Bishop California

We left our boondock campsite in the Alabama Hills west of Lone Pine and stopped at a Casino/Gas station north of town to dump the RV (free with a gas fill) and headed north on hwy 395 toward Bishop. Our original Camp choice, Horton Creek (BLM $5), was still closed for the winter and wouldn’t open for several more days. We camped one night at Pleasant Valley Campground for $14 (mostly a fishing campground not well-developed, but the frog songs and fragrant sage and creosote made it worth the money). The next day we stopped at Millpond Park to fill up with water and then made our way to Buttermilk Road for a dispersed camping spot. We found a great spot about 2 miles down the road and ended up staying a week. 

While at Buttermilk, we drove up the mountain on 168 for several great hikes including Piute Pass Trail where we followed a couple of Fish and Wildlife guys who knew the trail even through the snow and also a snowy trail from Sabrina Lake that climbs up to Blue Lakes.  We were unable to hike through to the Lakes due to the deep snow but enjoyed the trekking and the great views. At the Buttermilk camp, walking along the many dirt roads in the area was fun and a great way to exercise Shug as well as ourselves. A colorful variety of wildflowers and also flowering shrubs bloomed along the dirt roads. Almost daily, an afternoon winds would kick up and last into the evening so our love of early morning hiking served us well.  

Annette at Convict Lake

Since the afternoons were windy, we took several trips into Bishop to pick up groceries at Von’s Supermarket and to treat ourselves to lunch and pastries at Schat’s Bakery.  Schat’s sandwiches tasted great and the baked goods were amazing. We also took advantage of the town time to fill our propane at Eastern Sierra Propane and to pick up our general delivery mail packet at the post office.

Last week Shug pointed out that we were dangerously low on dog food. After doing some internet searching, we found a source—Tailwaggers in Mammoth Lakes. Shug has food allergies and we were happy to find the last bag of her food in the area. Needing a specific brand and type means that dog food is one of the extra things that one has to plan for on the road. Might as well make a day trip out of it so we headed north on 395. Detouring for a short side trip to gorgeous Convict Lake, we hiked the three mile trail around the Lake and enjoyed the beauty before heading in to Mammoth Lakes for our dog food pick up. Fortunately, the Tailwaggers’ shopping center also has a nice little pizza restaurant where we splurged for the lunch special of personal pizzas and salads.