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Onion Valley Road April 11-14, 2016
Mount Williamson 14,375'  much harder to summit than Mt Whitney	Claim sign near my camp on Pinyon Creek
Supposedly a mining claim near my camp (Looked more like a campsite, I didn't see any mining activity on top or in the nearby Independence Creek canyon)
I wanted to check out the new tow bar so brought both Jeeps up to Onion Valley Road above Independence. (The last tow bar got totaled when the Grandkids tried to pole vault the Cherokee in Panamint Valley around New Years) The Cherokee gets about 15mpg highway, towing it the Grand Cherokee got about 20mpg. Wednesday I tried to go up to Onion Valley but a CHP was blocking the road because they were filming. I had seen a little classic sports car go up the road earlier along with support vehicles and trailers. The are some dynamite hair pins and switch backs on the road and I had planned on mounting my Gopro on the front of the Jeep and film while coming down. Monday night I got camp set up a little late and Tuesday night it was a little too windy for my taste to have a fire. The wind tapered off enough Wednesday night for me to have a fire. Unfortunately at about three in the morning it came back with a vengeance. The dog and I had to hide in the Jeep as the wind destroyed the tent. Trying to pack up camp after sunrise wasn't any fun. I worried of getting the doors ripped off my vehicles and sand blasting the windshields. I had been planning on leaving a vehicle off US 395 at the bottom on Little Lake Canyon and going up to Kennedy Meadows and hiking down from Sacatar Meadows. After fighting the un-abating and strengthening wind for hours packing I decided to just go home.
Onion Valley Road The road drops from 9000' at Onion Valley down to below 4000' at Independence in the Owens Valley (Oct 2013)
Wildflowers were in bloom
Desert Paint Brush
Camp before and during the winds. (There is nothing to stop the winds off the 14,000' Sierras, I've pitched a tent here several times but had been lucky up to now)
I did finally get up to Sacatar Meadows before then end of the month (29th) but couldn't get to the trailhead. Sacatar Trail is gated off and Sacatar Ranch Road proclaims, Private Road, Residents Only, No Through Traffic and No Trespassing, but isn't gated. I think if you trespass you can cut back over to Sacatar Trail and get close to the Little Lake Canyon  trailhead? The Sherman Peak Road said closed 30 miles ahead at the bottom of Nine Mile Canyon and closed 3 miles ahead at Kennedy Meadows, they lied. The road was open to the intersection near Black Rock Ranger Station. Troy Meadows Campground and Troy Meadows Overflow were gated closed. Fish Creek Campground and overflow have no gates and were open. There were a couple of snow banks for the dog to play in near the Troy Meadows area but Mahogany Creek was dry already.
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