Off-grid camping in White Mountains near Bishop California

I'm heading up #395 to the Bishop/CA area in mid-May and to the White Mountains for general off-roading. Anybody have any experience camping off-grid in this area would be appreciated!

 

Check with the Interagency Visitor Center in Lone Pine or the USFS in Bishop before you go. Most of that area is above 8000' and there may still be road closures due to rock slides or snow and some of the designated camping areas may not be open. There also may be significant runoff affecting Silver Creek Rd.

A lot of that country is pretty remote with spotty cell coverage. Spend some time thoroughly planning your routes and itinerary and if you're traveling as a solo vehicle, leave an itinerary with someone at home or at least the USFS. Sudden, drastic, weather changes are possible. I've been in that area where going up Friday is t-shirt weather and waking up Saturday morning to several inches of snow in a cloud.

 

Something else to consider for personal safety: while some newer cell phones can make an emergency call by satellite, what if you don't know EXACTLY where you are? Consider getting a personal locator beacon similar to the ELT installed in most aircraft. A PLB when activated sends an SOS to a satellite with your exact GPS location, and then pings on a different frequency for up to 30 days. I keep one in my T4R at all times in case I end up in a remote area without cell signal. In some areas, there is cell coverage, but what if the coverage is not your cell provider? For me, eastern Oregon is one of those areas where I have no coverage.

 

What device do you have?

 

This is the current version of the one I use. Some of my hiking buddies use the same model, one of whom had to use his on a trip we were on. (He's OK now)

https://www.acrartex.com/products/resqlink-400/

 

My only recollection is that All of the White Mountain range is USFS land and off limits to all motorized vehicles. The only minuscule access point is from the eastern (Nevada) side and about a good 90 minute drive from Bishop...only one 'easy' trail (look for Red Rock Quicksilver Mine). I only had a limited amount of time when I drove across last summer to Utah via Tonopah and the ET Highway so I didn't investigate any further than looking at the area on ONX, lots of BLM land out there to the east but to me not as scenic as finding campsites along the eastern sierras...which by may should open up a ton of camping options in the greater Inyo National Forest area (White Mountain Ranger District), east side of the 395 gets you away from most of the summer crowds where there are plenty of dispersed camping opportunities.


As for comms, three of the major providers have really made improvements to the cell tower infrastructure/coverage along the 395 and the E-W corridors. Pretty much solid coverage until you go through the I-6 pass headed towards Tonopah, otherwise I had pretty solid 3-5 bars everywhere else up and down the 395 (cell tower coverage map). Travel with a good GMRS radio (with plenty of repeater stations across Nevada) is also a good comms option aside from emergency sat comms, my Garmin GPS has a built-in In Reach capability which I activate before a trip and only when necessary which I've only had to activate twice in the last 5 years...then again I'm not a big backcountry kinda guy anymore.

 

This device has to be registered so that when you have to use it, they know who you are. Registration is free, and the directions to the website to register is included in the box. The battery is good for six years.