Home / Keyword Sweetwater Mountains [148]
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After leaving Obsidian Campground, I cross Hwy 395 and start the drive up Bircham Flat Road -
I turn up Lobdell lake Road, and views over to the Sierras improve -
An oncoming car... the only one I'll see on Lobdell Lake Road today -
A group of several dirt bikers drives by after I pull over to check out a seep along the road -
I check out the puddle in the road that I just drove through -
I get back in the FJ and drive through another puddle in the road -
... and then another puddle -
I drive over a couple of mildly rocky stretches and wonder if the road is about to worsen -
The views over to the Sierras from this part of Lobdell Lake Road are pretty nice -
A switchback and then a little uphill to the next plateau -
... and another puddle to drive through -
I park the FJ at Lobdell Lake and begin my hike up to Mount Patterson from here -
I start the hike up to Mount Patterson and notice a few Blue flax flowers along the road -
This would be another puddle to drive through, except that I'm walking now -
The road is a little rockier now, but nothing that the FJ would find too difficult -
Red Indian paintbrush flowers alongside the road -
And some fragrant Coyote mint -
This little gulley across the road would be a bit of a frame-twister if I were driving the FJ right now instead of hiking -
The road to Mount Patterson passes through another patch of forest -
A twisted old pine tree lays on the ground -
I hike past a rock turret and shale pile -
My hiking road drops down steeply into that little canyon in front of me -
After dipping down into that canyon, the road starts to climb back up -
The road gets a bit slippery and off-camber here -
The road rises via a switchback and then passes this off-camber area -
It's fun to take a good look back down at the road I've just hiked up -
I'm up in the heart of the Sweetwater Range now -
I'm feeling the effect of the above-10000-feet elevation up here -
I find myself mesmerized by this environment up here -
That must be Mount Patterson up ahead -
I like the "Mars With Flowers" sign up here, though I missed the flower show -
Just a reminder that I'm on Road 226 -
As I climb the final hill, I look back at the plateau where I saw the "Mars With Flowers" sign -
A little closer to the top! -
Those clouds are getting rather dark: rain on the way? -
Almost there! -
Peculiar light up here because I'm in a sunny spot surrounded by dark clouds -
Arrived! On top of Mount Patterson at 11654 feet elevation -
All the views up here are great, but I especially like this one northward toward Nevada -
Hmmm... looks like it might be raining down at Lobdell Lake where the FJ is parked -
Yeah, it's definitely raining down there -
Looking pretty wet down there; I think I'll stay up here a little bit longer -
Or maybe I shouldn't stay up here, maybe the rain clouds are headed this way -
I hear thunder and see occasional lightning down there -
Further north, it doesn't look like there's any rain at all yet -
I'm enjoying walking around the Mount Patterson area while deciding where to go -
This high mountain-top wouldn't be the best place to be if the thunder and lightning comes here -
If the rain moves over here, I'd be better off getting wet down there than up here -
That nearby peak just received some snow from this precipitation system blowing through -
The rain down there seems to be fading, so I decide to start the hike back down to the FJ at Lobdell Lake -
So far, so good; I'm encountering some rain sprinkles, but no heavy rain (at least not yet) -
These lupines along the road surely appreciate this rain -
Here's that slippery off-camber stretch again where I'm glad to be hiking instead of driving -
Back down into the canyon for a bit, while I enjoy the pitter-patter of the rain sprinkles -
It's so lush down here compared to the moonscape up on top of these mountains -
I pass a nice garden of wildflowers on the way back down from Mount Patterson -
I keep wondering what it would be like to be driving this road rather than hiking it -
I took a photo here on the way up a couple of hours ago, but everything looks greener now -
I pass through a bit of forest -
The rain seems to have stopped and I've hardly gotten wet at all: phew! -
It's apparently still raining over in the Sierras, and maybe down at Obsidian Campground too -
These lower peaks also picked up a bit of snow during this afternoon's rainstorm -
My road winds back down toward Lobdell Lake where the FJ is parked -
This stream crossing near Lobdell Lake is a bit wider than it was on my way up to Mount Patterson -
Light rain continues -
The FJ got a good car wash from the rainstorm while I was up on Mount Patterson -
And I think Lobdell Lake has a bit more water than when I started my hike a few hours ago -
It's cold up here at 9233 feet elevation, so I decide to drive back down to Obsidian Campground -
The mud at the bottom of this puddle turns out to be quite slippery as I drive though it -
I stop briefly to look at the history marker at Lobdell Lake -
It's only 48 degrees F, no wonder I feel a bit chilled -
I'm learning to drive more slowly though these big puddles -
It looks like the rain over the Sierras has dissipated -
I'm surprised to see snow along this stretch of Lobdell Lake Road -
Here's a little stream to drive through on Lobdell Lake Road -
This puddle should wash off some of the big chunks of mud my tires are picking up -
I'm surprised to see these folks setting up camp at the junction of Bircham Flat Road and Lobdell Lake Road -
After the nice downhill here on Bircham Flat Road, I'll arrive at Obsidian Campground and settle in for the night -
After many miles on Hwy 395 and little back roads, crossing a few streams, we camp at Desert Creek, Nevada -
Here we are, on the top of Mount Patterson, 11654 feet -
It's a fresh and cool morning here at Desert Creek Campground, Nevada -
There's a fair amount of shade here at Desert Creek Campground -
We make some excellent coffee with our Aeropress coffee maker -
It's that sad time to take down the tent and get on with our day -
We drive through the first of several stream crossings on the way out from Desert Creek Campground -
And here's another stream crossing to drive through on the way out of Desert Creek Campground -
And yet another stream to drive through on the way out of Desert Creek Campground... -
The road out of Desert Creek Campground rises slowly out into sagebrush country -
We drive past a few more rocky hills on our way out of Desert Creek Campground -
We drive out of the Desert Creek Canyon and on toward the paved highway -
After lunch, we drive some 15 miles south on Hwy 395 to Burcham Flat Road -
Great views over to the Sierras as we drive up toward Lobdell Lake on the way to our Mount Patterson hike -
We drive past a herd of sheep on the way up to Lobdell Lake! -
And then we drive past a few patches of yellow rabbitbrush flowers -
Lobdell Lake Road passes through an aspen grove on the way up to Mount Patterson -
More great views over to the Sierras as we rise up Lobdell Lake Road toward Mount Patterson -
We drive through another stretch of alpine forest -
Rising, rising... -
We arrive on the little plateau upon which sits Lobdell Lake -
As we drive around Lobdell Lake, we're heading straight towards the peaks of the Sweetwater Mountains
