause the errors/ not running. But it took me a while to remember that the fuel tank is pretty low. I've kind of figured that when the light comes on, it wouldn’t draw fuel. Welp, I think that is more like, it starts to draw air as well- now that could be an issue- so I will first refill the fuel tank before digging in further- but….

I need to get a syringe to bleed the air out of the lines, and… we're going to need the heater for sure in the next few weeks, maybe just go ahead and do the destructive maintenance while I'm in the sunshine? It shouldn't take that much, and I'd have a heater that works- more certainty.

Snow falling on Onion Valley- maybe I should go for a ride?

Alabama hills/ Whitney Portal

April 13, 2026

I heard that there are wildflowers in the Alabama hills- and it's true! Mostly it's the desert bloom- that is teeny tiny flowers largely dispersed. Beautiful and really fun to see, especially how small they are. But photographically obnoxious- unless you want to be documenting flowers like in a flower book, they're not really photogenic, except those few…..

There are a number of cactus, mostly beavertail that are blooming- they're wonderful. Today I discovered a swath of color in a wash as I drove towards Whitney Portal, then again near a hill of rocks- I had to return to these, but first, Whitney Portal! That is such a fantastic hike. I had hoped to reach Lone Pine Lake, which we visited in 2024 and it was frozen over. No luck today, even though the weather was awesome, the snowfields overtook the trail maybe a half mile from the lake. I didn't want to get lost or hurt, so I enjoyed the sun, and headed back down. The sounds of Mountain Grouse were causing a bit of concern- they have a weird sound (and Merlin couldn't ID it??) My mind turned the sounds into bears coming out to enjoy the sunshine- and a snack! A lone hummingbird was divebombing a tree snag along the way back. There must be another trail or something, as people were parked every which way and circling around. I didn't see that many people!

I stopped at a pullout coming down that grade to admire the view, and take advantage of cell service.

So what about those colors? When I returned to that place, I had to work my way down a steep embankment from the road into the wash. There were vast numbers of lupine growing thru the wash, some as tall as me! It was really fun to walk around these giants- so much for desert flowers being teeny tiny. Those near the hill were nearly as tall, with a different backdrop.

The spur road toward the hill got really rough, so I walked it, and came across a couple trying to dig their pickup out of the sand. I went back to get the shovel and recovery boards to help them out. It's the first time that I've used the recovery boards for that kind of stuck- and they worked! It's good to test your gear on others. The shovel was worth a lot as well.

Yesterday I rode my bike on the trails around camp, it's excellent and very challenging. Between the sand traps, and rock formations, I really had to pay attention. But you get away from all the campers and see the formations and even flowers up close.