I loaded the car and drove the short distance south to Big Pine. From here it was less than 3km before the climb began, ending only 33.4km @5.9% later!
The road wasn't visible on the barren hillside as it took a deep dry valley.
The surface was good, but constantly changing in gradient which made it difficult to keep a constant tempo. The barren hill wasn't offering any respite from the baking sun, the first tree only passed 11.5km in and its shade far too fleeting.
At 13km the road narrowed into a single lane as it broached through the mountain via a tight rocky gorge. Once through the other side, the scenery changed from the barren sage brush slopes to still arid but treed hills. Once through the cutting the road also finally eased in angle, with only a few short steeper steps to to make me refocus from admiring at the scenery to the climbing at hand.
There was a flat section till the turnoff from highway 168 onto White Mountain road. From here, the road continued to meander; mostly still ascending but once or twice lost precious gained height.
The last stretch kicked up again and it was difficult to keep the power up. Not sure whether it is the altitude or now just fatigue from the weeks riding?
Luckily we crested the climb just in time and rolled the short distance to the Bristlecone visitor centre. Here I was able to leave my bike inside and walk amongst these ancient trees. Some of the living Bristlecone Pine trees here on White mountain are said to be over 4000 years old! As I didn't have walking shoes, I took the one mile Discovery trail. I was glad I did get to the walk amongst these weathered trees, though its length was just within my barefoot pain tolerance.
Back on the bike it was time to cash in on the altitude gained and head downhill. Some gravel on the corners higher up meant a more restrained descent.
But once through the short gorge and onto the bottom third it was a matter of leaving the brakes off and let the bike roll. Those undulations that made holding a consistent tempo on the way up was now a flowing rollercoaster ride off the mountain.
It wasn't long before I was back at the van and driving the hour south to the tiny town of Lone Pine. Before registering at the Mt Whitney hostel where I will stay the next two nights, I filled a litre bottle and drove up the Whitney Portal road to the junction with Horseshoe Meadows road. Here I stashed it amongst some small roadside boulders in preparation for tomorrows ride, as it will be hot and I am not sure if I can fill up anywhere else.
Whilst here, I also drove through the boulders of the Alabama hills. Here over 300 Hollywood movies (mostly Westerns) were filmed amongst the granite boulders between the 1920's and 1950's.
The hostel is a basic but suitable spot for a couple of nights. Only odd thing is it really doesn't have a kitchen, so I wandered up main street looking for somewhere suitable to eat. It was slim pickings unless you liked a steak from the dinner, though there was a restaurant next door to the hostel that served American and Chinese food. Odd combination, but the Tofu with Vegetables was actually quite good and came out in minutes of ordering!
One good thing about staying in the hostel is the lounge area is in the shop downstairs. Shop closed at 9pm, so I went up the room and for a change went to sleep early. Very necessary, as I will be up at 6am to beat the heat.
Ride details:
Distance 75.15km
2037m elevation
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