Circle the Devil Gravel Ride

After doing this ride with friends a couple of times Chris and I decided do it as a group ride.

It's called Circle the Devil because it circumnavigates Casa Diablo Mountain.

I was not quite in shape for this one so I sagged for the gang. Took a bunch of pics too.

Near the beginning in Fish Slough.

I had time to stop and check out petroglyphs and this interesting grinding rock.

The quintet enjoys a little descent on the Volcanic Tablelands.

Expansive views.

We encountered a healthy looking rattler along the way.

Nice "dream catcher" talisman out in the middle of nowhere.

Amanda grinds up Black Rock Mine Road.

 Chris heading up.

and up

Amanda nears the top of the first climb.

Bill topping out.

Mary set up the aid station.

X marks the spot.

The riders! Adrian, Bill, Amanda, David, and Chris.

Gravel heaven.

The ride hits the famous Lower Rock Trail on the way back towards Bishop.

 The bottom section of trail is a bit much on a cross bike so the route hops on the paved road.

Beginning the fun descent down to Paradise.

To a short but pretty section of gravel in Round Valley.

The bridge is wiped out so the group waded it!

The group punches into the wind on the way back into Bishop.

Amanda happy to have completed the Circle!

About 80 miles, almost 6,000' of elevation gain. A great adventure ride!

Treasure Lakes Ski Tour

My buddy Steve Patton was in town and he wanted to ski! 

We headed up out of South Lake. 

Usually the trip along the lake is fairly straightforward, but the lake is higher than usual resulting in some quite tedious talus hopping - made especially fun with a skiff of new snow!

Probably would have been better to use the trail at least for the first half mile or so.

Once across the lake and up into the alpine the travel was much easier.

Despite reports of deep snow in the vicinity we only found a couple of inches.

It skied pretty well though.

The exit was almost as arduous as the approach including this class 3 move along the lake.

and tiptoeing on barely frozen ice.

Beautiful day in the hills!

Whitehouse Area

The next morning dawned rainy and cool so Mary and I holed up in the Scamp until the weather blew over. With a break in the action we headed out to explore the canyons near the campground. First we crossed the river. 

Mary puts on her shoes after wading the river.

After a few false starts up dead end canyons we found a good drainage we could easily get into.

Lots of great dry waterfalls and pour offs.

A nice short narrow section too.

We had heard tell of a fine petroglyph panel but did not catch it on the way in. We looked a bit harder coming out and found it.

Astounding!

The moody weather was kinda neat.

After some brief, but intense afternoon thunderstorms we took another stroll.

And followed that up with some shenanigans at the campground. Our last night!

Good times rolled!