4/15-16. Buttermilk Boulders and Sabrina Lake

April 25, 2026

In 2024 we had a wonderful hike from the Sabrina Lake trailhead up into the higher elevations of the Sierras. This time, I was blocked by a gate 2 miles early, and by snow drifts once I hiked up to the trailhead. The lake itself was low due to maintenance on the dam spillway. That's all part of the adventure.

Lake Sabrina was drawn down for dam repairs and the trails were still snow covered.

Buttermilk boulders is an area that's "world renowned" for not rock climbing, but bouldering. It's slightly hilarious to see folks hiking out to the boulder field with enormous cube backpacks on (sorry, no photos of this). These are their fall mats, like gym mats. They will free climb the boulders with the existing cracks and divots as handholds, but if they fall, it's good to not crush themselves at the base of the rock. I'm sure their parents approve. The rock is amazingly grippy, like granite, so that part is excellent for climbing, but if you pick at it a little, it just crumbles into coarse sand (not so good for anchoring!)

I enjoyed hiking among the formations and watching the people bouldering.

Dramatic Sunset over the Buttermilk boulders

The Mountain biking was both really good, and really challenging. Only 4WD roads were available, and they were very sandy and rocky, so each section had me wishing for the other. Wildflowers were wonderful!

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.