El Paso Mountains & Coyote Creek Trail

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Monday, May 8th.
Location: the El Paso Mountains north of Kohen Dry lake and east of Jawbone & Dove Springs in southern California.

Mission: A Tour de Force; traversing some steep hills on the way to Bickel Camp, and working our way back through Last Chance Canyon and Nightmare Gulch:

The next day, Tuesday May 9th, I rode Coyote Creek [7S10] southwest of Bishop, Ca. Unfortunately; Greg could'nt join me for this ride as he had to go back to work... so I rode solo and it was spectacular...pics and report will be added as soon as I finish the El Paso ride.

We staged at Randsburg and headed northwest to the El Pasos...

















It was a little on the warm side, so we moved at a moderately fast pace, and if it was'nt for Greg's quick action, this precious Desert Tortoise could've ended being a roadkill...



It was a healthy Tortoise, we decided to check this fella out...



Greg decided to give it a hand and carry it into a more secure area...



Greg made sure its at a safe location from other riders on this busy trail.
Talk about responsible trail riding... I think the Tortoise is safe there... hope it doesn't track back!!

Yours truly...








Greg knows the area well, but it was his first time on this section of the hilly terrain... at this point we're about an hour into the ride at 5800 ft elevation...



The Burro Schmidt Tunnel... Burro Schmidt hand dug a half mile tunnel through the mountain, it took him 38 years to finish it! We heard that the site is in distress and wanted to see for ourselves











Our ultimate destination was Bickel Camp, a historic mining site at Last Chance Canyon, bordering Red Rock Canyon State Park.... We also wanted to visit some abandoned mining sites on our way to Bickel...















More RR & pics later....

Nice pics. I was riding in that area a month or so ago. Loved it. Some great hill climibing and amazing views. Last Chance Canyon is very cool and the rock formations at the top end of the canyon are really gorgeous.

I visited Burro Schmidt's tunnel a couple of years back and was really dismayed to see what has happened to the place since then. The woman that lived in the cabin next to the tunnel and who looked after the place died a couple of years ago and vandals have taken the place apart since then. Really a shame. Would be great if someone could pick up where she left off and put things right again.

Looking forward to the rest of your pics.

Another great ride report! Great pics!

Great report Lavabull!! I love the trails high up in them thar hills!!

Thanks all for the kind words, yep; I love riding that area... but Coyote Creek was really awesome too... that's coming up next..

It got really warm that day, we're about two hours into our ride and I think the temp was about 90 degrees... could'nt resist dreaming about a cold one out of this.



The caretaker was kind enough to offer us some cold water... it was cooled by a solar panel that powered his rv... really neat!... We chatted a bit about the interesting machinery and the history of the place..




It was time to move on further into Last Chance canyon and Nightmare Gulch... the caretaker was a great host, very informative and insisted that we alert others about how fragile this important peice of history is...



Back at Randsburg after a warm sweaty ride ...



Chilling with Cowboy Bob... RIP Bob, a Korean War Hero...



Into Bishop and Coyote Creek Trail, starts at 4000 feet elevation and up to 12,000 feet. The trail was blocked by a glacial wall of snow and ice high up top.... enjoy the scenery...













More pics from Coyote Creek Trail coming up next.



......

Coyote Creek [7S10] runs southwest of Bishop and into the Inyo national forest. The trail starts as a sandy jeep trail that narrows significantly with elevation and becomes very twisty and rocky with some ruts and exposed roots. Lots of switchbacks with dramatic elevation change... from 4000 ft to 12,000 ft in about 14 miles... it was certainly one of the most scenic and fun trails I've ever ridden... as pics speak for themselves...





























Thank you for riding along in this awesome adventure... more shortly.

Hey nice photos and text. I have ridden through out those areas. Coyote flats is one of my favorite places.

Just a note about tortises, picking them up can literaly scare the piss out of them. This can lead to a loss of precious fluids and often they will die because of it. best to just leave them alone.

spectacular shots and what a great area.

Great pics as always LavaBull. How did you get those pics of the water crossing? I know it's a self timer, but how does it go off in succession?

Errin

Wow!
We had no idea! I hope the Tortoise is ok!
That trail is often busy with ohv traffic and we thought some may not see the Tortoise and run it down.
I'll keep your advise in mind if we see another on the trail and just leave it be! Thanks for the heads up!

Wachs & Errin, thanks for the compliments; as for the multiple shots, the Canon SD450 has a continuous shooting mode with the self-timer setting... kinda neat, and one of the reason I choose it to replace my older SD200.

Awesome!! I can't wait to get up there this year!

We are heading back to the Alabama Hills, Cerro Gordo and Coyote Creek.... more pictures to come...











The adventure begins...

Your latest pics aren't showing up. Liked the old ones.

Ditto.

Could the greedy hand of Photobucket be involved in this denial of image access?

No. That's Google pics.