Road Status Beyond Patriarch Grove (White Mountains)
Related: Inyo National Forest, Patriarch Grove, peak bagging, White Mountains
I hiked up a way on the road above Patriarch Grove, and I’d give it 10:1 odds in favor of being able to churn through the snow all the way up to the minor road-summit overlooking Patriarch Grove, since one wheel can be on soft but solid ground most of the way (and I did it a few years ago with very similar conditions). But near the top it’s all snow, and while it looks soft and not very deep, the road steepens sharply. It’s a long way to back down in reverse if I’m mistaken (no way to turn around), so I decided to go shoot in Patriarch Grove instead.
Note: there is no snow on the road all the way to Patriarch Grove.
The road shown below is the road heading to the small summit above Patriarch Grove. It always melts out last because drifts accumulate as seen here. Today was very warm, 72°F at Schulman Grove and high 60's at Patriarch Grove, with mushy snow melting very fast.
Sony A7R + Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2
[low-res image for bot]
Sony A7R + Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2
[low-res image for bot]
