Yesterday, we went up Silver Canyon. It is on the west side of the White Mountains, and the ride starts at around 4,000' at Laws, and ascends to over 10,000' at the ridgeline. We then went down Wyman Canyon on the east side.

On the return, as we ascended back up Wyman Canyon, there was a thunderstorm at the ridgeline so we sat it out in one of the abandoned log cabins at the mouth of the canyon. After the storm cleared, and we descended back down Silver Canyon, you could see that it had rained but it didn't seem to be anything major. But as we got to the lower end of the canyon, we were met by a torrent of water! Way to unsafe to take the risk of going any farther. All the vehicles turned back except one full size truck, which promptly got stuck at the first crossing!

We had to ride back up the canyon (low on fuel), and over to the ranger station at Schulman Grove where we stashed our bikes. A forest service employee (on his day off and in his own personal vehicle) gave us a ride down to Laws on the highway (the back way which takes over an hour drive.......thanks Steve Larrabee!). At Laws, we picked up my truck and trailer, drove back up to Shulman Grove and retrieved our bikes, then drove back down to camp at Brown's Town in Bishop. All tolled, that was 3 hours of driving, and we didn't get back to camp until midnight.

I guess it's not a real adventure, without some kind of disaster???

 

Recon, that sounds like it was a close call[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] Nothing like being caught in a flash flood. How was the riding?

 

As much as i dont enjoy those kind of trips during them. They make for some good stories later. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

The riding was superb, and the scenery was great! We had ridden Coyote Flats, which is on the other (Sierra) side of the Owens Valley the day before, with no weather problems. It was a wet winter, and with all the thunderstorms it is turning out to be a wet summer. Everything is real green and fresh looking!

If not for the offer of a ride from Steve, we would have had to sit out the flood until it subsided. Then we would have had to try a descent in the dark, into unknown territory. If I had been with a bunch of guys, and we all has lots of tow straps, etc., it might have been an incredibly fun challenge. But as it was, it was just me and the g/f. She was on a 2wd, and isn't at all fond of highly technical riding, so I went with the sure bailout.