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• pac Inq ILeft) A grove of Aspens in Kelty Meadow. (Above) A rock cairn. probably built by Basque sheepherders, Mount Montgomery rises in the backgrou Tired of crowded riding areas? This year, try Bike packing Mammoth Lakes, Calilornia By Donald E. L. Betsworth A 14 re you tired of people? Do you put up with the smog. fences you can't get through. and the same old scenery? Well. why not motor north a couple hours farther next summer and do . some riding in the Mammoth Lakes area? I've ridden there the last two years and find it super. You can ride in the morning and then fish all afternoon. Not too shabby. There are dirt roads (no bike trails yet) that will give you all the scooter rid ing fun you'll want. You can wind through the tall pine trees , ride up to two beautiful lakes at over 10,000 feet. ride many miles of pure pumice , and as many miles of obsidian chips. You can take your bike and fishi ng gear and find a piece of river or stream to fish where nobody will be standing on your foot . The night life and the restaurants are pretty good, if you should go for that. Get yourself an Inyo National Forest Map and check all the riding possibilities around Mammoth Lakes. We have ridden up to Laurel Lakes, toured around Iny o Craters. across Crater Flats . and up to where Deadmans Creek is just a trickle. We 've covered much of Little Antelope Valley, and enjoyed the view from the top of Lookout Mountain. You can ride every day and find a new road to play on . The only problem we have had in two years was once in 1975 when we were cited for not having mirrors. It was not a "cost you money" kind , just "get it fixed ." We had ridden 200 feet of Highway 203 and the local "Smokey" stopped us. He turned out to be a pretty nice guy , even showed us some back streets to use if we didn't want to make the bikes legal. The other problem was th is year, and I still think we were in the right. There is a ranch several miles to the north , the name is on most maps, and I've been told it has a reputation for not liking anyone who does not use their facility. They rent cabins and have control of about a mile of good trout stream. We started down a dirt road near the ranch that had no fences , gates, and no keep out signs , and were chased out by an irate rednecked cowboy. My advice is to give th is place wide berth. W e use Mammoth as a base for our longer rides. Some of them start as far as 40 miles away so we trailer them to the starting points. But you can begin most rides right in town , run your tank almost dry and see very few people even in August. One of the rides we did was a trip up to Gla ss Mountain and a little rid ge runn ing. It 's 30 miles through sagebrush, rocks, green meadows, aspen trees, and excellent views of both Long Valley with Lake Crowley, and with even more spectacular scenery of the White Mountains. I don't know why they call it Glass Mountain , its 11,123 feet of some typ e of granite, sand and pumice. And it's very lonely ; we saw no one during our entire ride. The start is easy to find, but after that so many roads and tracks head off in so many directions you must be on your toes ; or you will end up miles away and two ridges from where you should be . To find the beginning, drive about five miles south of the Mammoth Lakes road and look for the sign reading "W hitmore 1 mile" and "Owens River 5 miles:' There is a little green church on the comer. Turn left and continue on pavement until you come to a bridge crossing the river ; this is Benton Crossing. You can camp here and the fishing is not bad. We start ed our ride from here but it requires some asphalt riding or buzz up the gull y on the east side of the road . From Benton Crossing go southeast four miles to a good dirt road heading east , (this road has no sign) . Turn left and within 0.5 miles a large metal gate appears; go through . The road forks , go right. After 3.5 miles you'll come to a barbed wire cattle gate and an old corral. This is known as Watterson Troughs, named after two Owens Valley bankers and cattlemen. Tliey played some gam es with th e bank and went to jail for fraud . n Go through the gate (please close it after you) and start up the hill. It will be steep and rocky for awhile and after another 1.5 miles look for a sign reading "3S0 1 A" ; tum left. At 1.4 you passed a road with a sign "3S49 " . Do not take it . This road went up and down, and was very snakey. It was in very bad shape and it finally ended at tiberline in a small grove of pinon pines. We seemed to be several miles from where we should have been so backtracking a cou ple of miles and using bike rider's nose and a SWAG (Scien tific Wild Ass Guess) we took off on a very fa int trail heading east , finally picking up the road we should have been on . Back to the left turn on 3S0 I A, go 1.1 miles to another fork , and left around the meadow . Follow the road up the canyon to an area called the Clover Patch. In this patch there are many cattle grazing, so if you ' have seen " On Any Sunday" and your riding partners haven't you might be able to pull th e infamous Stev e McQueen act and give thein a shower of fresh meadow muffin. Bear to the right, go up the hill , then head a bit left, climbing slightly. The" road will start to level out and at five m iles you will come to a rock cairn on the right side. This is about 9500 feet and th e highest point of the ride. You ca n go a " tad higher and see Lake Crowley by taking the little used road west from the cairn up past the tree for 0.4 mil es. 'Looking east you see the full length of It h e White Mounta ins from Montgomery Pass on the north to Westgard Pass to the south. Standing at the cairn and looking east, White Mountain is the rust colored peak to your right. It's the highest in the range at 14,246 ft. and is the third highest in California . . Back on your bike, head north again and drop down a"bit. Soon you will enter Kelty Meadow with its large aspen trees. Another fork shows up, going right around the east side of the meadow and in 1.2 miles the road forks again . Go left and follow the cattle fence. After a mile or so go through the gate and wind up into the tre es. In a couple more miles you reach th e Sawmill Meadows Road . It is