Boondocking in the Sierras

[westcoastas]

We just finished up almost two months of boondocking (except for three days at a RV park in Lee Vining, CA with friends) in the Eastern Sierras. There is plenty of boondocking spots just outside of Lee Vining and on forest roads off the road to Virginia Lakes, which is between the towns of Lee Vining and Bridgeport. We camped on Forest Road 039 and off the dirt road to Green Creek. Fishing was slow but we caught enough to feed ourselves. The time of season was great for us as the crowds had left and we pretty much had lakes and rivers to ourselves. We camped at 9,500 feet up on a mountain flank and at 7,000 feet a couple miles north of Lee Vining. Mono Market in town is a GREAT little market with good quality food. Free drinking water can be had at the Mobil Station on Highway 120 at the intersection with Highway 395, which leads up to Yosemite. The lowest gas prices are at the Shell Station in town and you can fill up your propane tanks there too.

We really don't miss the rat race of southern California but the Eastern Sierras have always remained in our hearts and memories. We now have three solid destinations for the seasons that serve as familiar "home" bases: Snow Canyon, Escalante and the Grand Staircase, and now Lee Vining. Hopefully someday the Glacier National Park area will be our fourth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObTSfmbMR-c

[Lily&Me]

Lovely!

Is that a ghost town in there?


Maggie

[billdunlap]

I absolutely loved your video. The Eastern Sierra is a great place and I am fortunate enough to live here in Swall Meadows about half way between Mammoth Lakes and Bishop. Thank you for sharing your "boondocking" experiences.

Bill Dunlap

[Frank&Mike]

Your threads, photos, videos ... they always make me want to sell the house and hit the road. Thank you for sharing.

[malinois38]

Thanks for putting that video together, very cool!
Beautiful trout! Congratulations to your wife & I hope she
shares her fishing secrets with you

[NorCal Matt]

Awesome job! Thanks for sharing!

[nwmsmith]

Thanks for sharing. Nice to see actual boondocking without needing hookups!

[greenflag]

GREAT VIDEO!!!
We have been going to the Eastern Sierra for almost 50 years. We spent a great deal of time in and around Bridgeport and Bishop Creek. We did boondock once along Virginia Creek with friends.
BTW, inside that Mobil station is a great place to eat the Whoa Nellie Deli.
I assume that was a quick clip of Bodie Ghost Town State Park.
Can hardly wait for your next adventure.

[Photobum]

I spend my summers in the High Sierra, at 8,000 feet in Green Creek. There is great disbursed camping that is gorgeous. Some nice hiking, and great fishing, Cassie is always ready to head up the trail...

The fish tacos at the Mobil station are worth the trip....

[Photobum]

Oh, and Maggie....Google Bodie.

[lindaebrewer]

You're either the greatest amateur videographer ever or a pro!

[lindaebrewer]

"Goodbye, God, I'm going to Bodie."

[Lily&Me]

I googled Lee Vining last evening, and the Bodie ghost town came up on things to do and places to see in the area.

Lots of pictures of Bodie out there, and it looks pretty amazing. I would love to see that place, and walk thru it.

Lots of ghost towns all over the west...not so much in Central Illinois.


Maggie

[rmkrum]

Google Randsburg, Red Mountain, and Johannesburg, CA.

I drive thru them on the way to work every day. Old gold mining towns in Mojave Desert along highway 395.


Sent from my pocket Internet using Airstream Forums

[Tn Traveler]

Way cool, Jeff.

[franklyfrank]

Originally Posted by westcoastas

We just finished up almost two months of boondocking (except for three days at a RV park in Lee Vining, CA with friends) in the Eastern Sierras. There is plenty of boondocking spots just outside of Lee Vining and on forest roads off the road to Virginia Lakes, which is between the towns of Lee Vining and Bridgeport. We camped on Forest Road 039 and off the dirt road to Green Creek. Fishing was slow but we caught enough to feed ourselves. The time of season was great for us as the crowds had left and we pretty much had lakes and rivers to ourselves. We camped at 9,500 feet up on a mountain flank and at 7,000 feet a couple miles north of Lee Vining. Mono Market in town is a GREAT little market with good quality food. Free drinking water can be had at the Mobil Station on Highway 120 at the intersection with Highway 395, which leads up to Yosemite. The lowest gas prices are at the Shell Station in town and you can fill up your propane tanks there too.

We really don't miss the rat race of southern California but the Eastern Sierras have always remained in our hearts and memories. We now have three solid destinations for the seasons that serve as familiar "home" bases: Snow Canyon, Escalante and the Grand Staircase, and now Lee Vining. Hopefully someday the Glacier National Park area will be our fourth.

We recently stumbled on this area. Change of plans heading to Yosemite took us to June Lake. This was our first trip out to the Eastern Sierras, needless to say we are going back again. Your video made me relive the experience. Great job, thank you.

[USAtraveler]

Best looking "amateur" video I've ever seen! You must work in the film industry. You won't find Glacier so hospitable to freestyle trailering, btw, but there are plenty of no-hookup campgrounds in the nearby Flathead Nat'l. Forest.

[KJRitchie]

No issues with road clearance or would a lift kit be recommended? Kelvin

[westcoastas]

Thanks for the positive comments - I appreciate them.

Yes, Maggie, the ghost town is Bodie and is definitely worth a visit. The guided tours add a lot of information and contrary to what one may believe of a ghost town, Bodie was once a thriving business and social scene. It was a place where men could make a good living and women could socialize with other women, which at the time was not a convenience out west. The residents must have been made of tough stuff as the winters were bitter cold. In fact the town's namesake soon after striking gold died in a snowstorm a mere two miles outside of town - no 9-1-1 calls back then.

We talked with the president of the Bodie organization and asked her if she had any good ghost stories. She did indeed: blowing out of candles, doors shut, and the most impressive was the time when a new hire and skeptic was walking back to her residence (staff lives onsite throughout the tourist season) and heard children's voices and a horse whinnying outside the old barn. She ran back to get the president to tell her a horse was on the premises, and when they went back there was no one and no horse to be seen. The new hire said the voices were clear as a bell. The town also had a nice baseball field and had many good players. One night the president woke up in the middle of the night to find a young boy in an old baseball uniform standing at the foot of her bed and then faded away. Loved that kind of stuff and I don't think she made it up for our enjoyment - she appeared to be a serious and knowledgeable student of mining town history.

As for fishing success, we are not expert fisherman or fisherwoman - we are simple bait fisherman and have yet to learn the art of flyfishing. However, my wife has in her short fishing career caught several more and bigger fish than I have...and I have been relegated to being merely the Net Man. Still, someone has to record the catches on camera.

Bill Dunlap - you are a very fortunate man. I imagine you recognized all the locations I put in the video and Owens River is right in your backyard. Vincent - I totally forgot you had mentioned Green Creek before but now I know and will try to remember to contact you beforehand and hopefully we can meet up somewhere below Virginia Lakes. Have you ever camped on that forest road 039 off the Virginia Lakes road? It's pretty nice with clean toilets but free because it doesn't have water or allows campfires. My favorite spot was off the road to Green Creek (right fork) on Forest Road 32020E and over the rise. Kelvin, it was on this road that we had to stop and confer as to how to get over three short sections (about 20-25 feet) of dirt road with imbedded rocks. My wife would stand outside and help guide me so that we wouldn't puncture our tank(s). She wasn't too happy about the maneuvering but there was that spot that I just HAD to get to - what a view! We do not have a lift kit but had a lot of time to go slowly. The forest roads in general are fine. The string of campsites along Forest Road 039 just off the Virginia Lakes road is great - good distance between sites, a volunteer camphost who maintains the toilets, and best of all - no fees! Good entry road with a nice big turnaround circle at the end. I would imagine there is plenty of shade in the winter - pretty cold during the fall.

Making videos is now a hobby of mine since I stumbled onto my MacBook Pro's iMovie program. I use a simple but nice RX-100 point and shoot camera that has some video capability. I am not very computer literate (born in '59, so largely missed the digital age in college) but it's relatively self-explanatory. If you have your iTunes library, it's fun to put photos to your favorite music. I am also a big fan of the documentarian Ken Burns. In fact, on iMovie the effect of scanning across a photograph is labeled the "Ken Burns effect".

Now if I can just work with a more patient and willing actress. When fish are jumping, it's difficult to get more than one shot.

Jeff

[Meeks]

Fabulous! Thanks for posting.

Curious as to how you've set up your rig for boon docking? Care to share ?

Chris