Silver Canyon Road near Bishop

[OffroadNoob]

Has anyone done Silver Canyon road near Bishop to go to White Moutain trailhead? Planning to do it in R1T in July. It is a 10 mile road but goes from 4200' to 10,400' ft. Wondering how much battery that would consume and also what is the state of the road, and whether doable for a beginner? TIA for any help and tips.

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[Rasputin]

I’ve done it on a heavy ADV bike (KTM 1290R). I probably would pass in an R1 due to a couple considerations:

1) Time of year. July is going to be hot. If you are going up Silver Canyon, I’d imagine things will get warm. No place to turn around once the climb starts and it’s going to be a slow roll with lots of torque because it’s steep and slick.

2) If you’re planning on going down, pray for your brakes. The regen will become “limited” when the motors get hot. Happened to me a couple times already and with the ambient temps in the 90’s I would be worried about slowing your 7k lb rig down. My moto brakes were purple and so were everyone else’s. Twin rotors up front too so it was over braked. It’s white knuckle type 2 fun no matter what you are in. Some heavy exposure in parts.

3) If you’re charging in bishop I think you would fine. The paved road is great and there are some light off road trails on the way up if you want to get dusty. There’s also a ton in the valley, but again the heat…

I think the current road conditions are okay because a couples guys I ride with just did that route two weeks ago on a Husky 701 and an Aprilia dual sport. They didn’t have any other comment other than “it’s steep”.

Paved road is rad in my opinion and probably the safer bet if you are heading up to white mtn.

If you end up doing it send photos!!

 

[OffroadNoob]

I’ve done it on a heavy ADV bike (KTM 1290R). I probably would pass in an R1 due to a couple considerations:

1) Time of year. July is going to be hot. If you are going up Silver Canyon, I’d imagine things will get warm. No place to turn around once the climb starts and it’s going to be a slow roll with lots of torque because it’s steep and slick.

2) If you’re planning on going down, pray for your brakes. The regen will become “limited” when the motors get hot. Happened to me a couple times already and with the ambient temps in the 90’s I would be worried about slowing your 7k lb rig down. My moto brakes were purple and so were everyone else’s. Twin rotors up front too so it was over braked. It’s white knuckle type 2 fun no matter what you are in. Some heavy exposure in parts.

3) If you’re charging in bishop I think you would fine. The paved road is great and there are some light off road trails on the way up if you want to get dusty. There’s also a ton in the valley, but again the heat…

I think the current road conditions are okay because a couples guys I ride with just did that route two weeks ago on a Husky 701 and an Aprilia dual sport. They didn’t have any other comment other than “it’s steep”.

Paved road is rad in my opinion and probably the safer bet if you are heading up to white mtn.

If you end up doing it send photos!!

Thanks for the info. This is really helpful. By paved road, do you mean going down to Big Pine, then taking 168E and then White Mountain Road? It is going to be hot, but I am trying to get a hike done to White Mountain to get some high altitude experience in before a trip in September. Aiming to camp at the trailhead and starting the hike really early in the morning.

 

[Rasputin]

Yes exactly. The only legit road up there. Very twisty and tight. Turns to dirt eventually. Curious how much battery you burn on the way up but you’ll be downhill all the way to big pine on the way back. There’s a dirt road that heads out to the east but nothing out there for charging. You would probably need to head to tonopah and if that’s the case… well… there’s a “world famous” clown motel there I’ve heard had a good weekday rate. lol.

 

[OffroadNoob]

Yes exactly. The only legit road up there. Very twisty and tight. Turns to dirt eventually. Curious how much battery you burn on the way up but you’ll be downhill all the way to big pine on the way back. There’s a dirt road that heads out to the east but nothing out there for charging. You would probably need to head to tonopah and if that’s the case… well… there’s a “world famous” clown motel there I’ve heard had a good weekday rate. lol.

I plan on charging at Bishop to at least around 80% and I think that should be enough to get there and back. Rivian route planner seems to suggest that having a range of 170 miles would be sufficient, but I am going to try to be lot more conservative. Though what is strange is that it shows Bishop to trailhead time as 2 hr 18 min, but trailhead to Bishop as 4 hr 42 min. Not sure why coming down is going to be almost twice as long...

Will post info here once I have done it as to how it went and maybe also in the trips forum.

 

[perkinsm]

I second Rasputin’s intel — I’ve done it on my adv moto and pedal bike, both directions. It’s a piece of cake until you hit the second half of the climb, and then it’s steep, rocky and loose. If you’re experienced off-roader and had some beefy lugs (not the Scorpions), it would not be too hard. But I wouldn’t take my truck up it.

 

[OffroadNoob]

I second Rasputin’s intel — I’ve done it on my adv moto and pedal bike, both directions. It’s a piece of cake until you hit the second half of the climb, and then it’s steep, rocky and loose. If you’re experienced off-roader and had some beefy lugs (not the Scorpions), it would not be too hard. But I wouldn’t take my truck up it.

Thanks. I am going to try the alternate route through Big Pine and 168

 

[EastSider]

Good call. Yes, it's a gnarly road to drive up in any vehicle, and a little less scary going down. Like the others said, in the summer it is best avoided unless you have a lot of experience. I live near Bishop and have driven driven down Silver Cyn. Road in my Toyota Tacoma 4WD in the summer a few times, but much prefer the windy White Mountain Road from 168. That road should be good all the way to the trailhead, though I haven't been up yet this year. It takes about an hour to the Schulman Grove from Bishop, another half hour to go 12 miles to the Patriarch Grove, then another 20-30 minutes to the trailhead. Have fun!

 

[OffroadNoob]

Good call. Yes, it's a gnarly road to drive up in any vehicle, and a little less scary going down. Like the others said, in the summer it is best avoided unless you have a lot of experience. I live near Bishop and have driven driven down Silver Cyn. Road in my Toyota Tacoma 4WD in the summer a few times, but much prefer the windy White Mountain Road from 168. That road should be good all the way to the trailhead, though I haven't been up yet this year. It takes about an hour to the Schulman Grove from Bishop, another half hour to go 12 miles to the Patriarch Grove, then another 20-30 minutes to the trailhead. Have fun!

Do you have any thoughts on why Rivian route planning app is showing 2 hr 20 min to go up from Bishop to trailhead but twice that amount of time to come back? Is there something weird about the road or the app is just being flaky?

 

[EastSider]

Do you have any thoughts on why Rivian route planning app is showing 2 hr 20 min to go up from Bishop to trailhead but twice that amount of time to come back? Is there something weird about the road or the app is just being flaky?

No I think the app must be flaky. 2 hr 20 min. seems right.

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