W6/ND-392 Dry Creek Knoll

After climbing Sonora Peak, I had some time before going to Bishop. I decided to stop at Mammoth to get an easy peak. From town, turn onto Mammoth Scenic Loop and drive to road 3S24 on the right. There is a small parking area on the left. Those with more robust cars could drive up the road to the intersection with 3S110.

Walking up the road.

Take 3S110 to get to the summit plateau. This road might be drivable, but there were a lot of down trees across it when I was there. From the road junction you could also bushwhack straight up to the summit, but this seemed like a lot of work. So instead I took the nicely graded road as it wrapped around the peak.

There were occasional views through the trees.

There is no road to the high point, so I found a good place to step off the trail and headed straight up. In the open forest it was easy to put up my antenna. I tried calling on 30 and 20, but didn't get any contacts on either. Luckily there were some chasers on 40, and I got my four contacts.

On the summit.

Since bushwhacking is easier when gravity is helping, I decided to just go straight down to the junction. This was very quick, down the sandy slope without any really dense manzanita. Back at the car I drove down to Bishop for some dinner, before heading up to Piute Pass the next day.

Trailhead: Forest Road 3S24 where it leaves Mammoth Scenic Loop.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Take the road up to the intersection, and go left. Follow the main road up to the summit plateau, then bushwhack up to the high point.
Red Tape: None.