SONY DSC

 

During October of 2011, a Sportmobile rally was set up at Nevada’s Valley Of Fire State Park by Mac McGuire of the Sportsmobile Forum group that ended up being one of the largest meetings to date. I’d say that it was a solid success and you can read about it here:

Valley Of Fire Sportsmobile Group Meet

To and from the Nevada get-together, I visited some of the area around Mono Lake. Not only did this area supply an overnight camping point between California and Nevada, the region has some nice forest service paths well suited for vehicle exploration. Unlike many of the off road routes I take, these were well graded paths that were highly scenic during the fall season and suitable for novice drivers and 2WD vehicles during dry weather. 

Highway 120:

As mentioned in the Valley Of Fire report, the first night on the road ended up in Yosemite National Park. The next day the plan was to camp nearby Mono Lake and get in some off roading in preparation for the group meet up. There was plenty of time to explore around Mono Lake being V of F is actually within a day’s reach of my home town. Although I’ve camped just off 120 when bound to other areas in the mid-west, I’ve never searched over the trails that led deep into the backcountry. It was time to do so. The navigator, as mentioned in the V of F post, was my good buddy and Forum member Don Dunbar who has accompanied me on many off road adventures.

After a great lunch at Lee Vining, the first camp wasn’t too far off so the plan was to start off by going into Bishop for fuel and supplies then head out of town and hit a few county roads.

SONY DSC

The camp at Sawmill Meadows isn’t too far from Benton Hot Springs so looking at the map showed a nice route off highway 6 just outside town connecting Jean Blanc Rd to Casa Diablo Rd then to Benton Crossing road and finally to Benton Hot Springs.

SONY DSC

    I mean why take a perfectly paved highway when there is a dirt road close by?

SONY DSC

It starts off with the road running along a set of power lines but heads towards a volcanic bluff.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

          Views of the surrounding hills were supplemented by beautiful skies.

SONY DSC

The volcanic ridge is interesting and seems to be a spot many come to camp and perhaps do some rock hounding.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

   I always enjoy seeing long winding roads and this one didn’t disappoint for sure.

SONY DSC

This image is where the trail crosses under some high voltage transmission lines, one of which is a DC line.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

 

Still some ground color even so late into the year.

 

 

 

SONY DSC

 

At one fork the Casa Diablo Mine cutoff road looked like a better choice in the hopes of finding a nice backcountry trail to camp.

 

 

SONY DSC

                  The cutoff road led further west but looked a bit more scenic.

SONY DSC

As the road began to climb in altitude, pines appeared and the terrain looked more like what was around the Mono Lake area.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

 

I didn’t want to get into camp at dark so rather than look for a way over the hill we just jammed down the paved Benton Crossing road.

 

 

After heading into Benton, the sun was on its way towards evening. Thankfully camp was close by.

SONY DSC

Turning off highway 120, Black Canyon road heading to camp follows over flat terrain then climbs into the pines.

SONY DSC

The autumn colors were in full force. We made it into camp and setup for the night. No wood gathering as late as it was and being it was breezy and cold, the iced down adult beverages were quickly dissipated inside with the Espar heater providing a barrier from the outside world. Don didn’t bring his tent heater as he focused on warmer desert weather. Maybe a mistake but he was outfitted well. Still I figured he was probably wishing that he had that piece of equipment as the temps dropped well below freezing.

SONY DSC

In the morning we packed up after a hot cup of espresso. I really like this camp provided nobody else is occupying the local area. I got off a few pictures before leaving out to do some exploring.

SONY DSC

I wasn’t too sure what this structure was used for but it did appear to be some kind of trough for water.

SONY DSC

There is a pit toilet at the camp and there are several sites in the area however there aren’t many tables. Most of the fire rings were primitive rock types.

SONY DSC

The local meadow called Sawmill Meadows was quite beautiful at this time of the year.

SONY DSC

It was time to head out for the Valley Of Fire meet in Nevada but being we happened to be somewhat close, there wasn’t any reason not to explore some of the backcountry.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

           I didn’t know what to expect but this area would surprise both of us.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

                                        Heading into McGee Canyon.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

Looking out at highway 120. The close up image below shows a small lake that is just outside Benton Crossing.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

After a short climb, the trail follows above Taylor Canyon. The trail splits off into the bottom of Taylor Canyon but the plan was to head toward Crooked Meadows instead.

SONY DSC

Mono is a volcanic region and this section of the trail passes by unique rock formations.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

A short section of the trail swings back south and west then enters a higher plain type zone that is kind of shrubby in appearance.

SONY DSC

      Off in the distance, several trees were showing the colors of the fall season.

SONY DSC

Soon the route follows a rim route above another canyon. It’s hard to see but the ledge drops straight off into the canyon. This was one spot to boon dock if your in a pinch. Just be careful walking around at night.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

Summer had taken its toll but somehow these dried flowers still added to the scenery.

SONY DSC

        The road had a few sandy spots but overall any car could run these trails.

SONY DSC

Back into a more heavily forested area.  Too bad the camping spots are very limited along this section of the trail.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

These areas shown in the images above and below were spots one could pull off to camp, but it wasn’t what I’d call a premium place to overnight at.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

               The road breaks out of the trees into another set of rolling hills.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

Looking at the backside of the Sierra Nevada Range. Highway 395 runs nearby those peaks in the background.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

  Moving into the Crooked Meadows area. The road was well graded but fairly sandy.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

The computer map shows a camp that I’ve stayed at before. Provided nobody is there, it is a premium spot to stay at. It has several sites with a few tables and a modern pit toilet. Driving off road is prohibited but there are several roads in the area where you can pull off to for isolated camping. Some of the roads are marked, but several aren’t. A forest service map helps here.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

This is the intersection of the Crooked Meadows Road and Highway 120. From here it was time to head off to Valley Of Fire. Unfortunately I ended up having engine issues outside of Las Vegas but finally made it to the meet which went wonderfully after the van was repaired.

After leaving Nevada, the plan was to drive back to Sawmill Meadows. During our stay in the Las Vegas area, we encountered heavy rains. The bad weather also made its way to the Mono Lake region but instead of rain we encountered snow.

SONY DSC

Now I knew Don would have wished he had packed his tent heater. It was damn cold outside. Again we opted to party inside the van with its Espar heater. In the morning the hot coffee was a welcomed treat in such cold weather. We packed up and headed for home. During the previous week we never got to explore Taylor canyon and being it was close by it seemed the logical choice as a way out to the highway.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

                            The snow did make for some scenic shots.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

                                        Back through McGee Canyon.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

                                      Pretty crazy rock formations.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

              Peeling off the McGee Canyon Road on to Taylor Canyon Road.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

       The route pulls a wide U-turn that descends into the bottom of the canyon.

SONY DSC

        From the higher elevation you can see the road as it leads to the highway.

SONY DSC

                                              Hell of a vista point.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

The grade dropping into the canyon wasn’t too steep but I could see where rock slides could be an issue from time to time.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

                                    Where we had just came from.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

Another great little camp. There were only a few sites fairly spaced out from one another and also a older pit toilet. The highway wasn’t too far off.

SONY DSC

After leaving out of the Aspen trees the trail runs through sage brush and is somewhat uneventful.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

                                       Some history of the area.

SONY DSC

        The weather was setting in and the forecast was for more rain and snow.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

One of the reasons I was a bit worried was that Tioga Pass or Sonora pass were both higher in altitude than this area and if either closed due to snow, chances were that highway 80 would be the only route open forcing me to travel way out of the way to get home. As it was 108 stayed open and if things worked out there were several spots to camp before finally heading home.

SONY DSC

One last look at Mono Lake before crossing the Sierra’s. Sonora Pass was open but heavy rains moved into the area. Don wasn’t too thrilled about sleeping in wet weather so we headed home making it to the central valley after sunset.

The entire trip was one I’ll never forget. It almost seemed like two different events. I’m always happy to find new areas to camp at and some of these camps I found will be great stopping points when traveling outside California. The Mono lake area has a lot to offer and there are a few other trails in the region I’d like to explore one of these days. I look forward to returning here soon.

Hope you’ve enjoyed the write up.

Thanks for following AutoRamblings Sportsmobile 4×4 adventures.