White Mountains - Silver Canyon Road: Good Idea? Bad Idea? (Whitney: shop, offroading)

[EasternSierraHillperson]

Hey guys.

Next summer, once that mountain range is open to traffic again, I'm planning on using Silver Canyon Road to go down from the Patriarch Grove of Bristlecone Pines to Bishop rather than use the tedious round-a-bout back to Big Pine then back to Mammoth.

I saw some guys travelogue on the internet a while back, but the log was fifteen years old.

I use high-clearance, 4WD vehicles everywhere I go, so that's not an issue.

Is it a good idea to attempt this road, either going up or down?

[handitak]

whats Mammoth like? My husbands company will start two 100million+ projects their around June this year, so we may have to relocate IF we stay in the states.

mrs h

[EasternSierraHillperson]

Originally Posted by handitak

whats Mammoth like? My husbands company will start two 100million+ projects their around June this year, so we may have to relocate IF we stay in the states.

Three words: Heaven on Earth. It's a small town in terms of permanent residents (around 7,000). Lots of lakes and forests, seeing as it is the wettest part of the Eastern Sierra. If you are into places like Yosemite and mountains in general, you can't help but like it. During the summer it is not nearly as busy as during the winter.

I go up their with the family every summer to our summer home. We made a side trip to the Bristlecones the last trip and I'm planning an ascent of Mount Whitney. To train, I wanted to hike California's other 14er, White Mountain. Silver Canyon Road would save me a A LOT of time going to and from (currently complicated by a roundabout route down 395, up a windy mountain road to Death Valley at Westgard Pass, then another twenty miles of mountain road to the trailhead). If it is worth it, I'll risk giving my shocks a beating. I love offroading.