Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board "10501A" and Split Mountain

I know this isn't a Whitney question, but thought I'd ask because so many forum members are familiar with eastern sierra trailheads...

Last summer while in the Owens Valley I did some recon for a future trip, checking out the driving approach to the Red Lake trailhead for a hike of Split Mountain. In addition to working out the 4WD on my Honda Pilot, I discovered that Porcella & Burns are incorrect in stating that the turn to Red Lake is on road 10501A. I eventually gave up, maybe a half mile from the trailhead, confused by their mileage distances and road descriptions. And my father-in-law was ready to be done with the whiplash I was giving him on this bumpy drive.

I have since learned from posts on Climber.org that the road is actually 10S01A, not 10501A, and that there is also an alternate approach, via Fish Spring road, going around Tinnemaha campground. However, apparently a small portion of this route crosses private land. My question is, has anyone tried this alternate approach and found it functional? Also, is there a difference between the Red Lake trailhead and the Red Mountain Creek trailhead?

I know it's a bit of a longshot, but thought I'd give it a shot. Thanks.

I haven't been that way for years, but we essentially followed the USFS Inyo NF map, with good knowledge before hand. I don't recall any road names or route designations, but there may be some up now. Pass McMurtry Meadows by the road of the same name, then head east, crossing a 6" high pipe, paralleling a fenceline (the private land), then heading back west along the main Red Lake Trailhead road. The trailhead had been signed, but little work is done on this trail. The older maps are wrong, and some websites have the real descriptions posted.

By now, this may be all changed, so I hope you get some luck with directions from someone who has down this recently.

And there's only one Red whatever trailhead in the vicinity that I know of.

The trail is rough, and it is at low elevation, so don't start out late (like we did once, with 90 degree temps and packs to carry). Split is a beautiful peak, with some easy class 3 to get to the Sierra Crest. Be careful not to dislodge rocks, or wear helmets. Do a search on "split mountain." I'm sure there's plenty of good info on the Web, somewhere.

Getting to and from the Red Lake Trailhead can certainly be frustrating and can be quite an adventure in itself.

When I dayhiked Split Mtn last year I almost gave up before even reaching the trailhead. I went in via the route past McMurry Meadows. Shortly after passing McMurry Meadows you reach a point where you have to go either left or right. Right (West) seems like the correct direction (toward the mountains) and I mistakenly turned that way and after 30 mins finally realized the road (if you can call it that) I was on was disappearing. I turned around and eventually got back on the right track, but was getting really frustrated because I was well behind my planned starting time. On top of that I could tell I was putting a bunch of nice scratches into the sides of my new 4runner from all the heavy brush. I think it took me at least 90 minutes to reach the trailhead from Big Pine.

On the way out, things only got worse. Because of my later than expected start it was dark on my drive out. Knowing that there was another way out by Tinemaha campground and remembering how bad the road was the way I came in I thought maybe this other way would be better. I was wrong. It took me nearly an hour to go one mile over all the rock embedded in the road. Eventually I reached the open pit mine only to soon be lost in an endless maze of roads. At this point I knew it was hopeless. Fortunately I had my GPS with me and hooked it up to my notebook computer (which I also fortunately had with me) running Delorme TopoQuad software. Within seconds the map software locked onto my position and showed me exactly where i was on the map. Within 5 minutes I was back on pavement. Without this bit of technology I'm pretty sure I would have spent the night lost in the open pit mine not realizing that I was a stones throw away from the way out.

Thus, I'd recommend avoiding the dark unless you have scouted the route out beforehand. Also, a good map and GPS can be useful.